eisenburg
Years later, Debby, the daughter of a good friend, came to visit. She had just discovered that she was unintentionally pregnant. I held back from saying much; I only listened. I was just there, for her and with her. There was trust. She felt welcome and safe. The picture of her daughter now hangs in my living room. People often tell me: because you are unmarried, you can do what you want. That is not true. Freedom, I have learned, is synonymous with availability for others. As a Christian, I know that God’s hand rests on my shoulder and that he does not always do what I want. He’s just there for me. In the same way, I want to be there for others. That’s my place in the world and in the Church.

MORE STORIES

Rev. Patrick Render, CSV

After 25 years in the priesthood, Fr. Patrick Render was given time for a sabbatical to discern the future direction for his life. He shares some of the wisdom he gained during that time.

VIEW THIS STORY

Basil Brave Heart

Here’s another time my grandmother taught me about forgiveness. We used to go out and pick cherries and plums. Before we started picking the fruit, she would take a little bread and some dried meat, and we would go sit down on the canvas, and then she’d make a prayer: ‘These plums are our relatives,…

VIEW THIS STORY

Constance Caruso

It is never too late to become who you might have been. I was tomorrow’s woman in the 1950s, and I didn’t fit. I was in a job that didn’t fit me because they wouldn’t pay attention that there was somebody in here. I had no sense of my capability. So, I lived each day…

VIEW THIS STORY

Desmond O’Grady, SJ

Desmond O’Grady is a Jesuit priest who served in many prominent positions throughout Ireland. He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He shares what living with the disease has taught him and how it has changed the way he lives life.

VIEW THIS STORY

Christine Nampande

After my husband died in 1989, his relatives attempted to evict me from our family house and land. I decided to rent land for cultivation. I had to travel four miles from home to that land every day with a child on my back. But I thank God that I reported the case and the…

VIEW THIS STORY

Desmond O’Grady, SJ

Desmond O’Grady is a Jesuit priest who served in many prominent positions throughout Ireland. He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He shares what living with the disease has taught him and how it has changed the way he lives life. [Interviewer] You have a great sense of, first of all, honesty. You tell the truth…

VIEW THIS STORY