Lord, make me an instrument of your peace

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Happy Birthday, Pope St. John Paul II

Even before I was a practicing Catholic, I had a great admiration for Karol Wojtyla, also known as Pope St. John Paul II. I admire his joy and love, his ability as a passionate communicator, the way he spoke and wrote about the freedom found only in Christ, his commitment to creating a culture of life, his generosity of spirit toward everyone, his love for the Blessed Mother, his incredible intelligence (actor, poet, playwright, fluent in something like 12 languages), and of course, the role he played in the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe. Today would have been his 100th birthday.

If you are ever DC once all this is past, do visit his shrine in Brookland:

The Saint John Paul II National Shrine

They have been holding some great online events, and I will be watching one later this week, one in a series about the Gospel of Life. More info:

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical The Gospel of Life, the Saint John Paul II National Shrine presents a series of lunchtime webinars on this message and how to accompany the elderly, women in crisis pregnancies, adults with intellectual disabilities, and perpetrators and victims of injustice.

You can register for that webinar series here.

Pope St. John Paul II, pray for us!

Email etiquette, babies!

Hi everyone! Last call to register for Tuesday’s VIRTUAL class with General Assembly on email etiquette. I designed this class before the pandemic began, and it was highly relevant then - and even more so now as we all state at our screens and try to be polite via email.

BEST NEWS OF ALL: I have a special discount code you can use for a whopping 50% off. Visit the registration page and use code EmailEtiquette_50 to bop off that 50%. That means this class is only $28!

Details: Tuesday, May 19, 6:30 pm

Register for this class to learn the do’s and don’ts of writing effective, positive, proactive email communication. Learn simple steps to guide your tone and professionalism when emailing, and learn when it’s time to move the conversation offline and face to face.

Takeaways:

• The difference between writing professional and personal emails

• The advantage of being a proactive emailer

• When to use exclamation marks

• How to effectively find and set a meeting time with multiple parties via email

• The golden rule: never complain, never explain (in email writing, and in life!) And more!

Register today!