Living the Seven Sacraments in Our Everyday @ CatholicMom.com

My most life-changing discovery about the Catholic faith has been realizing the seven sacraments can be lived out in the ordinary, everyday of our lives.  While some sacraments may be viewed as “one and done,” such as Baptism and Confirmation, there is an abundance of blessings available to the individual open to seeing them as continual conduits of grace.

The Daily Grace of Our Baptism

“Baptism is the sacrament of faith. But faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe. The faith required for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop.”  (Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 1253)

Baptism referred to as a beginning leads me to the understanding it will continue in some form. Baptism is an entry into the Christian life, and faith comes from embracing the promises of this sacrament. The grace to grow to a mature faith comes from continually renouncing Satan, and working to understand better what it means to believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This embracing of our call to live the Sacrament of Baptism is only the beginning of the daily blessings God has for us.

Outpouring Grace of Forgiveness … read on

A Modern Day Miracle @ CatholicSistas

In October, my daughter, Faith, received an entirely unexpected Scoliosis diagnosis.  

The Prognosis

Her doctor found what is known as an S plus one curvature in her spine. Faith’s back curved looked like a slithering snake, 50 degrees, then 48 degrees, and ending with another 28-degree curve.  Faith was facing a very real (and scary) possibility of spine surgery.

Within a month of the diagnoses, Faith began wearing a Boston Brace. Weaning Faith into wearing the brace for the prescribed 18-hours a day was painful (for both her and us). My daughter (along with us at times) shed a few tears as each day the time in her brace increased to adjusted to daily life in a brace. Our hearts ached as our sweet, complacent child endured hours of discomfort and pain, yet was still unable to reach the level of comfort promised when she began the brace journey.

The Brace Struggle

Despite the most valiant efforts, we were unable to get her time in brace beyond 8 to 12 hours. Desperate to reach the brace on level necessary for it to truly help her, we did what any Catholic parent might, we searched for a heavenly helper. A saint who could become her spiritual advocate and intercede in her hour of great need.

My husband did a thorough Google search and found Saint Gemma Galgani. St. Gemma, like Faithy, was an orphan.  Additionally (and quite remarkably) they both also shared a hearing loss and the spine curvature. Faithy was born profoundly deaf, while Gemma lost her hearing due to illness. The same disease that caused Gemma’s spin to curve and lead to her also sporting a back brace!   Wow! Seriously, this is one of the things about the Catholic Faith I love the most – seemingly always being able to find someone to add to our “Saint Posse” who can not only intercede for us but also empathize with our circumstances because they too experienced them.

Kevin and I began a novena to St. Gemma in hopes that Faith’s weaning-in process would go much smoother.  The first answer came just a few days into the novena. Faith’s school Physical Therapist called to tell me she’d worked at the very Orthopedic office that not only fitted Faith with her Boston Brace but is actually the office where the brace originated. She would be able to help Faith with her brace needs at school (a huge concern weighing on our hearts) adding she was so familiar with the braces she could, “put them on her sleep.”  I had to hold back tears as the flush of relief washed over me. Thank you, St. Gemma!!!

The next heavenly assist came when … read on