Effie Caldarola

United States

Columnist OSV ; former writer for North Star Catholic, former organizer for Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Articles

Looking toward the dawn at Easter with joy, hope and prayer - Effie Caldarola

1 week ago | thedialog.org | Effie Caldarola

My younger brother was gay. He found a haven and a career in New York City, but never spoke of his sexuality to our mother, even though she knew, and they loved each other very much. Before he died, Bill told me he thought he was her favorite child.
Looking toward the dawn at Easter

1 week ago | catholicreview.org | Effie Caldarola

My younger brother was gay. He found a haven and a career in New York City, but never spoke of his sexuality to our mother, even though she knew, and they loved each other very much. Before he died, Bill told me he thought he was her favorite child.
Rain and Tears: The Lessons Learned in Lent

1 week ago | todayscatholic.org | Effie Caldarola

(OSV News) – The morning sky is gray and my favorite window for prayer is rain-streaked. Rain is welcome. We’ve experienced drought, and there are wildfires nearby. And yet, there’s often something sad, nostalgic, about a rainy day. Years ago, when I was a young high school teacher, I made a retreat at a center on the Kansas prairie. It was newly founded by Father Ed Hayes, later a well-known spiritual guide and author. The center, in its primitive stages, was low on guest rooms.
Rain and tears - OSV News

1 week ago | osvnews.com | Effie Caldarola

2 The morning sky is grey and my favorite window for prayer is rain-streaked. Rain is welcome. We’ve experienced drought, and there are wild fires nearby. And yet, there’s often something sad, nostalgic, about a rainy day. Years ago, when I was a young high school teacher, I made a retreat at a center on the Kansas prairie. It was newly founded by Father Ed Hayes, later a well-known spiritual guide and author. The center, in its primitive stages, was low on guest rooms.
Rain and tears

2 weeks ago | news.diocesetucson.org | Effie Caldarola

The morning sky is grey and my favorite window for prayer is rain-streaked. Rain is welcome. We've experienced drought, and there are wild fires nearby. And yet, there's often something sad, nostalgic, about a rainy day. Years ago, when I was a young high school teacher, I made a retreat at a center on the Kansas prairie. It was newly founded by Father Ed Hayes, later a well-known spiritual guide and author. The center, in its primitive stages, was low on guest rooms.
Rain and tears: sacred moments in a season of growth

3 weeks ago | oursundayvisitor.com | Effie Caldarola

In a conference with Father Hayes, I was my usual silent self, weeping but unable to share my inner feelings. It was raining that day as well, and the priest gazed out his window and said, “the sky is crying, just as you are.”Is the sky crying now, I wonder, as I gaze out the window of my much-older life? Isaiah tells us the rain replenishes the earth, just as God’s word is sent and does not return to God empty (Is 55:10-13). But can tears replenish us as well?
Two Irish Saints

1 month ago | news.diocesetucson.org | Effie Caldarola

On a windy hill in the north of Ireland, I visited a grave claiming to be St. Patrick's. A couple of other sites vie for that honor, but this hill is a deeply moving place. During St. Patrick's season, my thoughts turn to two other Irishmen on the road to sainthood. There's Blessed John Sullivan, born in 1861, a handsome man, the scion of a prominent family.
Two Irish Saints

1 month ago | irishcatholic.com | Effie Caldarola

Two Irish Saints Blessed John Sullivan SJ On a windy hill in the north of Ireland, I visited a grave claiming to be St Patrick’s. A couple of other sites vie for that honour, but this hill is a deeply moving place. During St Patrick’s season, my thoughts turn to two other Irishmen on the road to sainthood. There’s Blessed John Sullivan,…
Irish Saints in the Making: Matt Talbot and John Sullivan

1 month ago | oursundayvisitor.com | Effie Caldarola

Sullivan’s mother was Catholic; his father, destined to become the Lord Mayor of Dublin, was Protestant. In that era’s tradition, girls were raised in the mother’s faith, boys in their father’s. Sullivan studied at Protestant schools, then Trinity College in Dublin. He studied law in London. Later, he acknowledged his Protestant upbringing with inspiring his early spirituality, and an Anglican bishop attended his beatification ceremony.
Two Irish saints

1 month ago | nwcatholic.org | Effie Caldarola

On a windy hill in the north of Ireland, I visited a grave claiming to be St. Patrick’s. A couple of other sites vie for that honor, but this hill is a deeply moving place. During St. Patrick’s season, my thoughts turn to two other Irishmen on the road to sainthood. There’s Blessed John Sullivan, born in 1861, a handsome man, the scion of a prominent family.