Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, which means … only one week until Christmas! “Huh?” You say, “Not yet, there is too much to do before Christmas!” Well, the thought that Christmas is all but ‘around the corner’ might invoke varying levels of anxiety in the hearts of parents […]

The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe was yesterday, December 12th.  This day holds significance for all of us at Build the Faith, because it is the day Christina was diagnosed and began her journey of faith.  Though I have been Catholic my entire life, it wasn’t until I […]

I would like to share with you a small reflection I have made about the youth of today, starting with a couple of quotations that I found almost by chance online. One says: “Our world has reached a critical stage; there is no longer any relationship between children and their […]

On November 27th, 1830, the Virgin Mary appeared to a religious girl named Catherine Labouré (today a Saint), who saw her on top of a globe, carrying in her hands a golden sphere, like an offering to heaven. The Virgin explained that the sphere represented the entire world. In her […]

The night is dominated by silence and my internal peace is fused with the surrounding tranquility. I have learned to appreciate the gifts of solitude: in it, I find the space for prayer. If light is the lack of darkness, also our internal peace is the absence of worldly distractions. […]

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)When I was a child, I remember reading these words from Christ and being so confused.  Blessed are those who mourn…really?  I could easily understand how peacemakers and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness could be consider blessed, […]

Saints:  The Shining Stars Sr. Mary Marta Soza Last month I watched with delight the beatification Mass of a 15-year-old boy, Carlo Acutis, a lover of the Eucharist and a friend of the poor. Blessed Carlo, whose body was found incorrupt, called the Eucharist: “My highway to heaven.”  He died […]

A month ago, I participated in the annual retreat for women organized by Build the Faith. At the end of the retreat, I received a cross and a prayer: “The Cross in My Pocket.” The cross is a reminder that I am Christian, no matter where I am, and that […]

Growing up, Sunday was always about church and family.  After church, we’d head to my grandparents’ house for Sunday dinner.  Sunday dinners were an all-day affair, with aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered together for food and fun.  At the time, I didn’t know we were carrying on a long-held tradition […]