Advent starts tomorrow! And that means tonight is Catholic New Year's Eve, so break out the champagne! If, like me, you are not quite ready to, um, get ready, I thought I'd share this quick and easy Advent Wreath that is our go-to every year now. We've had lots...
Do Catholics Need the Elf on the Shelf?
I had every intention of not wading into the Elf on the Shelf debate, because it's really not a matter of faith and morals, and is therefore something about which good Catholics are free to make their own choices, and follow their own consciences, and disagree. But...
Five Ways My Phone is Helping Me Be a Better Catholic
Our phones, right? We use them for all the things, but also maybe feel like we shouldn't be? As much? Ever? I'm all for balance and temperance, but in our concern about the pitfalls of our phones, it's easy to lose sight of the GOOD that's to be had from those...
Catholic Indulgences: what they are, when they are, and why you should care (as of the 1999 Manual of Indulgences revision of the Enchiridion of Indulgences)
Indulgences! So much opportunity, so much confusion and misinformation. And that's just among Catholics. It's really difficult to even find any information at all online about the most recent version of the Manual of Indulgences, a 1999 revision that replaced the 1968...
Stuff I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You: including calendar explanations and errata, crazy plans, and other fun announcements
First off, I have to say how excited I am that anyone other than me wanted this calendar. I just can't believe how many of you have purchased it and are looking forward to starting off the new Catholic year on December 3rd and observing the feasts and the fasts. And...
Rogation and Ember Days and Vigils: in case you were starting to think you had this liturgical living thing down
I've been Catholic for forty-one years, actually making an effort for seventeen, a liturgical living devotee for eleven, and blogging about it for five. And . . . I just found out about Ember Days. As I was researching feast days for the Catholic All Year...
How to do Santa Without Lying to Your Kids
This is the time of year I start getting emails and Facebook messages from parents who are trying to decide how to handle the cultural traditions surrounding Christmas, and how to balance them with their Catholic faith. There is genuinely a lot of worry that they'll...
Easy Family Activities for the Month of the Poor Souls in November
For Catholics, November is the month we remember the dead. On November 1st, we celebrate all the saints in heaven, who are our hope and help and inspiration. The rest of the month, we focus on the holy souls in purgatory. (They are also called poor souls . . ....
George’s Birth Story (Finally!): a cautionary tale about getting what you ask for, and cherry pits
He's a good baby. He nurses well and sleeps a lot and has the cutest little smiles. Not to mention the cutest little face. But he's just very . . . particular, if you know what I mean. He most particularly doesn't care for me sitting at the computer and typing....
St. Margaret of Antioch Proves That What the Catholic Church Thinks About Women is That They Can Totally Kick Satan’s Butt
Happy Feast of St. Margaret of Antioch, virgin, martyr, dragon-slayer. And YOU thought St. George got to have all the dragon-related fun! Whenever anyone says the Catholic Church wants to subjugate women, I want to make them read The Golden Legend. Because,...
I Have Some Things to Report: Part II (a skull fracture)
And now back to the continuing saga of what we've been doing for the past seven months. In Part I (here) we learned that I don't yet have a good grasp of what goes into to painting a room, despite having painted like . . . thirteen of them now. Also, that breaking...
I Have Some Things to Report: Part I (mostly house stuff)
Hey guys. Did you miss me? I figured there might still be a few of you who would be interested in some updates to my announcements in my last post (seven months ago!). Let's begin with the most exciting, shall we? Introducing . . . baby George! After a very fast (and...
Please Stay Tuned for the Following Important Announcements . . .
Hey guys! It's been a while, huh? House stuff, book stuff, school stuff, kid stuff . . . it's all been keeping me pretty busy. But it felt like time to share an update with you, the good and patient people of this blog. 1. Ya know how when you're a Catholic mommy...
All Saints' Day Costume Backlash: only neat and tidy saints need apply?
Hey guys. 👋 I'm still not back. The book is coming along, but there's still a ways to go. But. I got this mailbag question via email and answered it via email, and wanted to share it here, just in case any of you are facing the same criticisms. I really hope...
How We Discuss Imperfect Heroes with Kids
Happy Columbus Day! This is not a feast of the Catholic Church, of course, but it's a national celebration (at least it WAS a celebration, now it's more like one-more-excuse-to-be-mad-on-Facebook) of a Catholic person with admirable qualities and great failings, both....
So. Many. Decisions. (We went with Purse, Snail, Radio.)
The end is coming into hazy view on the horizon . . . of phase one, anyway. Phase one of at least three (but probably more like thirty-seven) phases of the fixer-upping of Gramblewood. Our contractor says he'll be done with the kitchen and the upstairs in about two...
Don't We Have This Modesty Thing Backwards?
I tend to get mailbag questions in bunches. All of a sudden, I'll get a flurry of questions on similar topics. Maybe it's facebook? Maybe it's some sort of hive mind phenomena? But there you have it. It's a thing. The most recent wave was on kids and modesty. And the...
A Beginner’s Guide to Dissent: the extended version
Disagreement with Catholic teaching is something that saints and heretics have in common. The great St. Paul himself, we read about in today's first reading, was a dissenter and debater. But the difference between the saints and the heretics has always been in how...
The Problem With Every Movie From My Youth: and ten family movies that won't teach your kids to swear like a sailor
Ahhh . . . movie night. It's one of the most beloved parts of our family routine. Our kids don't watch a whole lot of TV, but we do plan on watching a movie together as a family just about every week. We started off watching mostly Disney animated movies, but as the...
Where Do Pets Go When They Die?
Mailbag time! The Question: Hello, my name is Mollie and I am a big fan of your blog. I lost my pet of 17 years this weekend and I am struggling with the thought of breaking the news to my seven year old son this afternoon. We have been preparing him for her passing...
A Few Things I Love About Living In an Unfinished House
I have so much to tell you all! All the different projects in the works, how the renovations are progressing, what I think about all the newsy things, weirdo stuff Frankie's been doing . . . But there's not much time to tell it, so today, you just get a peek at how it...
Should Catholics Attend Easter Egg Hunts on Holy Saturday?
Mailbag time! The Question: Hi, Kendra! Thanks so much for your blog. I was hoping you could offer some advice on a question regarding living out the liturgical year with young kids. Our parish Easter egg hunt is scheduled for Holy Saturday morning and I don't know...
It's Moving Day! -party horn emoji- dot dot dot -sobbing emoji-
Well, the day has finally arrived . . . moving day. Let's catch up on the goings on around here, shall we? -1- He absolutely insisted on getting TAPED into the box, and I was like, "Of course nawww . . . what am I thinking? Yes. Yes, I will tape you into that box,"...
The Pope Francis Conversation . . . or, Go Talk to Your Father, it’s His Feast Day
Hey Guys. Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. In light of current events, it seems especially important to remember what we celebrate today. According to Pope Benedict: This is a very ancient tradition, proven to have existed in Rome since the fourth...
The Year of Mercy Family Challenge
It's the Year of Mercy! But hopefully you already knew that, as I've been meaning to write this post since, um, November. We've been making an effort to be mindful of the Year of Mercy in our home, and we came up with a Year of Mercy Family Challenge to go with it....
Pro-Life is Complicated, and How You Can Help
Last month we had the unfortunate anniversary of Roe v Wade. Many cities, including my own Los Angeles, hosted Walks for Life, but our family wasn't there. We weren't there because we were at a funeral, for a baby named Emily Rose Marie. We are fortunate enough to...
Sixteen Pairs of Catholic Saints Who Were Friends IRL
On the Feast of St. Brigid, on Monday, the kids and I got to talking about the saints. Of course we know that they're all friends NOW, in heaven. But we were kind of intrigued by the idea that St. Brigid and St. Patrick were actually friends IRL, as it were. Spouses,...
How to Turn a Ten Bedroom House Into A Four Bedroom House
Renovations are well underway at the new old house. It's amazing to see it start to come together after playing around with it on paper and on the computer for so many weeks. My friend Christy keeps pestering me for before and after photos, which don't exist because...
Women’s Work: Do I Ever Feel Guilty About Not “Using” My College Education?
Mailbag time! The Question: Hi Mrs. Tierney, My name is Sanasi and I am a 21 year old university student. I stumbled across your blog when I was looking for more Catholic blogs to read in my free time and it's kind of weird, but I feel like I see so much of...
State of the Blog Address
I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas! School starts up again around here today, for better and worse. I do like a break, but . . . Especially this year. This holiday season has been an absolute blur of new house stuff. There was some back and forth as to...