Sr. Helena Burns, FSP
Sr. Helena, fsp, is a Daughter of St. Paul. She holds a Masters in Media Literacy Education and studied screenwriting at UCLA. www.HellBurns.com Twitter: @srhelenaburns
Sr. Helena Burns: Whatever happened to devotions?
Are you “hopelessly devoted”? No, not to your crush, your boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse, but to the Most High God?
Sr. Helena Burns: Handy hints to overcome rosary stuggles
Are you struggling with the rosary? Struggling with praying the rosary? You are not alone. Many Catholics feel super guilty for not praying the rosary very much or at all.
Sr. Helena Burns: Feelings are just one part of being human
“Feelings. Nothing more than feelings.” Thus went the 1970s ballad. As often happens, pop songs contain profound lessons if you take them out of context and give them meanings the songwriter never intended: “Yes, they’re just feelings, and nothing more. Don’t sweat it.”
Sr. Helena Burns: Digging deep into ‘The Warning’ signs
Have you heard of “The Warning” (aka “The Illumination of Consciences”)?
Sr. Helena Burns: Beware the trail that is built on lies
When the Russian dissident and author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Soviet empire in 1974, he wrote a famous exhortation to his countrymen entitled “Live Not By Lies.” Solzhenitsyn spent years doing hard labour in prison camps, survived and dared to write about his experience in The Gulag Archipelago. Not only did he write his own story, but he gathered and recounted the tragic stories of those who didn’t make it out alive.
Sr. Helena Burns: The good (and bad) news about hell
I love hell. Let me qualify that. Hell is a great motivator, perhaps the greatest motivator. But shouldn’t love be our greatest motivation? Certainly, but hell is a great backup when we’re feeling less than virtuous.
Sr. Helena Burns: The sorrow of residential schools
Although I don’t feel qualified to speak to the ongoing revelations of life and death at Canada’s residential schools, I would still like to weigh in, and to express my sorrow.
Sr. Helena Burns: Searching for meaning of love
Catchy slogans are fun and helpful: shorthand for complex concepts — except when they’re not.
Sr. Helena Burns: Dealing with ‘the gender talk’
Parents generally loathe having “the sex talk” with their children. Today they will also need to have “the gender talk.” Let me explain.
Seeing as this is the wonderful year of the wonderful St. Joseph, I shall diverge from my usually grim cultural commentary and instead celebrate the greatest saint in Heaven after Our Lady!