Effie Caldarola Archives - Page 3 of 10

Effie Caldarola: Recovering ‘recovering’ Catholics

02/15/2023 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY “I’m a recovering Catholic,” our contractor announces jauntily, apropos of what I can’t remember. I think we were trying to decide on flooring for the front deck. It’s a phrase with which we’ve become familiar, so common that this guy we know only because he’s overseeing some basic repairs to our old […]

Effie Caldarola: Appreciate the larger picture

01/04/2023 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY Mom was recuperating, years ago, in front of the television set in her hospital room following surgery. As she grew older, surgery was hard on Mom, physically and mentally. It took her down and she was never quite able to climb back to pre-operation levels. On this particular day, when the nurse […]

Effie Caldarola: ‘This man welcomes sinners’

11/23/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY So, after two years, I finally succumbed to COVID-19. When I woke up feeling like a cold was coming, I wasn’t surprised. I’d been exposed by a grandchild. Nevertheless, since I was going out to lunch with friends, I took a quick test. Negative. On the drive home, I started to feel […]

Effie Caldarola: ‘Take care to guard against all greed’

11/09/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY My great-grandfather, a refugee from the devastating famine in Ireland, came to Nebraska to farm. Generations later, I grew up on that farm. I have roots — literal and figurative — in the land he purchased, a very small acreage of which I still own. These roots help me to identify with […]

Effie Caldarola: ‘Letter’ inspires action

10/26/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY When you think about the Vatican, great filmmaking isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But a documentary released by the Vatican on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4, is a must-see for all of us. It should be advertised in every parish bulletin, mentioned from every altar, […]

Effie Caldarola: ‘Do not worry about tomorrow’

09/14/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY One of my daughters recently reunited with college roommates on the opposite coast. It was her first airplane flight since COVID-19, and the first time she would be away, overnight, from her almost 2-year-old daughter. She was nervous. The 2-year-old? Not so much. “How’s the baby doing?” I asked my son-in-law. “Is […]

Effie Caldarola: Choosing a side

06/22/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the saint asks us to make a choice between “the two standards.” Using our imaginations, we envision the banner, or standard, of Christ arrayed on one side, and the legions of the evil one gathering in opposition on the other. Which side do […]

Effie Caldarola: Our wounds and our hope

05/11/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY A story about St. Teresa of Avila tells us that one day the devil appeared to her in the guise of Christ. Immediately, she dismissed him. You are not Christ, she told the devil. The devil was puzzled. How did you know I wasn’t Christ? Because, Teresa replied, you have no wounds. […]

Effie Caldarola: Easter offers hope

04/27/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY Like life itself, Lent starts out nice and slow. And suddenly, Easter is upon us. There may have been a Lenten midway point, or maybe as Holy Week began, we realized that Lent has sped by. We ask ourselves, Did I do enough? It’s human nature to feel like maybe we […]

Effie Caldarola: Lessons from Monte Cassino

03/02/2022 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

FOR THE JOURNEY The hairpin turns were gasp-inducing, especially to someone afraid of heights. As we climbed higher and higher, I alternated between covering my eyes and then peeking out at the remarkable landscape unfolding beneath the narrow Italian road that spiraled up toward the peak of Monte Cassino. I was on my way to […]