Where to Buy Holy Medal Earrings

A few weeks ago I posted about the new Catholic trend of Holy medal earrings. Today I want to share a few places you can buy them!


First, fellow FOCUS missionary Amy sells them! Her business is Nova Eva and she offers six beautiful, handcrafted styles.

You can contact Amy at afrazier(at)focusonline(dot)org.


Secondly, you can buy them from Baltimore conference vendors, St. Gemma Jewelry. These 
lovely ladies sell not only earrings, like these JP II ones...

but also, other handcrafted jewelry, like these rosary bracelets...

and Divine Mercy bracelets!

Just a few more ways to spread the faith with style!

St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians

I (Kevin) am currently writing a Bible study on 1 Corinthians. Last year, I was sitting in on a class at the Augustine Institute with some missionaries who were visiting Denver. My friend and mentor Dr. Sri was teaching the class on 1 Corinthians and made the remark to everyone, "If I were going to write one Bible study for college students, it would be 1 Corinthians." So, this year I decided to do just that.

The amazing part about 1 Corinthians is that despite being written almost 2,000 years ago there is so much application for college students (and all of us) today.

For instance, St. Paul talks about how the Corinthians trust in the wisdom of the world and the philosophies of their day instead of the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1-2). It's easy to think the Corinthians are foolish, but then we realize how much we do this today. How do we allow the media to influence how we think and act? How do we allow the philosophies of today dampen our faith or trust in our Church? (See CCC 2727) Are we willing to stand up in the classroom for what we believe in the face of the wisdom of our professors?

One of the main issues in the letter seems to have nothing to do with us--the eating of meat sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 8-10). Some of the people in Corinth think it is okay to eat because they know that there is only one God. St. Paul reveals that they are setting a bad example for other Christians who still struggle not to worship pagan gods. They also are subjecting themselves to the temptations that the pagan temples bring--drunkenness and sexual immorality.

College students are faced with similar challenges today even if they don't involve meat sacrificed to idols. There is nothing wrong with drinking if you are over 21, but should you really go to a party that is surrounded by a culture of drunkenness and sexual immorality? Is this a good example for other Catholics on campus? What kind of temptations are you subjecting yourself to?

In a Corinthian culture that loved Olympic games, St. Paul uses an athletic analogy. If an Olympic athlete can exercise and work hard to win an event (and a crown of withered celery), how much harder should we work to preach the Gospel to others to earn an imperishable crown? (1 Cor 9:24-27). I don't have to do too much work to see how this applies to us today.

The study also addresses topics like: choosing a Vocation, the influence of the media, the Church’s teaching on contraception, the pursuit of holiness, developing the zeal to evangelize, and discerning our spiritual gifts among others.

Overall, the theme for the study on Corinthians is: What does it mean to live in the world, but not of it? We are a people set apart, but we are also called to engage the world and bring Christ to it. As our culture is beginning to look more and more like the pagan city of Corinth, my hope is that this Bible study can help students learn and live out the valuable insights of St. Paul.

(For an introduction to 1 Corinthians as a whole, check out  the study bible my friend, Mark Giszczak wrote.)

March for Life

Thanks to the great timing of the last FOCUS conference being in Baltimore on the weekend of the March for Life, we were able to stick around for a few extra days and join the hundreds of thousands who marched at our nations capitol for the overturn of Roe vs. Wade and other life issues on Monday!

Here is the good looking group of FOCUS staff who stuck around or came out just for the occasion.

This being my first March for Life I had no idea what to expect. We began with a visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, what a name. The shrine is the largest church in North America. Here we are getting ready to go in.

We arrived as everyone was gathering for a candle light vigil and the place was absolutely packed.

People were not just in the main area of the church, but also jammed in the multiple side chapels and filling up the crypt below.

The entire church was stunning and rich with symbolism that lifts ones mind to the heavens. 

The next day many people attended Mass together at major event centers before heading to the March, but we weren't organized enough to have tickets. Instead, we had to settle for meeting on the Mall to listen to speakers before the official marching began. It was hard to capture the unbelievable amounts of people who were there. If this helps, we were unsuccessful it meeting up with the Benedictine College group of 250 people... because we couldn't find them in the crowd.

It was so moving to see the masses whom were about 85% youth. Being there hit every range of my emotions from deep sadness over the loss of lives to such a brutal and inhuman attack to unshakable hope that abortion will eventually come to an end with so many young people who believe in and will fight for the cause. I didn't even see a single counter protester there, they might have been, but I never saw them.

I was also thrilled to see two of my dear friends from college who are now Sisters of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara! This is the order I spend a semester in college serving with in a home for abandoned children in Argentina, so they are very close to my heart. I recently found out that another one of my friends will be joining them in May bringing the friends-in-that-order count to 5... it's ridiculous. 

So despite the tragedy of a need for such an event we were still smiling at our right to speak loudly for those who have no voice. Let us all continue to pray for an end to this injustice and place our hope in the Lord and His mercy.

FOCUS Conference - Baltimore

So this is it. We are back from Baltimore marking the end of conference season 2011. Well at least for the Cotters, there is one more conference in Nashville next weekend.

This conference proved to be the most interesting as I spent Saturday sick with a stomach bug, as in I saw my breakfast again a few hours after I ate it. The real problem here was my scheduled talk at 2:15 that day. I decided to go for it and give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to work a little miracle if He wanted to. Literally 2 minutes before they handed me the mic I was feeling nauseous, but I had had a Franciscan Friar give me a blessing and when the mic was turned over to me I felt like normal. It was awesome. This lasted for exactly the duration of the talk and as soon as the mic was turned off my nausea came back, but who cares, I made it through the talk and got my miracle!

Some other highlights include this woman...

Lila Rose. This girl is A-Mazing. She is founded Live Action, "a youth led movement dedicated to building a culture of life and ending abortion", when she was 15! She is making waves. She's been on CNN and Fox and is an incredible advocate for life. Check out their website and undercover videos, which are very eye opening.

Sometimes I forget that our really cool founder is a highlight of conferences. Here he is in one of his dramatic moments during his keynote. You might recognize him from EWTN's Crossing the Goal. There are few people that I can hear give the same keynote several weeks in a row and still feel challenged by it.

Look who else came to conference...

Nope not Steve (my son's godfather)... Emmy and Golden Globe winner Martin Sheen. You might remember him as the President from The West Wing. I have this thing with taking pictures with celebrities, that is I don't because I'm too awkward. (Fuzzy picture because I didn't use the flash, you know, so he didn't know I was taking the picture, that's not creepy.) He was up until 2:15 am signing autographs, no thank you. His son, Emilio Esteves dragged him along to promote their new movies The Way.

As usual I was able to spend some time with my fellow FOCUS wives, which was way cooler than getting to spend time with Martin...

We attended Mass with a Bishop for the 3rd week in a row, which is way cooler than getting to spend time with the wives (sorry ladies)...

And, look at Kevin's bible studies...

They didn't only bring a few, they just almost sold out. Perhaps they even did, I took this a few hours before the store closed. I'm so proud of my amazing husband and all of the work he does.

Lastly I wanted to link over to one of our mission partner's blog for a glimpse of FOCUS conference from, well, not my perspective. We are so blessed to be supported by such amazing people!

Peace out Chesapeake Bay, it was great watching you from my hotel window last weekend.

Holy Medal Earrings

Ladies, I am happy to bring to you the latest Catholic trend, fresh from the FOCUS conferences. The on-campus missionaries are the ones who keep me up to date on trendy ways to share your faith with style, so today I'm happy to pass their wisdom on to you.

Presenting, holy medal earrings...

"Where in the world can I get these?", you ask. "They are so cute!" I know, I know, but remember, I didn't invent them... I'm not sure who did. I believe some vendors were selling them at the conferences, but I decided to make my own.

All you need are medals and hooked wire, found in the jewelry making section at any craft store.

I suggest mini-medals, as opposed to the standard sized medals, but you can do whatever you want, they are your ears. One missionary even had the big circle St. Benedict medals, those were awfully stylish too. I bought about 50 mini Miraculous Medals for 3 euros when I was in Rome in college and still have several that I haven't given away. They were blessed by JP II.... it's pretty sweet. If you want me to send you a pair of medals, post a comment and I'll hook you up.

I removed the wire loop on top of the medal so they face out as opposed to the side.

Then I slid them on the loop. Neither of these tasks required any special tools, I just used my hands to pull the metal apart.

Now you too can be the cutest Catholic in your pew. 

(I took that picture myself, with the help of my bathroom mirror, I felt very innovative for a few minutes.)

FOCUS Conference - Denver

Back from another FOCUS conference, this time in Denver...

1,500 people in attendance this weekend, pretty incredible. It was quite a different weekend with the kids in tow, but still very blessed. I was amazed at the huge contingent of religious brothers and sisters. A fellow missionary made the comment that "being at a FOCUS conference is like being in Rome, religious are everywhere"... it's true and here's one of my favorites...

Archbishop Charles Chaput, the archbishop of Denver. Sorry about the fuzzy picture, I took it from the big screens because we were in the very back with the kiddos. They got a kick out of mass being at a hotel with big screens, but that still wasn't enough to keep them quiet for hour and a half long masses.

Other highlights included Kevin's breakout session...

Here he is answering questions after his talk. I opted not to take the kids to that one! His topic was how to live out FOCUS on a non-FOCUS campus, so he had quite the mix of people from all over, including several people from other campus ministry programs, even some from Holland!

While I didn't get to attend any of the talks this weekend I did get some time to catch up with my fellow FOCUS wives.

We even had some of our engaged women join us!

Finally, when checking out the program we found some friends! On the left is Sr. Dara, who was in my bible study and is now a religious sister. On the right is Matt, who was in Kevin's bible study and discipled by him. He recently finished his masters in Catholic History.

It was another amazing weekend! We are now gearing up for our final stop in Baltimore next weekend!

Homemade felt bags for $2.00

Look what I made for $2.00 each!

These easy to make bags are made out of felt sheets and can be tailored for all sorts of uses. The ones above are library bags which I made for Christmas presents. I put a book in each one to complete the gift. I've also made these for a Halloween candy bag...

If you were to make plain solid colored bag without a decorated front it would cost only about a dollar! 

Here is what you will need...

• 5 sheets of 9x13 felt (for the bag)
• 1 sheet of a different colored felt for decorating the bag
• Scissors (big and small)
• Tacky Glue
• Cardboard
• Pins
• Thread and a sewing machine (not pictured)

Step 1: Decorate the front of your bag. I just printed out letters and pinned them onto the dark blue felt and cut them out. The little scissors were helpful for the centers of the letters. Glue them on with tacky glue and let dry. You can also buy precut felt letters that have a sticky back.

Step 2: Get ready to assemble the top portion of the bag. For the back use a plain sheet of felt, for the sides cut one sheet directly down the middle for two even sides.

As an option you can sew a little piece of felt into the inside back of the bag for a library card holder. This piece comes from a scrap in a few steps later.

Step 3: Sew the sides, back and front of the bag together...

then complete the rectangle.

When sewing make sure to sew the pieces together with the same length of seam. I just followed along the presser foot to ensure this.

Step 4: Get ready to assemble the bottom of your bag. The bottom of the bag should be the same width as the sides of the bag. I just used the sides as my guide for where to cut the sheet. Then I cut the extra piece in half for the card holder in the back of the bag.

Step 5: Cut out a piece of the cardboard that is slightly smaller than the bottom of the bag,...

sandwich it between the pieces of felt and pin it in.

Step 6: Sew the cardboard between the pieces of flet and cut the corners to reduce bulk fabric.

Step 7: Pin the bottom of the bag into the assembled top portion of the bag and sew it in place.

Step 8: Get ready to assemble the handles of the bag. Cut a piece of felt in half, the cut the half piece in half and then cut the quarter pieces in half to create 4 strips.

Step 9: Sew two of the strips together for added reinforcement of the handles. Repeat for the other two strips so you have two handles.

Step 10: Pin and sew the handles into the back and front of the bag.

I did two levels of stitching and back stitched over it a few times for reinforcement.

And there you have it!