Author Archives: anastaziejoy

Faith is not a magic trick. I remember walking home from elementary school one day and attempting an experiment. I told a tree to uproot itself and move. I had been thinking about the verse in the Gospel according to Luke where Jesus told his disciples that if they only had faith enough, they couldContinue reading “Faith Isn’t Magic”

We live in an overstimulated age. Many people have written about the dangers and negative repercussions of this reality: the anxiety it causes, the loss of authentic human interaction, the need for there to always be an exciting new thing while simultaneously there is nothing new under the sun. One of the things we’ve lostContinue reading “The Gift of Boredom”

“Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” Luke 18:1 There are many verses throughout Sacred Scripture about the importance of prayer and in chapter eighteen of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a parable to illustrate the importance of perseverance in prayer. Luke tells usContinue reading “Persevere in Prayer”

A friend who has been going through an unimaginably hard loss shared a post recently that resonated deeply with me.  It read: Early grief is so bewildering. “Early grief is largely this- crashing again and again into a reality that can’t be real.” Megan Devine Grief is bewildering. Time continues to pass, the world movesContinue reading “Grief”

As we approach the election of 2024, a lot seems to be at stake. If the Democrats win will this be the last meaningful election? If they don’t win, but are declared winners anyway by the media, what does that mean for the future of our nation? The common response that I have heard isContinue reading “Our Hope is in the Lord”

We live in a consumerist society. This reality is evident not only in the food we eat and the products we buy, but also in the way we approach media. Entertainment is easily accessible all around us. Whether it is reading, listening to music, or more often than not, watching videos, we consume content toContinue reading “Of Great Value”

Blasphemy is a serious sin, “the prohibition against blasphemy extends to language against Christ’s Church, the saints, and sacred things…Blasphemy is contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. It is in itself a grave sin.” (CCC 2148) If the scene depicted in the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games was meant toContinue reading “Blasphemy”

In his sermon on the mount, Jesus commands his followers to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them. (Matt 5: 44) I have often found this challenging, not because it is so hard for me to love my enemies, but rather because I find it hard to think of anyone inContinue reading “Who is My Enemy?”

Years ago, I was friends with a woman who was adamantly opposed to fiction. She reasoned that because fiction was, by definition, not true it was therefore false and a violation of the ninth commandment. As both an avid fiction reader and an aspiring writer, I was shocked to encounter this belief. It was anContinue reading “Stories”

Yesterday I was feeling sick. Not horribly, absolutely, unable to function sick but just unwell enough to be uncomfortable. I have a sort of “power through it/tough it out” attitude when I’m sick so I went to work anyway. As the day progressed, I began to feel worse and was considering leaving, but I wasContinue reading “Pray for One Another”