More Writings by Maria

Over the past year, my life changed drastically. It started on a random Tuesday thirteen months ago when my husband came home early, laid off from work without notice and with three months' severance. Initially, we both believed that he would find another job before the severance ran out.

I’m a mom of four girls who are less than four years apart, which means I am quickly approaching several consecutive years of four teenage girls in my house. Yes, I appreciate the prayers, and I know that I will need them. But it’s not the hormones or screaming matches that I’m most worried about…

If you polled a room full of people and asked what they wanted most from this life, the vast majority would answer with some form of, “to be happy.” As Christians, we know that happiness is a fleeting emotion, and there is no such thing as perpetual happiness.

Nothing warms my heart more than a long line for Confession. I love when other sinners respond to God’s call to repent. As we near the beginning of our time in the Lenten desert, it’s time to start preparing our hearts for repentance.

As a Catholic writer, I am blessed and challenged by the knowledge that what I am writing is not really my own words. My goal every time I sit down at the keyboard is to write the words God wants from me. For this reason, I have learned that I don’t suffer from a traditional writer’s block…

I love meditating on the Wedding at Cana. Attending a wedding seems like such an ordinary event for Jesus and his friends to attend. I imagine them laughing and enjoying themselves, much the way I do when I attend weddings, which helps me remember that Jesus was fully human too.

About eight months ago, my husband left his job. I’m a stay-at-home-mom with our four daughters, and the reality of not having an income felt overwhelming and stressful. Even if we don’t worship money and make it our priority, we still need it to pay the bills.

Saint John Bosco, or Don Bosco as he was known, is a saint that everyone in the publishing world should know. He was a simple priest who lived and served in Turin, Italy in the nineteenth century. He revolutionized the education and reform system by implementing a love-based preventative method.