Catholic life

When God Writes Straight on Crooked Lines

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“All Things Work Together for Good”

By: Mauro Russo

The Lord carries out his plans through our lives without ever cancelling our will or our freedom. Starting from this truth, the words of the Apostle Paul ring out as an absolute certainty: “All things work together for good for those who trust in the Lord.” (Romans 8:28)

This is why even the most tragic of our stories, however irreparable it may seem, the Lord always has the power to turn into something beautiful.

But this is not an abstract promise. It is a promise that Scripture has already proven, more than once, in ways no one could have imagined.

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Living the Eucharist: Sharing Christ’s Love in Everyday Moments

/ chicoinematt

Guest Post by: David Tonaszuck

A reflection on the Gospel of John 6:51-58

Dear Friends in Christ,

Before our children moved out of our home, most evenings, the five of us would gather around our kitchen table. The table wasn’t always perfectly set—sometimes it was just a simple meal, a pot of soup, a loaf of bread, maybe a few apples. But every night, we laughed together, shared stories from our day, and always took a moment to pray—thanking God for His blessings and asking for the grace to follow Jesus in all we do.

I remember one winter when our neighbor Jimmy, a Vietnam veteran who had become a dear friend, fell seriously ill. Jimmy was a man who had seen much in life and was quietly fighting his own battles every day. Moved by the Holy Spirit, our family knew we had to help. We began inviting Jimmy to share our meals whenever he felt up to it. My children and I would stop by to visit him and help with his yardwork, while my wife checked on him regularly and made sure he got to his doctor’s appointments.

These weren’t grand gestures—just small acts of kindness, offered from the heart. Yet as we cared for Jimmy, we felt a new sense of peace and warmth in our home—a gentle grace that lingered long after the meal was over, a reminder of God’s love alive among us. In these moments, we realized that living the Eucharist means letting the love of Jesus flow through us, sharing His presence not only in church but in the everyday ways we serve, encourage, and lift each other up.

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Small Pilgrimages: Evangelizing Your Kids One Step at a Time

/ chicoinematt

Sponsored: This article is made possible by Pockets of Heaven, supporting quality and engaging Catholic content.

Evangelizing children isn’t always about complex theological lessons or far-off mission trips. Sometimes, the most powerful encounters with God happen right in your own backyard or even your living room. Just as adults benefit from pilgrimages that draw them closer to God, children can encounter Christ through small, intentional “journeys” of faith that fit within everyday life.

Let’s explore how these small pilgrimages can help pass on the faith to your kids while strengthening your domestic church.

new evangelization

The Domestic Church: Where Evangelization Begins

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us of the parents’ vital role:

“Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule… Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children” (CCC 2223).

In many ways, the home itself becomes a sort of permanent pilgrimage site, a sacred place where children encounter God daily through prayer, forgiveness, service, and love.

As I’ve written before, even small actions like having holy images in your home, praying before meals, answering questions during Mass, or visiting a local Catholic bookstore create micro-moments of evangelization. One of my daughters, for example, loves flipping through pamphlets about the Eucharist. That small curiosity leads to natural conversations about the Real Presence. These little moments plant seeds that the Holy Spirit can grow over time.

Adding sacramentals and liturgical resources to your home can also help foster these everyday encounters. Catholic businesses like Pockets of Heaven provide beautiful, handcrafted tools that help families create prayer spaces, celebrate feast days, and make the liturgical year come alive for kids in simple but meaningful ways.

You don’t need a master’s degree in theology to evangelize your kids. What matters most is creating a loving environment where faith is part of daily life, where Christ is present in both words and actions.

Pilgrimages Teach Kids That Life is a Journey Toward God

Father Dave Pivonka wisely reminds us that “Every single one of us is a pilgrim on a journey. For us Christians, as Pope St. John Paul II said, this journey should ultimately lead us to the heart of the Father.”

Pilgrimages, whether big or small, teach kids that faith is not static. It’s a living, breathing adventure toward God’s heart. And this journey doesn’t require international travel. While trips to Lourdes, Fatima, or Rome are beautiful, they’re not necessary to experience the graces of pilgrimage.

Small pilgrimages could include:

  • Visiting your diocesan cathedral for Mass.
  • Spending an hour in adoration at a nearby chapel.
  • Walking as a family to a local Marian shrine.
  • Going on a nature walk while praying the Rosary.
  • Visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead on All Souls’ Day.

These intentional acts pull kids out of their daily routines and help them encounter God anew. As Fr. Pivonka puts it, “Do something intentional that takes you out of your ordinary routine. Seek to encounter Jesus. You will be amazed what God can do in your heart.”

The Sacraments: Theological Rest Stops Along the Journey

Life is exhausting. I’ve written before how my own fatigue nearly led me to despair. Yet, in that weakness, I was reminded of Bishop Paul Swain’s beautiful words:

“Sacraments are not the end or graduation of the Catholic life, rather sacraments act as theological rest stops to give us strength.”

Confession, for example, is like a pit stop where we release burdens and receive grace to keep walking. As the Catechism explains, “The sacrament of Penance repairs or restores [fraternal communion]” (CCC 1469).

The Eucharist provides nourishment for the journey ahead — our manna in the desert:

“The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus… Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet” (CCC 1391).

And marriage? It’s not simply a contract but a covenant of mutual sacrifice. As I’ve joked before, marriage often feels like a holy war against pride, impatience, and selfishness. But it’s also a place of peace, where we strategize, rest, and receive grace for the road ahead.

When we bring our children into these sacramental rest stops by taking them to Confession, preparing them for First Holy Communion, and witnessing the beauty of a sacramental marriage, we’re showing them how to draw strength for their own pilgrim journey.

Penance, Solidarity, and Thanksgiving — Lessons Even Kids Can Learn

Pilgrimage isn’t always comfortable. Fr. Pivonka shares stories of pilgrims enduring blistering heat, unexpected thunderstorms, and travel mishaps. Yet these struggles become opportunities for offering penance, teaching kids a profound lesson: suffering can be united to prayer.

On a small pilgrimage to a local shrine, a child might get tired or frustrated. That’s a chance to gently explain:

“You can offer this tiredness for Grandma who’s sick, or for a friend who’s struggling.”

Solidarity is another beautiful fruit of pilgrimage. Whether walking together as a family or participating in parish events, kids learn that they’re not alone in their faith. They belong to the wider Body of Christ — a Church filled with fellow pilgrims, saints, and sinners all journeying home.

Finally, pilgrimages naturally lead to thanksgiving. As Fr. Pivonka writes about his own Camino de Santiago:

“Going on pilgrimage does something to our hearts and to how we see the world… We begin to see [God] in places where we didn’t before.”

When kids see the beauty of God in creation, family, sacraments, and community, gratitude becomes a habit that sustains their faith long after the pilgrimage ends. Even creating little “pockets of heaven” in our homes — through prayer corners, seasonal decor, or feast day celebrations — can help foster that spirit of gratitude.

 Biblical ABC Book published by Parousia Media

Start Small, Start Today

Evangelizing our kids doesn’t require perfect words or elaborate plans. It begins with small acts of intentionality, small pilgrimages of the heart, the home, and even the neighborhood.

As parents, our job is to guide our children toward Christ through daily witness, sacramental life, and occasional small pilgrimages that draw them deeper into God’s presence. With each little step, they’ll discover that their whole life is a beautiful, lifelong journey toward the Father.

As Proverbs 16:3 reminds us:

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

Buen Camino.

Thanks again to today’s article sponsor! Visit Pockets of Heaven where you’ll find resources to help your children journey with Jesus, Mary, and the Saints in the pockets of everyday life.

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The Power of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

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Sponsored: This article is made possible by Sacred Heart Tea, supporting quality and engaging Catholic content.

When Everything Changed

7 years ago my life forever changed and the Sacred Heart of Jesus played a huge role in this change. Today, I’m writing this article on what would have been the 18th birthday of my little girl. Instead, she never made it past 10 years old.

One moment I was online sharing about a new sunscreen I found and the next day I was posting to tell the world that my little girl had died in my arms. You see, just 13 days before her 11th birthday I had to rush my daughter to the ER with a severe headache. Within a few hours she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was too late to save her and that day I held my little girl in my arms and birthed her into the arms of Jesus. As she died I remember weeping and saying, “He makes all things new. He makes all things new.” I told her, “It’s ok to go baby. You don’t have to stay. Mommy’s here. Mommy loves you.”

A Mission Passed On

In the moment of her death I had an overwhelming sense of what God was calling me to do. You see, for various reasons Maggie had not yet completed her RE classes and was scheduled to receive her first Holy Communion the day I rushed her to the ER.

And all that year her RE teacher talked about what it meant to be a missionary, and she had decided that she was not going to be a hair stylist or a nun but instead she was going to go wherever God called her and she was going to be a missionary. I realized in the moment she died that she was now the greatest missionary she could ever be. That the miracles she could work from Heaven would be unlike anything she could have done while alive here on earth. And I KNEW that as her mom it was my job to help her in her missionary work.

Heaven Touches Earth

6 weeks after Maggie died I found myself at a women’s retreat at my parish that lasted all weekend. No phones. No clocks. Just us and Jesus. We had 24 hour adoration and I found myself sitting before the Eucharist for hours at a time. You see, the room we used for adoration was small and the table was short so I could literally sit at His feet and talk with Him the way a friend would. As I looked at Jesus and spoke with Him, I felt a profound sense that Heaven opened to us in that moment. I realized I wasn’t just spending time with Jesus—I was also on a mommy-daughter date, because Maggie was there with Him, surrounded by all the saints and angels in Heaven.

Held by the Heart

I sobbed as I stared at Him and I was overwhelmed by His Most Sacred Heart. I begged Him to place me within His heart because it was there that I would find solace. It was there I would find love. It was there I would find protection from the flames that threatened to consume me in my agony.

And so I found myself there. Surrounded by burning flames and embers and I felt at peace. I was curled up in His embrace and I never wanted to leave. I didn’t realize how long I had been kneeling there when my knees collapsed. I never hit the ground because 3 or 4 women had been watching me and immediately rushed to my side.

They lifted me up and put all of their weight under my arms. I was on my knees again adoring the One I love only this time with the support of my sisters around me. I stayed there on my knees with their help and that weekend I left with an understanding between me and Jesus. God called me to be a missionary because He had called my daughter to the same mission, and as her mom, I knew it was my role to help her carry it out.

Into the Sacred Heart

And what is the mission? Christ and Him crucified! Christ and His Most Sacred Heart.

What storms have you endured? Is it hard to find peace? Does it feel impossible to remain standing? Ask Jesus to hide you in His Sacred Heart and it is there you will find protection from the storms that rage around you. Your pain won’t be taken away and your suffering won’t be non-existent. But you will find the peace and love you need to live life to the fullest.

Maggie, I’ll see you in the Eucharist baby girl. Mama loves you now and forever.

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The Pelican: An Ancient Symbol of Christ’s Eucharistic Love

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Sponsored: This article is made possible by Archangel Outfitters supporting quality and engaging Catholic content.

While the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah are the most obvious and biblically clear animal symbols for Jesus Christ, the pelican is an under-rated symbol that is rich in meaning and beauty. There are many birds used in Christian history to represent God: like the dove for the Holy Spirit and even the Mother Hen as an analogy to speak of Christ’s protection of his people in Luke 13:31-35.

Honestly, I had never heard about the pelican as a symbol of Jesus Christ until a few years ago. Since discovering this powerful symbol I have started to notice it more and more in various parishes where I have attended Mass over the years. I have seen etchings of this majestic bird on pillars at the cathedral in my city and have seen the pelican adorned on altars in a variety of ways.

A Symbol Hidden in Plain Sight

I traveled to Italy during college and visited both Assisi and Rome. I wish I had known about the pelican symbol back then because I would have seen some beautiful portrayals of this symbol of Christ in those awesome churches. Before learning about its spiritual significance, the only time I really thought about pelicans was when looking up NBA scores and seeing the New Orleans Pelicans! It’s amazing how something can transform from mundane to meaningful once you understand its deeper significance.

Today, I wear a pelican brown scapular (I alternate it with my traditional style brown scapular every other day), and I received an awesome pelican t-shirt from Archangel Outfitters to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi. These small reminders help keep this powerful symbol of Christ’s sacrifice close to my heart.

This is one of the coolest shirts I own. I wear it almost weekly. It’s perfect for the summertime!

An Ancient Legend Transformed

The image of the mother pelican feeding her baby pelicans is rooted in several ancient Roman legends that precede Christianity. One version is that in time of famine, the mother pelican wounded herself, striking her breast with her beak to feed her young with her blood. Another version was that the mother fed her dying young with her blood to revive them from death, but in turn lost her own life.

Given these traditions, one can easily understand how early Christians adapted it to symbolize our Lord, Jesus Christ. The pelican symbolizes Jesus our Redeemer who gave His life for our redemption and feeds us with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. We were dead to sin and have found new life through the sacrifice of Christ.

The Biblical Connection

While the pelican doesn’t appear directly in Scripture as a symbol for Christ, Jesus himself uses bird imagery to describe his protective love. In Luke 13:31-35, after Pharisees warn him about Herod’s death threats, Jesus laments over Jerusalem:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, yet you were not willing.”

This tender image of a mother bird gathering her young under wings for protection parallels the sacrificial nature of the pelican legend. Both emphasize Christ’s desire to protect, nourish, and save his people, even at great personal cost.

As Jesus told his disciples (and us), “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Saint Cyril of Alexandria echoed this when he wrote, “Christ came into this world in human flesh not to be served, but, as he himself said, to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Physiologus and Medieval Symbolism

This tradition and others is found in the Physiologus, an early Christian work which appeared in the second century in Alexandria, Egypt. Written by an anonymous author, this text recorded legends of animals and gave each an allegorical interpretation.

The legend of the pelican is described: “The little pelicans strike their parents, and the parents, striking back, kill them. But on the third day the mother pelican strikes and opens her side and pours blood over her dead young. In this way they are revivified and made well. So Our Lord Jesus Christ says also through the prophet Isaiah: I have brought up children and exalted them, but they have despised me (Is 1:2). We struck God by serving the creature rather than the Creator. Therefore, He deigned to ascend the cross, and when His side was pierced, blood and water gushed forth unto our salvation and eternal life.”

This work was noted by numerous authors and was popular in the Middle Ages as a source for the symbols used in stone carvings and other artwork of that period.

The Pelican in Literature

The pelican symbol appears frequently in Renaissance literature. In 1312, Dante wrote in his “Paridiso” of Christ as “our Pelican who shed His blood in order to give eternal life to the children of men.” In 1606, John Lyly wrote in his “Euphues” of the “pelicane who stricketh blood out of its owne bodye to do others good.” Even Shakespeare referenced this symbolism in Hamlet: “to his good friend thus wide, I’ll open my arms and, like the kind, life-rendering pelican repast them with my blood.” In modern English this would translate as: “I’ll open my arms wide to his true friends, and like a mother pelican with her brood, I’ll even give my blood for them.”

Jesus cares for us like the mother pelican cares for her young.

The Eucharistic Connection

The pelican has been part of our liturgical tradition for centuries. In his great Eucharistic hymn “Adoro te devote,” St. Thomas Aquinas directly addresses Christ as the “pie pelicane, Jesu Domine” (the pious pelican, Lord Jesus), asking him to “wash my filthiness and clean me with your blood.”

This Eucharistic connection is why we often see the pelican image on tabernacles, altar frontals, and other church furnishings. The image powerfully reminds us of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, where He continues to feed us with His Body and Blood.

As Saint Pio of Pietrelcina said, “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.” The Eucharist is not merely a symbol but the very life of Christ given to sustain us spiritually, just as the pelican in the legend sustains her young with her own blood.

Saint John Paul II reminded us that “Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love.” The image of the pelican helps us visualize this profound truth—Christ giving Himself completely for our salvation and nourishment.

Finding the Pelican in Our Churches

Next time you’re in a church, especially an older one with traditional furnishings, look around carefully. You might spot a pelican carved on an altar, etched in a stained glass window, or painted on a tabernacle door. These images aren’t random decorations but powerful reminders of Christ’s sacrificial love.

In Catholic tradition, the pelican image on a tabernacle door symbolizes the “body of Christ” within. But more commonly, the pelican symbol is found at the top of the cross in late-medieval and Renaissance Crucifixion images, reinforcing the connection between Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the nourishment we receive in the Eucharist.

The pelican serves as a beautiful reminder that Christ not only died for us but continues to feed us with His very life. As we receive the Eucharist, we can meditate on this ancient symbol and be thankful for the Lord who, like the pelican of legend, gives His very life to sustain His children.

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The Kitchen Table and the Kingdom: Faith, the Trinity, and Eternal Life

/ chicoinematt

Guest Post by: David Tonaszuck

A reflection on the Gospel of John 3:16-18

Dear Friends in Christ,

There is a family in a small parish — let’s call them the Rodriguezes — whose story many of us who know them will never forget. A few years ago, their youngest daughter, eight-year-old Sofia, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. The doctors were honest but grim. The family was devastated, as any family would be. But they did something that changed not only their own lives, but the life of their entire community. They prayed. Not quietly, not privately, not alone — they opened their home every Friday evening and invited their neighbors, their parish friends, and even strangers to gather around their kitchen table and pray together to God the Father, through Jesus His Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Week after week, that kitchen filled up. People who hadn’t been to Mass in years came. People who weren’t even Catholic came. They prayed the Rosary, they read Scripture, they laid hands on one another and asked the Holy Spirit to move among them. And six months later, Sofia’s oncologist called with results that left the entire medical team without a ready explanation. The cancer was gone. Completely. Sofia walked back into her school, back into her life, and back into the arms of a community that had been transformed by what they had witnessed together.

But here is the most remarkable part of the story. It wasn’t just Sofia who was healed. Something happened in that neighborhood that no one fully planned. People who had come to pray for a sick child left believing — really believing — in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And belief, as today’s Gospel tells us, changes everything. That community went on to build a food pantry, a clothing drive, a tutoring program for at-risk children. They built, in their own small and beautiful way, the Kingdom of God. And it all began because they believed.

John 3:16
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