Melanie Jean Juneau

A Witch Mocks Christians as Stupid

A good friend, Martha, from Madonna House, “happened” to sit beside a self-proclaimed witch on an old bus heading towards the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. Noticing Martha’s large cross identifying her as a member of the Lay Apostolate, the witch cynically remarked that most Christians were stupid because they were completely clueless about the potential power that existed within

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Patron Saint of Missing Socks, Pray For Us

As a mother of a large family, struggling to wash, dry, and fold three or four loads of laundry every day, I secretly wondered if there was an obscure saint, with little to do, who could fill in as my patron saint of missing socks.

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So, HOW Do We Live in the Love of Christ?

To the casual observer, I appear to be a devoted Catholic mother who has lived a sacrificial life worthy of a modern saint. Little do people realize that, although I did pour out my life struggling to raise nine kids on a small farm with little disposable income, I actually missed the core of Christ's message

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Catholics and Mental Illness: Coming Out of the Shadows

Since mental illness is as common and invisible among the faithful as it is in secular circles, concern for mental health cannot simply be relegated to the secular sphere, especially during Mental Health Awareness month in May.

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Catholics Should Learn How to Dance

Is joy at the heart of your life in Christ? Many Catholics feel beleaguered as they struggle to stand up for the truth in an increasingly hostile environment. Of course, it is easy to become so busy addressing serious moral and religious issues that our spirituality is relegated to Sunday Mass and a few Hail Marys rattled off on the run.

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Fear of Deception

The biggest stumbling block to Life in Christ is fear. Many Catholics are leery of any inner, spiritual revelations from their Heavenly Father because they are afraid of being deceived. However, fear of the devil cannot be stronger than our trust in God’s ability to keep us safe or we will miss out on the fullness of life in Christ which is available to us.

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Pro-Life Motherhood: A Feminist Career Choice

Raising children is not a default chore for women who were not successful in the world of business, power, and wealth. However, the trend in the last few decades has been to delegate childcare to women who are often treated like second-class citizens. Society seems to dismiss and even ridicule women’s most sacred, natural role as nurturing mothers.

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Spiritual Solidarity Binds Us To Souls In Purgatory

Just like gravity affects us whether we understand it or not, the Communion of Saints, the fellowship between the living and the dead, affects us whether we believe in it or not. There is a spiritual solidarity which literally binds us together.

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Living With Only a Thin Veil Between Earth and Heaven

I tend to rush through my daily duties like a solitary soul, disconnected from God and other people. However, I became aware that humans are actually intimately connected not just to God and the living but also to those who have died and are alive in Christ after recent encounters with birth, death, and dying.

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Yes, God Communes With Infants

Theoretically, we all readily concede that the Mercy of God is available to everyone, from the richest to the poorest, from the most educated to the illiterate, from adults to small children. Since God is omnipresent, this means everyone on the entire planet is free to commune with Him at the same time because He can be fully present to each soul instantaneously.

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Pope Francis: A Corrupt Creation, Christian Hope, and Rebirth

On February 22, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the importance of Christian hope in the face sin during his weekly General Audience. Although his reflections focused on the corruption of creation, they are not the opinions of a left-leaning environmentalist but the profound insights of a man of God.

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The Problem of Ingrained Sin

Every human being is basically blind to their own faults and sins. There are many reasons we cannot seem to die to self and enjoy communion with God - psychological reasons, inherited sin, pride, the tendency to control and other self-defeating behaviors.

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Only Spirit Inspired Evangelization Is Effective

Trained to evangelize, with social media at their fingertips, modern Catholics might be surprised to discover that the most effective missionaries are still those who humbly carry Christ in their hearts to others.

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Accepting Divine Miracles in My Life With Humility

Most educated people scoff at the idea of miracles, preferring to believe science will eventually provide a plausible explanation for the inexplicable. For these cynics, only the ignorant or gullible donate to fraudulent faith healers or set out on desperate pilgrimages seeking cures.

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Pope Francis and Holy Joy

Even though some old Catholic icons and holy cards often depict saints and the Holy Family looking miserable, with tears streaming down their pale faces, the truth is the saints lived in God’s Presence and in His joy. Even when saints suffered, their suffering was lived out in, with and through Divine Love.

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