Author Archives | Heidi Bratton

Heidi Bratton - who has written 55 posts on Catholic Exchange.


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Catch Me Now, I’m Falling

Posted on 07 August 2010

We enjoy the sport of rock climbing as a family.  Because granite cliffs are a bit hard to come by where we live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, we most often climb at a world-class, indoor climbing gym about 40…

Of Minutemen, Mass, and Me

Posted on 30 July 2010

At 3:45 p.m. I bravely steered the minivan out of our driveway and headed north to Lexington, Massachusetts, in the greater Boston metro area.   Yes, that Lexington.  The Lexington of Paul Revere’s ride, the birthplace of the American Revolution where…

“But, Why…?”

Posted on 24 April 2010

I have been nibbling away at a book titled, The Difference God Makes, by Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.  I say nibbling away because what Cardinal George has to say about the role of the Catholic faith in our modern word…

Profiles of Life in the Womb and Beyond

Posted on 25 February 2010

On Ash Wednesday, we entered into not only the liturgical season of Lent, but also into the 2010 “40 Days for Life” campaign.   In hopes of encouraging as much participation as possible in this important spiritual work of fasting and…

Divinely Jealous Love

Posted on 12 February 2010

When we only read Holy Scripture in snippets or summaries, we miss some contextual words that can help us better understand God’s love.  For example, it wasn’t until I read the 10 Commandments straight from Deuteronomy 5:1-21 that I…

Of Pitchers, Pennies, and Priests

Posted on 19 January 2010

This time last year some graduate-school friends from Ireland and their three young children came to visit us on the Cape.  It had been several years since we had seen one another, so our time together was rich with recounting…

Life-changing Gifts

Posted on 16 December 2009

Thirty years ago I received a Christmas gift that would change my life.  It came from my mother, a woman so artistically gifted and impulsively creative that each year the wrapping paper and bows on the presents beneath our tree…

Broadcasting Salt, Light, and Leaven

Posted on 07 October 2009

I live in the zone of overlapping radio waves for K-Love Christian radio station and a National Public Radio station that both broadcast at 91.1 FM. Because of my geographical location, these two stations from polar opposite ends of the…

How Serious is Your Marriage?

Posted on 28 August 2009

I heard a shocker the other day.  One evening, while out with a few girlfriends, a man approached my sister-in-law and started flirting.  It had only been a few months since she and her husband had exchanged wedding rings, so…

Reduce, Reuse, Refuse to Despair

Posted on 08 July 2009

My job in the economy of our family is to plug the holes of unnecessary spending in order to stretch my husband’s income as far as possible. It’s a challenging position, but one that has become a bit easier since…