Christ Crucified (c. 1632) by Diego Velázquez. Museo del Prado, Madrid

“In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will be seen as no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” ~St. Teresa of Avila.

Whenever I hear or read this quote, I am reminded of one of the most “inconvenient” nights of suffering I had in a hotel many years ago. My husband and I were living in Italy at the time, and we were driving home from a vacation to the north of Italy. We decided to stop for the night at a place that sounded nice: “The Romantic Hotel.” The night was anything but romantic. The Italians didn’t put screens on their windows, there was no air conditioning, it was summertime, and the mosquitoes were hungry. It was a night from hell. But we were tired, so we took refuge under the sheets and tried to sleep.

Photo by Asad Photo Maldives from Pexels

When you’re looking for ways to spice up your love life, you probably don’t think of consulting the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You might be surprised.

Painted door Morocco C.Meert

It is striking that non-Western – and often non-Christian – people seem to be able to teach us essential lessons about life. Lately, two encounters with non-European women have made me question our individualistic lifestyles in a particular way.

Recently, I’ve come across a surge of debates that address the issue of a Catholic mother staying at home vs. working outside of the home, taking on the form of either digital article or social media. The abridged version of proponents of each side tends to go as follows:

“The Catholic mother should never, under any circumstance, work outside of the home. Their children are too important.”
“You don’t understand our specific circumstance.”
“I don’t care what your specific circumstance is. Here is a quote by a prominent Catholic author supporting me.”
“Well here’s a quote by a prominent Catholic author that supports me.”

On Friday July 12th, we celebrate Saints Louis and Zélie Martin.
Everybody in the Catholic Church knows of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, the youngest Doctor of the Church who died at age 24 in a Carmel in Lisieux, France. But very few know about her parents, Louis and Zélie.
Louis and Zélie were canonized on October 18th, 2015, by Pope Francis on Mission Sunday, in honor of St Thérèse, their daughter, Patroness of Missionaries.
They are celebrated together on their wedding anniversary: July 12th. 
Their canonization is the very first joint canonization of a married couple.

Women willing to give up their career (be it temporarily) to stay home for their children should be prepared to have this choice criticized as a waste of talent, a suppression of women, an impediment to self-realization, or as the confirmation of patriarchal structures. This is illuminating for the philosophy of modern culture. It uncovers how society thinks about freedom and the important things in life: freedom is the state of not being constrained by any external factors and what really matters in life is making money, careering and accumulating goods.

Once again, Christianity offers a great alternative view, turning the worldly logic upside down. Here are 8 arguments in favour of staying at home.

“Who knows—perhaps it was for a time like this that you became queen?” (Esther 4:14)

The book Esther tells the story of a Jewish girl chosen for the harem of a Persian king because of her beauty. One of the king’s advisors harbors a deep hatred for the Jews and hatches a plot to exterminate the entire race.