So whether we look at a two-thousand-year-old Bible passage, or modern research based on 6,000 interviews and over six years of scholarly work, we get the same answer.
Living with Our Whole Heart
Diane Masiello
I am a writer and high school English teacher at a Catholic, all-girls private school. I began my teaching and writing career over 30 years ago, earning my Ph.D. in English Education from and first teaching at New York University. After I finished my degree work, my husband and I moved to Florida; I have taught at both Nova Southeastern University and The University of Tampa.
I left academia to raise two beautiful daughters and help care for my parents, which is when I turned to blogging to help me process my experiences. I started in 2003 with a LiveJournal entitled "Afternoons with Coffee Spoons" which I eventually translated over to Wordpress. In 2019 I was invited to join "The Gloria Sirens" blog, which gave me space to develop my voice.
Over the past few years, as I have raised teenagers and gone back to teaching, my writing has become more focused on the interplay of the Catholic faith, mystery, and storytelling. This has, in 2025, led me to return to writing exclusively for my own blog where I can more fully explore "Every Grace and Blessing" that God has bestowed upon me and those I love.
Sitting at Table
If we stop seeing things as a race or a competition, and start seeing things as a place where everyone can have a seat at the table, we can help ourselves and help others in the process…”
A Letter to My Daughter Upon Her Return to College
I imagine that many young people are, at this point, feeling a bit homesick. The holidays are over, and you are returning to school. While this is exciting and you are probably enjoying your renewed sense of freedom, you might be missing your bed, or your pets, your space, the ability to walk into a fully stocked kitchen and grab something out of the fridge.
Don’t Look Back
There was once a time when I did not live without the specter of illness around every corner? I lived a life that wasn’t conditional on the spread of a virus? I spent almost five decades making plans that weren’t likely to be cancelled anywhere, any time, with little notice, because of a nasal-swabbed test result? Could it be true?
Free Will
Would it really be so bad to lose the world?
Positive
Anxiety . . . is an illness of “what-ifs.” The mind takes the most minuscule threat and blows it up to–not even huge proportions, just unrealistically large ones.
A Drop in the Ocean
Of course, there is no way I am going to fix a fractured world. There is no way I am going to fix even a fraction of it. But as Mother Teresa says, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” Accepting that my contribution will be only a drop, the question becomes “where in the ocean will my drop fall?”
The Vacation Thief
For the first time since vacation planning in March, I was grateful rather than resentful we weren’t vacationing in Europe.
What She Said, July 1: Jessica Ennis
“The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t win’ is you and you don’t have to listen.” –Jessica Ennis
What She Said, June 30: Dara Torres
“The water doesn’t know your age.” —Dara Torres
The Gloria Sirens 