

Cringing and the Path to Mercy
What is the cringiest, most awkward or embarrassing memory you have? I think each person has moments like this. We all have events in our lives we wish we could change. Often, it’s just silly and relatively small moments that we cringe over. Sometimes these “recall” moments are real regrets. I’ve always been a serious cringer. I’ve often gone back to embarrassing or awkward moments in my memories and physically cringed. Like, it has come to the point where my stomach clenches


Celestial Dawn
My hands break from pounding the wall
I collapse as the floor shatters and I fall
Falling and falling, I cry out in agony
Soon to become one more in the myriad of dead men The battlefield that surrounds me, engulfs us all in flames
I cling tightly onto my last shred of hope
But it is snatched from me by enemies, the creatures in the dark
I hear them mocking me; invading my thoughts as they convince me To lay down arms, surrender, and accept my fate; they laugh I cry out


Fast-Food and the Dignity of the Human Person
This past December I ended up quitting my part-time job at Subway after two and a half years of working there. During my time there I would reflect on what my motivation was while working in the fast-food industry. Understandably, as a student, I mostly appreciated making an income. I never expected that I would learn such foundational and spiritual lessons by merely making sandwiches for hours on end. I encountered and served many different people during each shift. There we


Advent, Darkness, and the Call to Hope
Christmas is fast approaching. During December, it seems that everything is calming down and yet speeding up at the same time. Unlike most years, this year I’ve been feeling a little isolated from it all. This season of life has found me in a place where I don’t really feel like anticipating Christmas, or anything hopeful, for that matter. As this year has held many new challenges and experiences of personal growth and adjustment, I am left feeling a bit numb and filled with


Waiting on God
It has been on my heart to make my first writing piece about feeling distant from God. I held off on writing this piece until now because after countless times of praying to feel God’s presence and answers, He made something known to me. I haven’t had it easy for the past two years. I was trying to heal from heartbreak and 2017 felt like the worst year of my life. I had a lot of trouble feeling God’s love and God’s presence in my life during that year and I would constantly p


Imperfectly Authentic, Perfectly Loved
Authenticity is so hard. I often struggle to be completely real with people. This is a common struggle that most of us deal with every day. However, sometimes a fear of being genuine reveals deeper insecurities in us. Recently I’ve been discovering that somewhere along my life journey I started believing a lie. A lie that I was only lovable if I presented certain images of myself to people. I remember being a little girl and trying to be as cute as I could so that my siblings


Men for Others
The term, “Men for Others” is one used frequently at St. Paul’s High School here in Winnipeg. It is used to describe what a graduate of that institution must exhibit, someone who takes the interests of others before his own. This motto is displayed everywhere, and it is frequently used by the teachers to remind the young students of their true purpose. During my first few months at St. Paul’s I had a hard time understanding the deeper meaning of the phrase, but I soon realize


You Are Not Alone
Life is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given, but it can be frustrating at times. The concept of living out my life is simple but the reality of it can be a struggle; it is a package with many parts just like God. The Blessed Trinity is a mystery, having three persons in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” In the Latin tradition, our right hand goes from our forehead, downwards to the sto


Green Thumbs and Growing Hearts
When my siblings and I were little, my Mom used to make us pull weeds with her in the summer. We have two long flower garden beds in our front yard, and we would divide the gardens into five sections so that each of us kids would have an equal amount to pull weeds. Despite my mother’s instructions, we weren’t very thorough. We’d just pull the top portion of the weeds and then most of the roots would stay in the ground, only producing more weeds within a week or two. But then


The Power of Our Fathers
From the beginning of our life to the very end, there is a father, who loves us, protects us, and reminds us of who we are. They are our fathers, men who have dedicated their lives to the service of their own. The love of a father is not measured nor is it questioned. A father serves for a very long time; but a time of joy it is. The title, “Father,” is one of the most important and special titles any man can receive in his lifetime. In our Catholic lives, we are given many o