By Pat Haggerty

If you are like me, you must find that emails have a way of multiplying and getting out of hand.   The messages are like weeds in a garden.  After awhile, we have to do something about them.  I can remember when I first started emailing years ago. There were lots of personal messages that I really looked forward to receiving.  Now, other than business messages, there are ads, newsletters, news briefs and on-line communities to read about.  There comes a time when one must “delete.”  This is my time.

By Pat Haggerty

Many of us have been consumed by the Olympics over the past week and a half.  We have watched event after event, cheered on our favorite athletes, and digested every morsel of Olympic trivia that we can consume.  We have become exhilarated by some of the successes and deflated by the sadness of some of the failures.

There is nothing wrong with this Olympic-mania!  It incites our feelings of patriotism.  It promotes our sense of the global village.  It encourages us to appreciate discipline and persistence.

Perhaps we can take a lesson from this experience---despite its magnitude and pomp.  There are things to be learned from the dedication of the athletes to the symbolism of the medal ceremonies.

By Pat Haggerty

I know I should be looking ahead to this coming Sundays’ gospel readings.  However, I can’t seem to let go of last Sunday’s readings.  It seems to me that when we “reflect” it’s an act of going back.  One of the definitions of the word reads:  “to cast back light.”  That is a good way of looking at the gospels and how we can reflect on them.  We listen to the gospel at Mass; think it over; and try to make sense of it in our own lives.  We try to cast that light of their beauty to others.

By Pat Haggerty

Those readers who are not new to my blog, know that I delight in family events and in my family.  As a wife, mother and grandmother, I have much to be thankful for.  The Lord has blessed me many times over!  My life is always full with family commitments and family events.

At the end of June my son was married to a lovely young woman.· It was a beautiful wedding!· The bride and groom were not selfish about the “limelight.”· They didn’t need to have the entire focus of the wedding be on them.· They graciously asked their young niece and two nephews to be in the wedding party.· Sam and Will were the ring-bearers and Sophie was the flower girl.· Any couple who allows children to be in the spotlight at their wedding has to be a generous pair!