Bed Mime

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Bed Mime

In peace I will both lie down and sleep. – Psalm 4:8 (RSVCE)

I didn’t know Mom was a stomach sleeper until the last year of her life.  At bedtime, I would walk with her to the bathroom sink and hand her a warm, wet washcloth with which she dutifully scrubbed her face. Next, I would load the toothbrush with toothpaste and give it to her. She diligently and vigorously gave her teeth a thorough brushing. Although she taught me how to brush my teeth as a child, I realized now my current toothbrushing pattern was cursory compared to hers.

Next, I’d assist Mom with her nightgown. A nightgown – not pajamas. In winter, it was a flannel nightie – usually white with a delicate floral blue pattern. In summer, it was a sheer, short-sleeved shift in pastel pink or green.

Once Mom was ready for bed, I would pull back the covers and watch as she climbed in, listening to her express how good it felt to get into bed. I would adjust the pillow and watch her turn and get settled on her stomach. There was a specific way she placed her right hand up near her face and slid her left arm down alongside her body. Once Mom positioned herself that way, I knew sleep would soon follow.

There’s an intimacy in knowing whether someone is a stomach sleeper, side sleeper, or back sleeper. These were things I’m sure Dad knew well, but now I was learning them about Mom.

Thank You, Lord, that You know our ways completely.

Reflect: What special things have you learned about your loved one while caregiving?  Cherish the intimacy and thank the Lord for the privilege of knowing.

The above selection is Entry #26 in Part III: Eternal Spring of Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey (© 2024, En Route Books and Media)

Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey | En Route Books and Media

Photo copyright: Canva

Divine Love

/0 Comments/in , /by

Divine Love

By Isabelle Wood

“Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”—John 13:1b (NRSVCE)

As Catholics, we are familiar with all types of devotions: devotions to Mary, Joseph, the saints, and Jesus. But sometimes, it can be easy to forget the meaning behind devotions when we become overly familiar with them.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus can be one such devotion. It is one of the most popular devotions in the Catholic Church, and many Catholics keep an image of Jesus’ Sacred Heart in their homes. And yet, I think it’s easy to focus only on the steps for the First Fridays devotion and the promises Jesus made us, and to forget what’s at the heart of it all: Jesus’ burning love for us.

Jesus loves us so deeply that He gave everything He had, even to the point of death. Even to the end. And He thirsts passionately for us to turn to Him, to love Him in return . . . He longs to save our souls and all the souls of the world and for us to know just how much we are loved.

So, next time you look at an image of the Sacred Heart, remember that . . . and let it inspire you.

© Isabelle Wood 2025

Edited by Gabriella Batel

That I Could Imitate the Weed

/0 Comments/in , /by

That I Could Imitate the Weed

“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”—1 Peter 4:10

Years ago, waiting downtown for a passing train, I noticed a cluster of weeds peering from an impenetrable overpass wall. That day, I changed my mind about weeds as I considered how they took root and grew in nearly impossible conditions. I wanted to tug on them to see if they would yield to pulling, to study what circumstances may have led them to root in this place.

Weeds are a source of constant work if you care about keeping them at bay, yet they have a perfect purpose in God’s creation.  In nature, their job has been to try to repair damaged ground wherever the soil has been “broken.” They evolved to be tough and hardy, surviving all seasons. Early man ate “weeds” as crop plants.

I quit pulling dandelions from my lawn and purposely planted milkweed after that day. I tried dandelion greens in my salads and enjoyed Monarch butterflies munching on milkweed in the early morning before I left for work. They continue to grow back.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us.”—Hebrews 12:1

That cluster of weeds remained on the overpass for years but has long since been gone. I am certain its offspring grows exactly where it is meant to be, where the wind deposited it for someone else to draw strength and perseverance while considering the promise of weeds. 

I wrote the poem below in honor of the weed.

 

Weeds

persistent pests

and yet

promises of enduring return.

 

Their dandelion wishes

scattered by passing winds

sustain the soul 

while milkweed’s sacrifice of red and yellow pods

lures magnificent Monarchs.

 

That I could pluck resilience from the lowly weed!

Pull me through life’s ploughing field

so I can grow, again and again.

Caddy Back

/0 Comments/in , /by

Caddy Back

 

By Lisa Livezey

My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender children.
—Genesis 33:13 (DRB)

 

Outside Mom’s house sat three vehicles. There was the 26-foot camper parked near the patio, the old gray Buick Century Sedan that Dad had used around town and kept running with duct tape and spit, and finally the tenth-generation beige Cadillac de Ville— reserved for more dignified occasions.

Soon after Dad died, my son—savvy with Craigslist—helped sell the Buick for several hundred bucks. As for the camper, winter wasn’t the best time to sell. Plus, I lacked the time and energy just then to clean and empty it out. Then there was the Caddy which offered a quiet, padded ride—like sitting in the lounge of a fancy hotel.

Despite the Cadillac’s availability, we had been chauffeuring Mom to daily activities in my car or that of her aide. But when riding shotgun, Mom was tense and frequently burst forth with exclamations of dismay at the mere passing of another car.

I discovered that if Mom sat in the middle of the Cadillac’s backseat, she would ride contentedly along in peace. Thus, I didn’t sell the Cadillac and began driving Mom around in the vehicle where she felt most comfortable. It was Mom’s car, after all, and hers to enjoy.

Lord, we are but weak children. Thank you for Your provision of tender care.

Reflect: Is there something in your loved one’s life that provides physical comfort? Is there a tangible way in which God shows His tender care for you? Take a moment to thank the Lord for His provisions.

 

The above selection is Entry #17 in Part II: Weathering Winter of Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey (© 2024, En Route Books and Media)

Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey | En Route Books and Media

Photo copyright Canva

Hopeful Peace

/2 Comments/in , /by

Hopeful Peace

“We love because He first loved us.”—1 John 4:19 (RSV)

I think that, deep down, we all long for peace. And maybe even more than external peace, we all want an internal peace. We want the kind of peace no circumstance in the world can take away. The peace the martyrs had in the face of death.

Jesus is the One who promises us this peace, and yet, if you’re like me, peace can sometimes still remain elusive, even when you’re doing the work God calls us to do as His disciples. Sometimes, we just seem to be wearing ourselves out no matter how hard we try, and when that exhaustion hits and swipes away our peace, our joy and ability to love others goes with it. Confusion steps in. If Jesus promised us peace in the face of all trials, then why does it seem to be snatched away in our efforts to do His work?

I think the answer lies in our perspective and our motivation.

If we only make the sacrifice to get up early and help out at the parish fundraiser on Friday because we are counting on getting to sleep in on Saturday, we’re going to be disappointed—especially if our kid wakes us up at five in the morning on Saturday and we think we’ve somehow been cheated out of the perfect schedule we’ve planned.

The truth is, if we do God’s work placing our hope on perfect rest and peace in this world, we’re going to be disappointed. We weren’t made for this world. All our longings for God will never be completely satisfied until we reach Heaven, and that homesick ache we want so badly to be filled will never fully go away in this world… because we’re not home yet.

In a wonderful paradox, once we realize that, once we bank our hope on Heaven instead of the next Saturday we can sleep in or the next family vacation, we finally find the peace of the saints.

And once we find that peace—once we can finally understand the depths to which God loves us—once we are finally quenching our thirst with the Living Well that never runs dry—then we can do the work God calls us to do. And love as He loves.

© Isabelle Wood 2025

Edited by Gabriella Batel

Freedom to Love

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Freedom to Love

“For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.”– Galatians 5:13 (NABRE)

Our culture says many things about freedom. It says freedom is the ability to do anything we want. It says freedom is acting on our own selfish desires no matter how it affects others. It says that if we are not allowed to act on every impulse, then we are not truly free.

But as Catholics, we have a different definition. Freedom is the ability to do what we ought. It is knowing the right thing and choosing to do it, no matter the cost to us. It is controlling our sin-corrupted desires and surrendering to what God wants, not what we want.

At the heart, we can’t have love if we don’t have freedom—and vice versa. Freedom is a condition of love, but if we don’t choose to love, we’re not really free. If we want to be truly free—and say no to being enslaved to all the passing power, wealth, and pleasure the world offers us—we must have a deeper yes: the yes to love God and love others as He loves.

And God’s love isn’t the fleeting, pleasure-driven feeling the culture defines it as. God’s love is the nitty-gritty, self-giving, all-the-way-to-the-Cross kind of love. God’s love means sacrifice. . . so that’s how we are called to love: by serving others and sacrificing our own desires and selves to do so.

Because freedom means love, and love means sacrifice.

So, this Lent, how will you choose freedom over slavery? How will you choose to love God and love how He loves? What sacrifices will you make?

© Isabelle Wood 2025

Edited by Gabriella Batel

Balancing in Thin Air

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Balancing in Thin Air

If you’ve never experienced vertigo, be thankful. It is unpleasant to say the least. Over the last few years, I’ve been grappling with recurring bouts of vestibular neuritis, a fancy word for damage to the inner ear system, causing severe spinning, dizziness, nausea, motion sensitivity, and loss of balance. New life phase, new challenge.

Before vertigo, I floundered to manage work and family responsibilities; before that, it was life as a newlywed, life in college, and high school days. Well, you get the picture. When my resources were spread thin and it seemed there was no air to breathe, finding spiritual equilibrium became even more critical than regaining physical balance.

Two lessons from my father gave me a better perspective during times of imbalance.

One prayer I learned from him—Lord, let me never stray far from You, but if I start to wander, pull me back—helped me visualize a lifesaving rope tied around my waist. I felt safe knowing that as long as I didn’t cut the rope, God was at the other end and would not let go of me. I didn’t need to walk a tightrope alone. Secondly, one of Daddy’s favorite scriptures helped me imagine that I was one of the birds Matthew spoke of and that God would always take care of me:

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”—Matthew 6:26

I’ve shared this verse many times and eventually wrote the poem below as I considered what it means to be the bird.

Life will always present situations that upset my current balance and sometimes whoosh the air from my lungs. When I remember these simple lessons from my father, attend Mass, and receive the sacraments, I find that I’m not suffocating anymore. I stand steady and straight. I can breathe again.

 

Become the Bird

by Paula Veloso Babadi

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. . . ”—Matthew 6:26

 

When air is thin

breathe out

breathe in.

 

Breathe in

beauty

and truth.

Breathe out

despair

and fear.

 

Into thin air

disperse

your sighs,

and

out of thin air

become the bird.

 

Copyright 2025 Paula Veloso Babadi

Edited by Gabriella Batel

Sign that says: Fear Not I am the one that helps you

Vital Sign

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Vital Sign

 

The LORD will give you a sign. – Isaiah 38:7 (GNT)

 

It was a September Sunday morning at 2 a.m. when I descended the hospital elevator and stepped out through sliding glass doors. Walking to the nearby corner, I bought coffee at the 24-hour convenience store. The warm cup soothed my palm as I continued around the block, taking comforting sips of the hot liquid. It seemed surreal that only a week ago Dad had been living his full, active life.

A woman stood on the opposite sidewalk tossing pebbles up against a second story window, trying to awaken the sleeper inside.There was a sleeper inside of me resisting all this change. What was I going to do with Mom and how could I manage everything on top of my own full life? I told Dad years ago that if he went first, I’d keep Mom at home where she was comfortable. But was that truly possible?

I rounded the corner and started up Main Street, lined with silent boutiques and artisan coffee shops. Suddenly ahead of me appeared a sign, brightly lit. In bold black letters were the words, FEAR NOT, I AM THE ONE WHO HELPS YOU. Was I dreaming, seeing this sign in the middle of the night? No doubt it was a message from God that He saw me and would help in the coming days. I took a picture, found courage in the moment, and headed back towards the hospital.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us signs–especially in times of desperate need. 

Reflect: What signs of encouragement has the Lord given you along your caregiving road?  Keep a watch this week for evidence of his loving care.

 

The above selection is Entry #8 in Part I: Unexpected Fall of Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey (© 2024, En Route Books and Media)

Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey | En Route Books and Media

Back view of a young woman looking into the sunset.

Offer it Up

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Offer it Up

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.”—1 Peter 4:12–13 (RSVCE)

Lent is approaching soon. As Catholics, it is during Lent—a season of penitence—that we often give up things we enjoy, or take on a little something extra: any little bit of suffering to help train us spiritually.

But sometimes we don’t need to go looking for trials. . . sometimes, trials find us. This is one of the world’s biggest issues with Catholicism: how could a loving God allow good people to go through hardship? The reason the world is so confused, though, is because that is the wrong perspective to have.

Even Jesus suffered while He was on Earth. But Jesus’ Suffering and Death on the Cross weren’t pointless—it was the price it took to win our souls back from the power of darkness and bring us back into the kingdom of light. And because of what Jesus did on that Cross, if we so choose to join our sufferings to His, every little cross Christ hands us can be the price for souls.

God doesn’t call us to pick out our crosses. He calls us to pick them up.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give ourselves little penances, but it does mean we shouldn’t expect that to be the only suffering we ever have to face. And when unexpected and unasked-for trials do arise, we should thank God for the opportunity to help Him save souls. . . and then offer it up.

© Isabelle Wood 2025

Edited by Gabriella Batel

Privacy Act

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Privacy Act


By Lisa Livezey


Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
—Genesis 9:23 (RSVCE)


It was a Tuesday evening when I encountered my younger brother in the hospital hallway outside the room where Dad had been admitted the day prior. He approached me, frustrated. “They won’t tell me anything,” he said. “You have to give them permission.” As the person named by Dad to access his medical records, I needed to provide specific names of those who could receive information about Dad’s condition. Stopping at the nurse’s station, I gave approval that my brother’s questions be answered and from then on, he barely left Dad’s bedside.


Adopted by my parents at age four, my brother was thankful for Mom and Dad’s provision of a stable home in time of need and was deeply bonded with Dad. I greatly appreciated his compassionate presence and emotional support at this time.


Entering the hospital room, I noticed Dad had loose pajama pants on beneath his hospital gown. Thus far, he had worn the standard hospital frock— tied at the neck and open down the back. The pants, although less convenient for hospital staff, offered coverage, and I felt a sense of relief at the increased decency. I later learned that my son-in-law insisted on this measure of propriety, advocating for Dad and thus protecting his dignity.


Pray: Thank you, Lord, for privacy measures and the protections they bring—both legal and physical.

Reflect: Think about the safety and comfort that privacy offers when you’re feeling vulnerable. Are there ways to uphold your loved one’s dignity? Ask God for the means and strength.


(^The author’s brother rarely left their father’s bedside during the week “Privacy Act” took place.)
___________________________________________________________
The above selection is Entry #3 in Part I: Unexpected Fall of Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey (© 2024, En Route Books and Media)
Minding Mom: A Caregiver’s Devotional Story by Lisa Livezey | En Route Books and Media
Listen to the audio version of “Privacy Act” read by the author.

Stay in the Know

Join Our Newsletter

Members and supporters can get the latest on CWG news and events by signing up for our newsletter.

Catholic Writers Guild
P.O. Box 77
Eaton, IN 47338

About
Membership
Connect
Showcase

Blog
Contact
Terms of Use
FAQs

Pray with Us

Click Here