My Secret is Mine
“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.
Read The Help by Kathryn Stockett
READ THE HELP by Margaret McGuire Berkley Books, 2011. 544 pp. Paperback $18.64; Ebook $9.95. bookshop.org Kathryn Stockett’s The Help explores the effect of racism on women during the Civil Rights Movement. Through the stories of these women, we see first-hand the indignities suffered by Black women, their grace and patience, and their unique feminine strength. These women show resilience and creativity in the face of blatant attacks on their personhood. The result is a lesson on the...
Learn: The Sun King's Mistress becomes a Nun
LEARN: The King's Mistress Repents by Kristen West McGuire Louise de la Vallière lived two very different lives. She is most famous for being the mistress of King Louis XIV of France. However, she is also called, “the French Magdalene” for leaving that life behind to become a Carmelite. For a long time, historians only cared about her romance with the King. Today, people are realizing that she was also a serious thinker and writer. Her writings criticized the fake behavior of wealthy people...
Pray for the Church Ladies
PRAY FOR THE CHURCH LADIES by Kristen West McGuire Working for the Catholic Church can be wonderful...and challenging. A dear friend was convinced that Jesus loved her much more as a volunteer rather than a “tithe-collector.” She would lean in and intone to me, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Very few people become parish or diocesan employees for the money. If they do join for the cashflow, they will leave quickly. Yet, some special and amazing people are called to serve...
Study: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Gifts of God by Kristen West McGuire I Corinthians 12:4-13 4 Now there are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit; 5 And there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord; 6 And there are diversities of operations, but the same God, who worketh all in all. 7 And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. 8 To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom: and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; 9 To another, faith in...
Meet Susan Windley - Daoust
Meet Susan Windley - Daoust, Parish Advocate by Genevieve Kineke Susan Windley- Daoust Dr. Susan Windley-Daoust taught theology for 20 years at St. Mary’s University in Minnesota before becoming Director of Missionary Discipleship for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. She founded the Mark 5:19 Project to equip pastors and lay leaders to foster thriving, evangelizing parishes in 2024. Her book, The Four Ways Forward, was published in 2022. She and her husband Jerry have five children and work...
If you knew the gift of God...
IF YOU KNEW THE GIFT OF GOD by Kristen West McGuire The Samaritan woman at the well was simply in the midst of her daily work. Who knows how far she had to walk to get water for her household? We don’t even know how many people she was cooking for. She shows up at the well with a pitcher to carry the water and likely a leather dipper to drop into the well. She was ready for her task. And Jesus interrupts her daily routine. He says, “If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith...
Read: Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
Read Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge by Margaret McGuire What does it mean to be loved, and what kind of sacrifice does love entail? These are the central questions around which Elizabeth Goudge’s Green Dolphin Street revolves. Within this saga of two sisters and the man they both love, Goudge explores the love of families, the growth of love from childhood to maturity, married love, and the love of God for humanity. Marguerite and Marianne LePatournel are sisters in this...
Married for the Kingdom
How Catherine and Eddie Doherty Sacrificed Their Conjugal Intimacy for the Kingdom of God by Dawn Eden Goldstein Source: used with permission ©Madonna House Publications. An excerpt from the book, The Sacred Heart: A Love for All Times, by Dawn Eden Goldstein The decisive moment...came in late October 1951, in a café in Paris. Catherine and Eddie had gone to Rome together—he to research a book, she to attend a conference of leaders of lay apostolates. Since she needed to stay longer in the...
Pray for Women Seeking to Change the World
PRAY FOR WOMEN SEEKING TO CHANGE THE WORLD by Kristen West McGuire Women care about community—and invest their time, talents, and treasure to invest in positive changes. More women than men volunteer overall. And, more women than men choose professions such as social work, teaching, and nursing. Further, over two-thirds of non-profit employees are women. Women simply care more about making community work. While Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day are notable examples, unsung and unknown laywomen...
Abiding with Jesus...Thoughts on Becoming a Good Vintage
ABIDE WITH JESUS by Kristen West McGuire John 15:4-17 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. 6 If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. 7 If...
“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.