Miracle Moments

Today is a day of celebration and Thanksgiving as my middle son Benjamin turns 18 years of age! I am so grateful for the gift of his young life because as he told me yesterday, "I've been through a lot in my 18 years!" That he has, and yet he continues to impress us with his extraordinary strength of character and beautiful persevering heart. This gifted young man has been through more tearful trials and tribulations than anyone deserves at such a young age. Yet he is the kind of human being whose divinely anointed soul has inspired the rest of us to believe in things that are beyond our human comprehension. Last week the Lord reminded me of that through a chance encounter with a teacher at Ben's High School. This lovely gentleman told me he had recently interviewed Ben about his senior year service project in the Appalachian mountains this past summer. As he struggled to find the right words he paused before saying, "I have never heard a student describe h...

My father died suddenly of a heart attack in January 1998. I was in Cuba, covering Pope John Paul II's inaugural visit for television, when I received the shocking phone call. He had been driving alone near his home in Tampa Florida when he apparently felt chest pains, pulled over to the side of the road and died. It was a shock for all of us, losing him so suddenly and just when he seemed to be enjoying his life. My dad was an honorable man who worked hard serving in the United States Air Force. A job that sent our family globetrotting every three to four years. We bounced from Germany to California, to Florida to Germany to Kansas to Florida, to California then back to Florida. My head still spins when I think about it. Duty also called my dad away from us. He spent one year in Thailand, one year in Vietnam and one year in Korea. I remember missing him terribly and not really understanding why he had to go away for so long. Since my German mother didn't drive, his ab...

My oldest son Johnny, turns 26 today and I am so grateful for the gift of his precious life. I am also captivated by how God is cultivating my child's renewal and redirecting his focus. Johnny has been a member of Comunita Cenacolo for two years, entering "Our Lady of Hope" in St. Augustine, Florida in May 2009 and transferring to Borgoro Italy nearly a year ago. I can't believe how the time has flown! I would like to share with you part of a letter he sent us this week...because I feel his unique life is becoming a powerful example for all of us. "I wrote a letter to Mother Elvira expressing my desire to go/open the mission in Liberia. I've arrived at a certain point in my spiritual journey where I feel/hear/sense God calling me to my path. For me, it is 100% clear in my heart that the next step in my formation involves being at ground zero with the poor. Funny thing to me is, I really feel I stood for all this before with the band and all the rhetoric ...

Twenty one years ago I took a plane ride with the man who is one step away from being declared a Catholic Saint, Blessed John Paul II. I flew with a host of network news people and other Vatican officials, aboard the Pope's plane to the former Czechoslovakia. It was both an honor and a privilege to be part of the papal entourage at a time when miracles were unfolding behind the iron curtain. Being the girl that I am, I wore a suit I bought just for the occasion. A dark blue Ann Klein jacket and pleated skirt, which I dubbed "The Pope's suit." It's still hanging somewhere in my closet. As you can imagine, it was an exhilerating experience watching this living saint move among the sea of humanity who came to hear his powerful message of solidarity and hope. In fact John Paul had been called the "Hope of the World" for boldly proclaiming the redemptive power of the cross to the suffering everywhere. When we landed in Prague, I learned very quickly, th...

My son Benjamin today became a Eucharistic minister. He's just 17. I find that extraordinary. As I watched the priest confer the blessing upon Ben and a handful of Jesuit High School students, I marveled at the mysterious movement of our merciful God-in my middle son's life. A year ago Ben was thinking about ending his life by jumping off a second floor balcony at school...And now today-he was at school, being inducted into a privileged group of ministers who will be giving life, by distributing the true bread of life, the Holy Eucharist. I thought about Ben's difficult journey, from anorexia to recovery, but also how his journey of suffering has led him straight to the source of true lfe, Jesus Christ. God gave Ben life, then renewed his broken life. Now Ben will be passing on God's saving love, by distributing the body and blood of Christ crucified, to countless Catholics who will be participating in the gift of eternal life, Christ's redemptive death. It was...

Many moons ago when I was too young and much too emotionally immature, my older sister,  shared a secret she had been keeping from our family for far too long. She was gay. I remember reading the surprise letter she wrote me and not knowing what to think or say and so I did the worst thing possible-I said nothing. I simply didn't know how to respond or how to feel about the news. I didn't Love my sister any less, I just felt as though this was one more McCall family secret that had been buried. Unfortunately though, I failed to show my sister the unconditional Love of Jesus Christ and I did not reassure her that I would always be there for her-front and center-no matter what. That silence created a great divide between Ela and me-even further than the many miles that separated her home in California from mine in New Orleans. Through the mercy of God's everlasting grace...Time and trouble and tons of tears have brought us closer than I could ever have hoped for. We hav...

Twenty four years ago today, April 27, 1987 the Blessed Mother allegedly appeared in Hrushiv Ukraine with a warning and words of consolation. She came on the Feast of the Ascension, exactly one year after the nuclear reactor disaster at Chernobyl saying "Do not forget those who have died...Chernobyl is a reminder and a sign for the whole world." In 1990 while producing a television documentary in Ukraine, I visited Hrushi and interviewed a handful of people who had witnessed the apparition above the church of the Holy Trinity. In all, some five hundred thousand witnesses claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary over a four month period. Mary apparently told them she came to thank the Ukrainian people because they had suffered so much at the hands of a raging lion who had been prowling around seeking whom he could devour. She said their suffering would come to an end and one day Ukraine would become an independent state. She then urged disciplined, Christian fortitude, ...

We cried buckets of tears, carried heavy bags under our eyes from all the sleepless nights, harbored a heavy, broken heart that felt like it was going to burst-and then suddenly-without warning-relief. Nothing could have prepared us for that moment, no one could have told us it was coming. We simply would not have believed them. On the day our sons or daughters entered community, we entered a profound feeling of freedom that we had not known could exist. We experienced a new sense of peace and joyful hope that somehow overrode all the past pain and fear. For the first time, in a long time, we felt like living, really living. When the doors of community opened, the door to a new way of life flew open. This weekend I was reminded of that remarkable reality during a parent's retreat sponsored by Comunita Cenacolo. As I sat and absorbed the talks and the prayer, the testimonies and the teachings, I felt the continuing evolution of all the spiritual principles I have held dear. Ou...

My friend Kat is celebrating her birthday today enjoying God's hand in creation along the beautiful California shoreline. She is spending a few days with my sister in Mendocino California which is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and nestled among an artist colony. They sent us beautiful pictures of the cliffs and white peaked waves and I wondered why anyone would ever want to leave that vision. I'm so happy for her getaway because she's deserving of abundant blessings and lots of old fashioned merry making--having given others more heartfelt Love then I could ever describe. Their dogs, Sophie and Boris made the cut and are traveling with them, enjoying the perks of parents who like to spoil them-and everyone else. My kids and I know this firsthand! So today we prayed for safety and lots of sunshine for the birthday girl, Kat...And we gave thanksgiving to God for giving her life and giving her to us so that our lives will be fuller and more fruitful-just by knowing her! ...

I had the most amazing experience last night. I witnessed what appeared to be the resurrection of a dying woman. I felt called all day to attend an evening women's 12 step meeting which I hadn't been to in a while. I really felt the urge to go, so after dinner I jumped in the car and flew up town. A few minutes after the meeting started, a girl walked in who looked and felt vaguely familiar. Thin and wiry and dressed in jeans and a modern t shirt, she looked like someone I had known...but I wasn't sure. I just kept glancing at her and then she spoke and shared some very eloquent words of recovery wisdom. As I listened I noticed her front teeth were decayed like the teeth of people I had seen who had been hooked on crack cocaine. It dawned on me, this girl had an uncanny resemblance to a drug addict I had helped about two years ago. A girl I had blogged about. I had been driving downtown on a Sunday morning when this young, emaciated woman fell to the ground in an empt...

I felt a great deal of Love from my sons this week. Caring compassion and outright concern. The kind of warmly inspiring qualities a mom wants to see in the men in her life. They were so sweet...taking me to dinner, asking me how I felt and embracing me tightly with lots of hugs and I Love yous. My children have been tested by fire, scourged at the pillar, agonized in the garden of life...They have pulled through those trials with amazing determination and faith even in the face of fiercely overwhelming challenges...And they are turning out to be gentle, loving young men...The kind of guys every gal would like to know. Zachary kept looking at me, "This too shall pass...I don't really know what that means, but isn't that what you always say?" "Yes," I laughed...giving him a big hug. And so it does...Time passes and with each passing moment, miracles are manifested in a myriad of surprising ways...and especially through my children. I've lost a lot o...

My son Mac turned 22 on the 21st, and for the first time in years he was safe, sober and sitting inside-rehab. It wasn't his idea of a Happy Birthday...However, that's what growing up is all about. Change and change and more change. Growing pains and painful growth. Giving up our reckless past and giving in to healthier choices. I know Mac may not feel good about himself right now, but I believe his Spring will come. It will take time and tough decisions, tears and tiny baby steps...But every day is a new day with the promise of new life and the Love of Christ who is watching over him every step of the way. On the day he was born, Mac kept me in labor all day...Entering the world just before sundown...Screaming at the top of his lungs...Announcing to the world that he had finally arrived-on his terms. I remember he was so tiny, almost fragile and much smaller than his older brother. Who would have guessed that one day he would be towering over the rest of us...Tall, dark...

Miracles happen all the time...However, if you're praying for one, purification may need to come first. Years ago as I prayed for a physical healing from the alcoholism that had crept into my life, I begged God for a healing. I spent hours in prayer, often in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I opened my heart, surrendered my will and pleaded for help. One day as I immersed myself in his presence I clearly heard that I would not be healed "faster than will benefit your soul." It brought me little comfort because I wanted immediate release from the bondage of pure pain that held me prisoner to this awful disease. I did not understand at that moment-that God had planned a glorious new life for me free from the pitfalls that had pulled me into the pit of hell. I did not know that he wanted to give me a healthy, wholesome way of thinking that would forever change the course of my life. I was so immersed in the revolving drama of my life that I could not see the problems th...

St Monica and St Augustine "It is impossible that the son of so many tears should perish." With those words the bishop of Milan Italy, St. Ambrose, predicted that St. Monica's faith and fortitude would fuel a final showdown and lead to the baptism of her son, St. Augustine...And he was right on target. St. Monica traveled far and wide, following her son to distant lands, praying incessantly on bended knee, storming the heavens in the unshakable hope that God would save her son's soul. In 386 A.D. at 35 years of age, the once morally corrupt alcoholic St. Augustine, saw the error in his ways and chose the high road that led him out of the darkness and into the light of heavenly Love. It's a beautiful story and I keep it close to my heart as I pray for the healing of my own son Mackie. He fled Comunita Cenacolo two weeks ago and is now in a rehab facility here in New Orleans where he says he's committed to kicking the drug habit and healing his broken heart. His...

Sometimes I think too much...So that's when I know I have to start praying harder. Immersing myself in the spiritual tools that work for me is the best solution to the traveling mind. Believe me, my mind can go to far away places and different time zones up and over reality into foolish fantasy faster than yes-how corny-a speeding bullet. I was thinking today about all the things that have gone wrong for my son Mac. All the unsettling maneauverings by someone. Then the thought occurred to me-instead of dwelling on the obvious-I need to pray...Conscientous, consistant prayer...At morning Mass, with my prayer group, before the Blessed Sacrament and moment to moment. When I communicate with God, opening my heart and my soul to the power of the Holy Spirit, I get answers...and I intuitively know what God expects of me...My whole attitude changes for the better...I become hopeful and happier and my external and internal vision becomes clearer. Inspired wisdom calms my mind and dri...

I believe in giving back...So nearly every week I spend one hour reading for Radio for the Blind. I can't imagine what it must be like to not be able to read...So it's really the least I can do...Especially since reading is one of those God given gifts that I'm pretty good at. From week to week I never know what manuscript they're going to hand me...and truthfully, that's just fine by me. Three weeks ago when the audio man handed me the magazine article I laughed out loud, "Is this a joke or a bad dream?" I received a long article on the "merits" of the booming "marijuana" industry in California. Young entrepreneurs are working diligently to push pot and all the support props into mainstream acceptance. Yes-this is happening in America...However, after all the family chaos it felt like the joke was on me. Then last week I got an ugly look at life in Haiti...and the alarming increase in rape inside Haiti's earthquake camps. It...

Our kids are as different as night and day. With five sons, I know this all too well. However, as I prayed for my son Mac today, I began thinking about his older brother Johnny who has been in Comunita Cenacolo for the last 21 months. Johnny, four years older than Mac, entered community on a six month commitment before deciding to stay longer-thus far almost two years. I guess Johnny's journey in community has seemed much too easy for those of us watching from the outside. He has stuck it out even when the going got rough...Like right now. I recently received a letter from him in which he wrote, "I'm now three months into this kitchen, and I have to be completely honest, sometimes I feel like I'm suffering like a dog. The cooking, the cleaning, the late hours, no free time whatsoever, washing in a sink late at night, little sleep. It's heavy." Does that sound familiar to anyone? Hello mothers! Johnny went on to say that he knows he'll be a better, st...

"Don't question in the darkness what God tells you in the light." It's a tough one, however I'm trying to keep that thought front and center as I move through the moments. My second son Mac left Comunita Cenacolo this week after entering just one week ago. He's not ready to surrender his will completely to the will of God and to those who have come before him and made the long difficult journey through recovery. Mac wants to do it his way, which by the way, has gotten him locked up in jails, institutions and more dangerous scenarios than I would like to remember. Over the last few years we have tried inpatient, outpatient-everything humanly possible...So now, I will pray and completely surrender my child to the Lord...to the belief that there is a power greater than any demonic darkness that is hovering over his heart and holding him hostage to this very cunning, baffling and powerful disease. I choose to believe that my God can do for my son what he c...