Catholic Exchange

Who Were You?

• Archives
• Monday, May 31st, 2010
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

I hoped none of my friends saw me there. God forbid they caught me waving one of the small American flags that Mom had bought at Ben Franklin for a dime. At sixteen, I was too old and definitely too cool for our small town’s Memorial Day parade.

The Rabbi’s Lesson

• Nancy Jo Sullivan
• Friday, April 2nd, 2010
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

Why does God allow suffering?  Twenty five years ago I often asked that question.  I was a new mother but my baby daughter was seriously ill.  Not only did she have Downs syndrome but the doctors had discovered a life-threatening… Read More

Smile Wrinkles

• Nancy Jo Sullivan
• Thursday, March 11th, 2010
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

Last week, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I found myself watching an infomercial on TV.  As I lounged on the couch, a well-groomed woman, middle aged and very blond, pitched the virtues of a wrinkle reducing cream.
“It’ a miracle. … Read More

Welcome to Heaven

• Nancy Jo Sullivan
• Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

When I was growing up, our family life often revolved around the game of hockey.    Every winter, my father would make a skating rink in our back yard.   My sisters and brothers, all nine of us, learned to skate, twirl… Read More

The Divine Touch

• Nancy Jo Sullivan
• Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

Over two decades ago, on a snowy November night, our first baby was born with Down’s syndrome.   It was a winter filled with the despair of dashed hopes and dreams.  But it was also a season when the warmth of… Read More

Oh, Little Town

• Archives
• Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

The December stars twinkled above the small Minnesota town where I live.   A light snow fell as I walked through the streets of our neighborhood.   Though my breath froze in the chilly evening air, I was warmly bundled in a… Read More

Good Company

• Nancy Jo Sullivan
• Friday, December 11th, 2009
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

The windows of the coffee shop were decorated with pine garland and strands of cranberries. As the snow fell outside the shop, I stomped the snow from my boots.
It was early December, the first week of Advent.

“I’ll have… Read More

A Holy Interruption

• Nancy Jo Sullivan
• Friday, November 6th, 2009
• Nancy Jo Sullivan

I like the idea that Rachael, my youngest daughter, attends a Christian college just twenty five minutes from our home. At nineteen years of age, she has her independence but still gets home quite often to do her laundry or… Read More