WiseGal

“We will rebuild this Cathedral together.” The French President spoke solemnly of the beauty that is the great Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the tragedy that was its desecration. It is no secret that Catholic Europe has had a significant decline in its Catholic identity over the past couple of centuries. However, all who watched the fire in horror, all who sang Ave Maria as the spire fell, felt great pain watching their beloved church be consumed, not because of the Cathedral’s cultural significance, but because of its spiritual significance. I am reminded of Saint Francis of Assisi. As the amazing saint sat in San Damiano church, he heard God speak to him through the cross: “Go rebuild my Church.” Saint Francis took God literally and rebuilt a small church in Assisi. I love this story because I certainly don’t know what God means oftentimes. It’s comforting to know that I am among saints and that it’s better to take God literally than to fail to act entirely.

I have become so worn down by the expectations of others, people who seem to suggest that I need to be doing more with my life. More than providing reliable care and selfless love to two children? More than enjoying life according to the blessings I’ve been given? This should be enough. And yet, I have been stupidly hard on myself for not meeting people’s expectations. I’ve practically tortured myself over every perceived failure. But the truth is, I have a pretty great life. I have a roof over my head and food in the fridge. I have the two happiest children on earth and a husband who loves me fiercely. I experience total, uninhibited joy on a regular basis. So why does it not feel like enough? I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of things: my desire to be admired and utter confusion. The first is a sin; the other is mere human nature. As for the first, I could simply blame others for putting pressure on me to succeed in a way that makes sense to

“…Courage to change the things I can…” A new movie about abortion was recently released. Unplanned is based on the book by the same name, which follows the true story of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director. Abby worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years. She herself had two abortions. This woman was firmly pro-choice. And then one day, she quit and is now one of the most prominent pro-life voices in the country. So, what happened? Why the sudden change? According to Abby, she became pro-life after witnessing an abortion of a 13-week-old fetus on an ultrasound monitor. She describes in her book how this little human was fighting for his life. Many have speculated as to the authenticity of the movie. But one thing is clear, something happened. Something big had to have happened in order for Abby Johnson to make such a drastic change. It had to be something significant enough to push her to leave her job and career, sacrifice her financial security,