by Claire Dwyer | Mar 22, 2025 | Discernment, Let Yourself Be Loved, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
When I speak or write about St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, I often focus on her now-famous message, “Let Yourself Be Loved.” Leading retreats, I walk attendees through an imaginative prayer experience where they go with the Good Shepherd back into the places of...
by Claire Dwyer | Mar 19, 2025 | Uncategorized
My children have a wooden toy that is designed to help with concentration and coordination. Held in your hand, the challenge is to use fine adjustments in your grip to line up rotating magnetic disks in a straight tower–not an easy task, since the disks easily swing...
by Claire Dwyer | Nov 4, 2024 | Let Yourself Be Loved, Litany, prayer, Saints, Vocation
“My dad teetered on the ladder, balancing both a paint can and a Baltimore Catechism. ‘Why did God make you?’ He hollered down, quizzing me as I sat cross-legged on the grass underneath. “‘To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to...
by Claire Dwyer | Oct 20, 2024 | Dryness, prayer, Spiritual Direction, spirituality
Re-reading the Diary of St. Faustina recently had me experiencing a bit of spiritual whiplash. She describes ravishing joy: “His presence penetrates me to my very depths and fills me with peace, joy, and amazement, After such moments of prayer, I am filled with...
by Claire Dwyer | Apr 25, 2024 | Discernment, Everyday Holiness, Present Moment, The Sacred Everyday
My friend and I were supposed to be strategizing, but we found ourselves commiserating. Working wives and moms of many, we had, in the past, diligently organized our little blocks of time. On paper, everything lined up in tiny, tidy squares. A time for this, a time...
by Claire Dwyer | Jan 21, 2024 | parenthood, prayer
“Mom, I never see you eat.” My teenager leaned against the kitchen table and looked at me with concern. I tried to laugh it off. After all, the extra 15 pounds I was carrying around indicated otherwise. “Oh, I eat,” I assured him. “You just don’t see me.”...
by Claire Dwyer | Dec 2, 2023 | Advent, Liturgical year, Present Moment
The baby’s wail rang through the church, reverberating through the air, an audible avalanche. It shattered the silence after communion with such piercing power I was momentarily stunned. The mother had already retreated to the back of the building—no doubt...
by Claire Dwyer | Sep 30, 2023 | prayer, Spiritual Direction, Writing
“I don’t know if I have been able to write ten lines without being disturbed…I am not telling any lies when I say that I am writing practically nothing,” lamented (laughed?) St. Thérèse of Lisieux. She had snuck out to the convent garden to write, hoping to make...
by Claire Dwyer | Sep 24, 2023 | Spiritual Direction
“Do you seriously wish to travel the road to devotion? If so, look for a good man to guide and lead you.” — St. Francis de Sales Let’s just say it right off the bat: finding a good spiritual director is not easy. However, for those serious about advancing in...
by Claire Dwyer | Sep 14, 2023 | Discernment, Spiritual Direction
My husband, riffling through the junk drawer, held up a fistful of keys. “Don’t you think it’s time you returned these to the parish?” “I forgot about those,” I said thoughtfully as I put my coffee in the microwave for the third time that morning. There were many...
