Amy's Blog Archives - Page 2 of 46

The Meaning of Life – Part 1 of 3, An Introduction

May 1, 2025October 26, 2025Amy Schisler

“Live the present moment, filling it to the brim with love” (Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân, Five Loaves and Two Fish).

In the midst of ongoing world crises — wars in Ukraine and Gaza, economic uncertainty, and the loss of our Pope — there remains the desire to celebrate, to hope, to live, even as we mourn the Pope’s death.

As we Catholics ponder the future and await with joyful hope during this time of Sede Vacante, we celebrate the life of a good man who has gone home to the Lord, we have hope for the future, and we live each day awaiting news of our next shepherd.

Over the past three weeks, there has been a great outpouring of love for our Holy Father on Earth. He emulated our Lord as a man of mercy and compassion (“As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them,” Mark 6:34). He understood Jesus’ call for mercy (“A bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just,” March 17, 2013 First Angelus of Pope Francis). He was a man of great love for all people (“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” Mark 12:31).

Pope Francis, a man who lived like Jesus lived, taught what Jesus taught, and loved like Jesus loved, was beloved and adored the world over because he knew the meaning of life. What did he know that we should know? How can we discover the meaning of life?

Faith Beyond Sight

April 27, 2025October 28, 2025Amy Schisler

By Amy Schisler

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” ~ John 20:29

When Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament and establish His Kingdom, he introduced a new list of commandments, His “rules” for living a happy, Christian life. These rules, which begin the Sermon on the Mount, include the phrase, “Blessed are the/they…” Though the eight Beatitudes we know of and refer to are those listed in Matthew 5:3-11, these are not the only Beatitudes which Christ left us.

Who are the Ones Who See?

I once heard that the first Beatitude was said at the Visitation when Elizabeth extolls Mary, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Luke 1:45). I think this is the most beautiful Beatitude because it tells us the one thing that matters most: that we trust and believe in what the Lord promises.

In Luke, we hear a woman cry out from the crowd, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed” (Luke 11:27), to which Jesus replies, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Luke 11:38). While some have said this means Mary is unimportant, that even Jesus dismisses her being blessed, the Lord’s statement confirms just the opposite. With almost identical words to Elizabeth’s, Jesus tells us that His mother is blessed because she heard the Word of God and observed it.

Amidst the Flames

April 9, 2025October 26, 2025Amy Schisler

“I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.” (Daniel 3:92)

Who are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They weren’t in the Children’s Illustrated Bible I had. Perhaps the story is too long, which is a shame. It’s a great and important story.

Worshipping the Golden Statue

King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for refusing to bow before a golden statue. Devout Jews, they worshipped the one, true God, unfathomable to Nebuchadnezzar, who spent his life surrounded by false gods. The Babylonians didn’t understand only one God is necessary.

Like these three, Catholics don’t “pray to” statues or idols. We gaze upon likenesses of our brothers and sisters, Mother Mary, and Father God just as we gaze upon photographs of family. We look at their images, recall their voices, tender touch, loving care. When we pray to Jesus, Mary, or saints, we pray to those in Heaven, not some spirit inside an idol. This wasn’t something Nebuchadnezzar understood (many still don’t).

We Are All Pilgrims

April 3, 2025October 27, 2025Amy Schisler

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)

In 2016, something amazing happened to me. I was able to get two spots on the Catholic Channel’s lottery for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I could hardly believe this dream might come true. My husband was reluctant at first, but one look at the itinerary and he was all in. “These are all real places that still exist?” he asked. My assurance they are was all he needed.

A Life-Changing Pilgrimage

I always tell people that a pilgrimage, particularly to the Holy Land, is life-changing. For me, this journey facilitated multiple changes. From meeting a group of women who would become my closest friends, to discovering more about myself and God’s plan for me, to going from a writer to speaker and pilgrimage leader myself were things I never imagined would happen. Since that trip, I have gone on pilgrimage to the Holy Land once more as a pilgrim and once as a leader (my second and third chances at leading have been on hold since the October 6 massacre). I have organized and led two pilgrimages on El Camino (one for myself and two friends and one for thirty-three pilgrims), one pilgrimage to Italy, and several “local” pilgrimages. Next month, I’m taking 43 pilgrims to France!

Ever since that first pilgrimage, I have felt like a different person. No that’s not quite right. I have become a different person, someone whose life has been turned in the right direction. Where God always had a place in my life — one that was dictated by my own needs and schedule — He now occupies every space of my life, and I’m constantly turning to Him to make decisions about everything from what I eat to what I write.

Mountain Moments

March 16, 2025October 27, 2025Amy Schisler

“Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Luke 9:43)

I recently led a retreat for a parish in Arkansas on the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. One of those mysteries is today’s Gospel, a story with which I’m sure most of us are familiar. Jesus takes His chosen three Apostles — Peter, James, and John — up to the top of Mount Tabor to pray.

A Vision of Heaven

As the three Apostles look on, Jesus is transfigured before their eyes, “his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” The three men saw Jesus in all His glory, the way He is in Heaven, the way we hope will be our reward in the afterlife. The glory of Jesus and the understanding that this is a glimpse into the awesomeness of eternal life were not lost on Peter. He felt the importance of this moment.

And it gets even better. While in His glory, Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah “who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” Overwhelmed by what he is seeing and hearing, Peter naturally wants to cling to this moment. He wants to build tents there on that spot so they can stay there with Jesus forever.

Mountaintop Moments

As I told the ladies at the retreat, Peter was experiencing a true Mountaintop Moment. Often these moments are fleeting or come only after a beautiful spiritual experience. When we attend a meaningful retreat or go on pilgrimage, we typically feel the same as Peter. We are so wrapped up in the divine, influenced by the Holy Spirit, and full of zeal, we don’t want that time to end. Weddings, births, and other momentous occasions also lend themselves to this feeling.

Which do You Choose?

March 6, 2025Amy Schisler

“I have set before you life and death” (Deuteronomy 30:15).

In today’s first reading, Moses tells the people they must make a decision. They must choose life or death. He exhorts them to choose life. How can we reconcile this exhortation with Jesus’s statement in today’s Gospel that we must take up our cross daily? Doesn’t it sound as though Jesus is telling us to choose death, each day over life?

Two by Two

February 6, 2025October 27, 2025Amy Schisler

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two. (Mark 6:7)

Two by two. Not alone. Not in a group. Jesus sent out the twelve two by two.

Jesus could have sent the disciples out on their own. After all, there would come a time when they would each go their own way — James to Spain, Thomas to present-day Iran, Andrew to Greece, John to Asia, Matthew to Africa, and so on. He could have told them that this first sending out was meant to prepare them for what was to come. He could have told them that there are times in life when they would feel and be alone, and they would have nobody to turn to or consult or just talk to.

Likewise, He could have sent them in two groups of six or three groups of four. There’s safety in numbers. Plus, groups of young men traveling around the globe attracting audiences have always been popular, right?

The Lamb in the Temple

February 2, 2025October 28, 2025Amy Schisler

“When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” ~ Luke 2:22

On the day my first daughter was born, twenty-one people visited us in the hospital. A dozen more came the next day. On the third day, when we arrived home, a blizzard was settling in, and I was ready to settle, too. My mother said, “Thank Heaven we’re having a blizzard so that nobody can stop by.” Just then, the doorbell rang!

In the Jewish faith, the mother and newborn baby were required to stay in seclusion for forty days, considered unclean after the birth. Can you imagine? On the one hand, what bliss! On the other, imagine no contact with anyone, no leaving the house, and no going to worship the Lord. This was the case when Mary arrived at the temple.

God Given Gifts

January 26, 2025October 28, 2025Amy Schisler

“And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” ~ 1 Corinthians 12:28-30

One of my most popular retreats is Finding Your Purpose in God’s Plan. Throughout the day-long event, I use the stories of women from the Old Testament to prompt the retreat attendees to discover their talents and use them for the good of the Kingdom. For some, their talents are obvious, but for others, this is much harder than it seems. Or so they think.

Many of us spend years trying to discover what God wants from us, how we are to serve him, or simply what meaning there is to be found in our lives. I often hear women say, “I don’t have anything to offer,” “I’m not good at anything,” or “I don’t know what my gift or talent is.”

What are you looking for?

January 4, 2025October 28, 2025Amy Schisler

“The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’” John 1:38

My favorite hymn when I was a child was, Here I Am, Lord. I loved the rhythm and the simple prose, and I thought the sentiment behind the words was lovely even if I didn’t quite understand their importance. As an adult, the song continues to be my favorite hymn, and it brings tears to my eyes every single time I hear it. Though I still love the music and the words, it’s the deeper meaning that gets to me now. Jesus asks us to serve, and we need to respond like Samuel and the Apostles, ready to answer and do His will.

Awaiting God’s Call

This month, we celebrate the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, our first American-born saint. Two of my three daughters graduated from Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Emmitsburg was the home and final resting place of Mother Seton. Mother Seton to Emmitsburg moved in 1809, where she founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s, the first community for religious women established in the United States. It was in Emmitsburg where she also began St. Joseph’s Academy and Free School, the beginning of Catholic education in the United States.

Before becoming a nun, Elizabeth was a wife and mother. She was not Catholic but was very religious. While nursing her sick husband in Italy, she learned about Catholicism from friends who lived there and was intrigued by the Church and its sacred traditions. The more she learned and attended Mass, the more she felt called to become Catholic.