by Joanna Dailey One of the nicest things about being Catholic is having a Christmas crib in church. (Thank you, Saint Francis of Assisi!) I still remember the Christmas crib from the parish of my childhood. It completely took over one of the side altars in our church. It was … Read more...

by Joanna Dailey As I write this, I am living in the afterglow of the National Catholic Youth Conference held this past weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana. What a conference! This was the first opportunity I’ve ever had to attend, and I thank Saint Mary’s Press for sending me! As I … Read more...

by Joanna Dailey Advent is coming! Now is the time to hunt down those Advent wreaths, Advent candles, and purple tablecloths. Now is the time to order those day-by-day Advent meditation books for yourself or for your group. This year, the First Sunday of Advent is December 1. The Catholic … Read more...

by Joanna Dailey It is common knowledge, or should be, that we are mind-body-spirit entities. We rediscover this whenever we are visited by illness, whether that be an annoying headache or something more serious. We are a three-legged stool, as it were, of mind, body, and spirit, and if one … Read more...

They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here— Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees, And the mumble of the hummin’-birds and buzzin’ of the bees; But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape … Read more...

by, Joanna Dailey Life is a journey, and getting there is not always, as the saying goes, "half the fun." This is proven to me several times a year as I make trips to various places for various reasons. My most consistent destination is Winona, Minnesota—the headquarters of Saint Mary’s … Read more...

My town (Terre Haute, Indiana) holds an annual blues festival called "Blues at the Crossroads." The intersection of U.S. 40 and U.S. 41 is called "the Crossroads of America" because this is where the National Road heading west (commissioned by Thomas Jefferson and now known as U.S. 40) crossed the … Read more...

At some point in the last few decades, the philosophy of "I’m okay, you’re okay" seeped into our cultural milieu. No longer were we to wallow in guilt over our shortcomings and think of ourselves as "less than." No, we were to declare, "I’m okay!" and then accept others as … Read more...

Can it be August already? The days of summer are, as Simon and Garfunkel used to sing, "slip slidin’ away." In my youth, August used to be longer. It was the last month before school opened, and there seemed to be plenty of time to meander in the neighborhood branch … Read more...

What do editors do in the summer? In my case, they check page references for Saint Mary’s Press books coming out in the fall and spring. In the course of publishing a book, page references (to glossary pages, or to other pages in the book, or to pages in an … Read more...

If there ever was a Scripture verse for summertime, this is it: "Come to me, all you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:27–29 GNT). Childhood memories of the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" have imprinted our psyches, so even those … Read more...

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay Watchin’ the tide roll away I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay Wastin’ time . . . . Has anyone heard prayer defined as "wasting time with the Lord"? It seems that Otis Redding (writer and singer of the above … Read more...

’Tis the month of our Mother, Those blessed and beautiful days When our lips and our spirits Are glowing with love and with praise. Does anyone remember May processions? (Some parishes still have them, so maybe some of you need not remember that far back.) In the days of long … Read more...

Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen! And we are celebrating Easter in this Servant Leader by including news about a special app! (Yes, the title of this column is an Easter pun.) Our founding editor, Steven McGlaun, sent this column as a special gift for us this Eastertide. As … Read more...

"When I’m worried and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep." (From a song lyric by Irving Berlin, written for the movie White Christmas.) What I do, actually, is alphabetize my blessings. (That’s so typical for a word person, don’t you think?) I assign myself a topic … Read more...

Holy Week (or Great Week, as it is known in the Eastern Churches) and Easter are the ultimate paradigm for human life: first suffering and death, then Resurrection. This paradigm is played out over and over in our lives—in small ways and in large. Somehow, despite upsets and setbacks, we … Read more...

Ever since Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation on February 11, 2013, the Catholic world has been preoccupied with the election of a new pope. Because Pope Emeritus Benedict has resigned rather than died, we are spared the sorrow of a papal funeral and the nine-day period of mourning which … Read more...

Ah, Lent. Let us join together for a short excursion into my childhood’s Lenten "Land of No." On a personal level, no candy. On a family level, no ice cream for dessert. (We all got a reprieve on my birthday, which usually landed in the middle of Lent and was … Read more...