Catholic New York

An upstate New York church recently asked me if I would do a Zoom talk for their parish book club, which had just finished reading “Walking Together,” my 2010 book on spiritual friendship. They … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 9/9/20

To Accept and Trust Where God Leads Us

Chiara, 15, walked into our family room after a socially distanced bike ride with a friend and wisely observed that just a couple of months ago wearing a mask seemed like such a burden, an unusual … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 8/12/20

To Understand Struggle, Go Deeper

A little more than five years ago, I stood on land owned by distant DeTurris relatives in Massa Lubrense, Italy, the birthplace of my paternal grandfather, and looked out at the Isle of Capri in the … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 7/15/20

Spiritual Truth Always Right on Time

For the past two months, I’ve been receiving emails and private messages from folks who read “Rejoice and Be Glad,” my book of daily reflections for Easter to Pentecost. Although … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 6/3/20

Spring, From My Window

For my entire life, whenever someone asked me to name my favorite season, I would say, without any hesitation, “fall!” There was something about the colors of the trees, the crispness of … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 5/6/20

Fear and Joy

The past month has been a dance of gratitude and fear. Gratitude that, so far, my family is healthy and together under one roof — all five of us around the dinner table each night, favorite … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 4/22/20

Deeper Into Community

The older I get, the more I like to tackle things I probably have no business tackling. In the course of the past 10 years, I’ve done everything from tennis lessons (I was never much of an … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 3/25/20

Defying Definitions and Trusting Your Own Story

Everyone has his or her own story. Our history, family, faith, environment—all of it combines to create a background story that runs through … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 2/26/20

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Finding God in the Land of the ‘Nones’

I traveled to Seattle a few weeks ago to give a parish retreat at St. Monica’s Church on Mercer Island. Long before I boarded the plane for my first visit to the Pacific … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 12/31/19

Don’t Wait, Just Say Yes

I first got to know Sister Johanne McCarthy, C.S.J., about 18 months ago when she wrote to complain that our Albany diocesan newspaper wasn’t giving religious sisters the same treatment … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 12/4/19

The Things We Save

I returned home from work one day recently to see a For Sale sign on the lawn of our elderly neighbors, a retired Army doctor and nurse. They’ve been living on our street since the houses were … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 11/6/19

Angels and Saints

The feasts and celebrations that surround us at this time in the liturgical year can do a soul some much-needed good. It’s hard to feel like a solitary seeker when we are … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 10/9/19

The Way to Ease Is Not Easy

September always feels like the start of a new year to me, much more so than Jan. 1 ever does. It must be the perennial student in me. I can’t even resist the piles of discounted school supplies … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 9/11/19

My Daring Adventure

When I was working as a reporter for Catholic New York back in the 1980s, I had one of those quote-of-the-day calendars on the desk in my cubicle overlooking Manhattan. All these years later, after … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 8/14/19

Building Community

I went back to yoga class last month after a long break. Day by day, as I returned to my mat in a room surrounded by people— mostly strangers—of all ages, shapes and sizes, I felt the comfort and … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 7/17/19

The World Needs Beauty

I was lucky enough to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris about one year ago, when I went to the City of Lights with my daughter, Olivia, on a mother-daughter trip. We stood in the highest … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 6/5/19

She Took a Chance on Me

As I get older, I become more aware of—and fascinated by—the way people arrive in our lives without warning and often change us, and the course of our life journey, without us realizing it until … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 5/8/19

Rediscovering Community

I can’t pray. I just don’t know how to do it anymore.” That’s what I told my husband, Dennis, one evening recently about midway through Lent. The parched desert had become an asphalt parking … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 4/11/19

Standing in the Desert Side by Side

Although we’re only one week into our Lenten journey, it feels like we’ve been in this desert for months. At least that’s how it feels to me. Last summer’s revelations about Theodore … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 3/13/19

Vocation of Marriage

On any given day, you’ll find me and Dennis running the gauntlet of modern family life. If … more

By MARY DeTURRIS POUST | 2/13/19