Tag: St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Engagement and Love: Madeleine Delbrêl’s Mission to Marxists and the “Ordinary People of the Streets”

~ Peggy Haslar

In 1933, a 29-year-old French social worker moved to a communist suburb southeast of Paris to begin a remarkable undertaking. Madeleine Delbrêl and the women who joined her would live Gospel-infused lives in a working-class city dominated by Marxist ideology. Madeleine's life witnesses to the grace God can grant when souls commit themselves to love … Continue reading Engagement and Love: Madeleine Delbrêl’s Mission to Marxists and the “Ordinary People of the Streets”

Descending Ego’s Stairs: St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Christmas Conversion

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 2 Comments

The traumatic loss of her mother when she was four deeply wounded the youngest daughter of French lacemaker Louis Martin.  By the age of 13 Thérèse, all frills and curls, was a sensitive "tween" given to tearful outbursts. Pampered by her older sisters and doted on by a father her who called her his “little … Continue reading Descending Ego’s Stairs: St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Christmas Conversion

A Prayer Practice for the Anxious Heart

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 4 Comments

There are plenty of "hard sayings" in the Bible, but one I often puzzle over doesn't tend to make the lists offered for our reflection. It's Christ's directive to have no anxiety. What? I protest. Anxiously. A spiritual director once asked me point blank, "Why are you so anxious?" Momentarily stunned, I responded with a … Continue reading A Prayer Practice for the Anxious Heart

Recharge Wellness, Wonder and Spiritual Spark, Beginning with a One-Page Miracle

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 2 Comments

Whatever happens day by day as various authorities work out rules of re-entry in the tenuous phases of COVID-19 response, the easing of quarantine has many of us asking ourselves what we've learned from this experience so far, what we've lost and what we want to recover. Re-entry, whether to half-capacity churches, marked-off restaurant spaces … Continue reading Recharge Wellness, Wonder and Spiritual Spark, Beginning with a One-Page Miracle

Unselfconscious Icons: The Hidden Power of a Good Example in an Age of Bluster and Bling

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 4 Comments

On an ordinary day in the Denver photofinishing plant where I worked as a personnel clerk many years ago, one of the department heads came running into the manager's office across the hall from mine. "Somebody just puked in the restroom!" he exclaimed. "The custodian's at lunch and there's nobody to clean it up!" "Who? … Continue reading Unselfconscious Icons: The Hidden Power of a Good Example in an Age of Bluster and Bling

Beyond the Résumé and the Eulogy: Virtue, the Little Way

~ Peggy Haslar

It was almost 20 years ago when I entered the small-town high school gym and found a seat with a good view. The seniors waited in cap and gown for a slightly off-key band to begin "Pomp and Circumstance." And the banner above the platform proudly proclaimed, "The question isn't are we ready for the … Continue reading Beyond the Résumé and the Eulogy: Virtue, the Little Way

Luther and the Little Way: A Gradual Gift from a Catholic Conversion

~ Peggy Haslar

The 500th anniversary of the Reformation has concluded.  The year provided many occasions for dialog, discussion and defense of each side of the Catholic-Protestant divide. I've been an invested observer, having been received into the Catholic Church over a decade ago after a lifetime as an active Evangelical, but I'm unqualified to spar with theologians … Continue reading Luther and the Little Way: A Gradual Gift from a Catholic Conversion