It is often said that going to bed angry is not good for the body and soul. Many times we rush to get to sleep in order to avoid having to face contentious issues in the home or at work. We take these negative emotions to sleep with us, and maybe, just maybe, we get a good night’s rest. But most of the time, we find ourselves tossing and turning all night and therefore starting the next day sleep deprived. This is especially true with married couples who argue and decide to go to bed without resolving the issue. On Monday, let’s talk about the benefits of never going to bed angry.

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Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

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When life throws us all sorts of curveballs, it’s good to have people we can count on for support. You know the type. They’re there for you through thick and thin, providing unconditional love, a listening ear and great advice. Often, the ones who are most apt to do this for us are God and our spouses. But here’s the deal: other than those two sources, whom do you most lean on as a sort of anchor in life? Let’s give a huge shout out to these great individuals, and share with the world just what makes them so reliable in our times of need. If you’re that person for someone else, tell us what it is about them that elicits such loyalty from you.

Right now during the season of Advent, we are remembering friends, family and ourselves. But are we remembering those who may need us the most? The sick, the needy, the homeless, the dying, the imprisoned? The Church calls each of us in his own way to reach out through the corporal works of mercy. How are we caring for the less fortunate and being Christ to them? Let’s have a discussion about this on Thursday.

We all evolve during our lives. That can mean that our circle of friends will change from time to time, depending on where we are in life, especially with regard to our relationship to God and the Church. Has there been a time when you made certain changes in your life, and one or more of the people you once considered “friends” decided they no longer wanted to associate with you? This can be a painful reality. But it can also free us up to become more like the people God wants us to be. If you’ve gone through this, and come out a better person, share your take that will help others who may be experiencing it right now.

Life is short. But it doesn’t always present itself that way. We can be lulled into thinking that we have all kinds of time remaining on earth. This is perhaps especially true when we’re younger and feel invincible. As life takes its twists and turns, there will inevitably be sentiments we hope to share with someone. These might be expressions of love and appreciation, moments of reconciliation, and more. Just about everyone will wake up one day and realize that the opportunity has passed. The one you had every intention of unburdening yourself to has died. While we believe that we are never truly separated from people we know who are deceased, we sometimes still carry with us the discomfort – or worse – of knowing that we should have said something important to them when there was still time. Has this happened to you? Your take on this topic will have a huge impact on those who don’t want to miss their golden opportunity, and possibly live to regret something that was left unsaid.

It’s a fact of life for so many people. Enduring pain in some part of your body on a daily basis is no fun. It can impact virtually every facet of your life, including family obligations, work duties, interest in and motivation for hobbies or interests, and many others. Perhaps you’ve searched high and low, far and wide for a solution to your chronic pain, without anything alleviating it or making it go away. Now, what do you do? We can embrace it, of course, and offer it for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. We should do that with any and all types of pain that we experience in life. But, for those who struggle with the same pain every day of their lives, it can become frustrating, debilitating, and even depressing, leading to all sorts of other health problems. Let’s unpack this difficult topic, and hear your takes on how you or someone you know manages to put their two feet on the ground for another day, when pain is the most familiar thing you have to look forward to.

By now, the sights and sounds of Christmas have already dominated the malls, stores, TV commercials, and even some radio stations. But we just got through Thanksgiving, and Advent doesn’t begin until next Sunday. Liturgically, Christmas begins on December 25 and runs through Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6. In our churches, decorating follows the liturgical calendar through Advent and the Christmas season. For individual Catholics and families, there are no specific guidelines. So, what do you do with regard to decorating your home or yard for Christmas? Do you wait until Christmas Eve to put up your tree? When do you take the tree and decorations down? Have you sometimes felt like oddballs, being the only ones on your block without decorations until right before Christmas? Are we selling out to the secular spirit of the “holidays” by joining in the decorating craze well before Christmas Day? Let’s see what people think and how your approach this issue.

Just about everyone has decisions to make about where they will spend Thanksgiving and Christmas. Husbands and wives each have their own families, and want to try to make sure they spend at least some time with them. It helps in making the decision when one’s family lives closer than the other’s. There are also extended relations and friends who may invite us to be with them at some point over the holidays. How do you make these decisions as a family? As a single person? Do you feel like you’ve “been there, done that,” and now stay close to home with your immediate family more often than not? Let’s talk about this so we can all learn tips on how to honor everyone we can at Thanksgiving and Christmas, while not neglecting ourselves or our own families.

We have choices to make every day. Some turn out well, while others don’t quite meet with the same success. In fact, using hindsight, some decisions we make, or actions we take, turn out to have been just plain dumb. Are we more likely to do these types of things when we’re younger and less wise? Or, is the potential there for this to befall us at any stage of our lives? Some examples might be taking on a college friend’s challenge to down ten cans of beer in five minutes, blindly trusting that a wall outlet is working properly when your wife told you she saw sparks coming from it when she last tried to use it, driving at 90 miles an hour with your lights off on a windy country road, you get the idea. Perhaps you would never in a million years have even considered doing anything as outrageous as these things. But, if we’re honest, each of us has done something “dumb” at some point along life’s journey. Let’s talk about this, not simply for the sake of the colorful details, but with a view to how we have matured in our thoughts and actions as we’ve gone through life.

Many of us were taught to say certain prayers as children. For others, it may have come a little later in life when you came to faith in God. In either case, it’s hard to forget the very first prayer you learned to pray. Maybe it was the prayer Jesus told His apostles to pray when they asked him to teach them – the Lord’s Prayer. For you, it may have been the traditional, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” prayer. On Friday, let’s head into the weekend with reminiscing about the first prayer(s) we can recall praying.