Laura Loker

D.C. area-based freelance writer. 

About

I’m a freelance writer outside Washington, D.C., my lifelong home, with my husband Kevin and our three little ones. I write mostly on topics of faith, community, family life and technology (in varying combinations).

The Pillar •

Survivor-led ‘National Healing Garden’ seeks to acknowledge wounds of abuse

Mike Hoffman was married with children and active in his Chicago parish when a 2006 news article caught his attention: A priest of the archdiocese was facing a lawsuit for alleged sexual abuse decades earlier.While other Catholics may have seen it as just one more distressing clergy abuse story, to Hoffman, the news was deeply personal. The priest named in the article was the same one who had also abused him when he was a child, he said, and the individuals who had come forward had been his cont...
The Pillar •

For St. Vincent de Paul Society, preventing homelessness begins with home visits

The statistics surrounding homelessness in America are sobering.The number of Americans experiencing homelessness increased 12% from 2022 to 2023. Some research even estimates that as many as 3 in 4 Americans will experience poverty or near poverty in their lifetimes.Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of Americans are “very concerned” about housing costs, and nearly three-quarters are likewise concerned about the prices of food and consumer goods.Subscribe nowTo Michael Acaldo, the new CEO of the S...
The Pillar •

Wisconsin parish brings Christmas carols, intercessory prayer to neighborhood

Christmas caroling is less common than it once was: one study found that fewer than half of Americans who remembered caroling as children said that they planned to do it again themselves.Subscribe nowBut Catholics in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, are keeping the tradition alive — and offering their prayers as well as song.St. Francis of Assisi Parish hosted its fourth annual Christmas caroling event December 13.Carolers, which include both children and adults, go house-to-house in small groups.After the...
The Pillar •

New Hampshire parish aims for unity in pre-election prayers

As the presidential election draws near, many Americans are feeling anxious.One recent survey found that 6 in 10 Americans feel a need to limit the amount of political news they consume. Another suggests that as much as a quarter of Americans have ended a friendship because of opposing political views. Some psychologists compare politics to chronic stress.ShareAmid the politics-driven fears and division, some Catholics in Somersworth, New Hampshire are turning to prayer.At St. Martin Church, one...
America Magazine •

Contemplative caretaking: What mothers like me can learn from monastic life

It is the spring of 2009, and I am a senior in high school when my religion teacher assigns a “marriage” project. Over the next several weeks, in the name of exposure to real-world finances, I suppose, my classmates and I plan pretend weddings and balance mock household budgets.Even more absurd than pricing reception venues as a teenager, however, are our flour babies.Our flour babies, the fruit of our hypothetical marriages, are actual bags of flour that we must carry with us everywhere, as tho...
The Pillar •

Virginia parish adds ‘sensory Mass’ for neurodiverse Catholics

The Sunday 1 p.m. Mass at Nativity Catholic Church in Burke, Virginia is typically the parish’s least attended weekend litugy.But on August 11, the church was full.ShareVolunteers in matching gray T-shirts asked incoming Mass-goers if they needed any special accommodations. A table in the narthex offered tools like interactive Mass binders and “fidgets” — tactile self-regulation aids. The lights in the sanctuary were dimmed.It was the parish’s first monthly “sensory Mass,” held especially for ne...
The Word Among Us •

“You Were Made to Be a Saint”

Servant of God Michelle Duppong spent much of her adult life sharing her faith with college students as a missionary for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). Later, she worked as the director of adult faith formation for her home diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota. At age thirty, she was diagnosed with advanced cancer, and she died a year later.

By many measures, her life and circumstances were ordinary. But her trust in God and her “little yeses” to his will, as one of her friends put it, were extraordinary. She shows all of us what trusting God looks like—and the joy it brings.
The Pillar •

New Catholic trade school aims for debt-free alternative to college

It’s no secret that there’s a crisis in higher education. The cost of attending a four-year college has increased 180% in the last four decades, and the national student loan debt has reached $1.75 trillion.Meanwhile, skilled trades like plumbing, electrical work and construction are facing labor shortages, losing workers to retirement at higher rates than young people are joining them.ShareAnd the reality of that student loan debt has some young people looking for alternatives to a traditional...
The Pillar •

Charleston Diocese aims to bring organization to spiritual direction ministry

Nancy Stroud had been faithful to personal prayer for years. But at a certain point, the Charleston, South Carolina resident told The Pillar, she felt a need for accompaniment in her journey of faith.

So Stroud began to consider spiritual direction.

Spiritual direction pairs a trained, prayerful individual — the spiritual director — with the interested directee. Through one-on-one sessions, typically at monthly intervals, the director supports the directee in understanding where God is working
The Pillar •

Cincinnati priests compete to meet parishioners in home blessing challenge

Among the sometimes daunting tasks facing newly ordained priests is that of getting to know a church full of unfamiliar faces.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s newest shepherds have found a way to bring a spirit of fun to their efforts: The priests ordained in 2022 are competing with those ordained in 2023 to see who can bless the most parishioners’ houses during the Easter season.

House blessings include praying for the home and its occupants, reading from Scripture and sprinkling holy water.
America Magazine •

Catholic school tuition is a barrier for many families. Can ‘hybrid’ homeschooling help?

Independent Catholic school “hybrid” programs straddle the line between homeschool and traditional diocesan schools, featuring in-person, formal instruction and independent study days. But though these programs typically emerge from the homeschool movement, their affordability is beginning to attract a new demographic.

St. John Bosco School, a hybrid 7th through 12th grade program located in Sterling, Va., opened in 2019 with a group of 20 homeschooled students. Today, it serves 80 students, ab
The Word Among Us •

Finding God in Our Hearts

But whether we have small children or not, most of us can probably relate. There are always more bills to pay, more dishes to clean, more errands to run. Silence, and even prayer, can feel like luxuries for which we don’t have time or space.

Given all the chaos, we can be tempted to consider that the prayer-filled life of a contemplative saint is out of our reach. This is especially true when we think about those saints who lived a cloistered life. Surely they don’t have anything to offer those
The Pillar •

Women’s health meets Theology of the Body at Illinois parish event for teens

The Catholic Church’s teaching on sexuality is predicated upon the idea that the human body is good.

But in a culture where the phrase “reproductive health” is often synonymous with contraception and abortion advocacy, it can be hard for parents to find educational resources about the human body and sexuality which reflect a Catholic viewpoint.

Two parishioners at St. Mary Mokena parish in Mokena, Illinois wanted to help change that.

Last month, the parish hosted a “Girl Talk” event for pre-t
America Magazine •

This Lent, let yourself be bored

In his short story “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut describes a future dystopia that takes extreme measures to make everyone equal in every way. The United States Handicapper General ensures that exceptionally beautiful people, for example, wear ugly masks. Strong people must wear heavy bags that limit their agility.

And perhaps most poignant to the modern reader: Intelligent people wear ear radios that blast sounds every 20 seconds to disrupt their thoughts. Vonnegut published the story in 1
The Pillar •

In LA, Gardens of Healing help abuse survivors reconnect with the Church

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles last month dedicated a new “Garden of Healing” at LA’s St. Bernadette Catholic Church.

The garden is dedicated to victim-survivors of sexual abuse. It aims to be a safe space to offer some measure of peace and healing, as well as acknowledge the failures of the Church to prevent and adequately respond to abuse perpetrated by its priests, staff and volunteers.

St. Bernadette’s garden is the fourth of five planned gardens to open across the archdiocese; auxiliary B
The Pillar •

Warming shelter at Wisconsin parish builds bonds of trust, community

On Tuesday mornings, Laurie Pollack leads a group of men and women in a Bible study. Together they pray through a Scripture passage, offer their personal reflections, and share where God is working in their lives.

In many ways, the Bible study may seem unremarkable – a mirror of countless similar groups across the country.

But there is one striking difference. Apart from Pollack and two other parishioners from her Oshkosh, Wisconsin parish, the attendees are homeless.

Pollack is the coordinat
The Pillar •

Parish-based ‘Mary’s Closet’ fills a gap in local social services

When newcomers to Mary’s Closet first arrive, they’re often surprised. That’s because the space — which houses clothing, baby items, household products and more for families in need — feels more like a little shop than a typical social services facility.

“We really, really wanted it to feel like a fun little boutique, like a place where you can have some dignity in picking out the things that you want,” Tanya Singh, who began the ministry, told The Pillar.

Mary’s Closet is an outreach of St. P
The Pillar •

‘Spiritual support groups’ create space for Catholics with mental illness

More than one in five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness. One in 25 lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or major depression.

For Deacon Ed Shoener, these statistics are more than mere numbers. In 2016, his daughter Katie died by suicide, after a long struggle with bipolar disorder.

Shoener penned an obituary that honored his daughter and exhorted their small Scranton, Pennsylvania community to support those struggling with a mental illness. To his surprise, t
The Pillar •

Tenn. Catholics find ‘tsunami of generosity’ in parish 'Buy Nothing' group

Part of a thriving parish community is the parishioners’ sense of responsibility for one another’s material and spiritual needs.

But in many parishes, there are few clear avenues either for parishioners to ask for help or to offer assistance.

At Sts. Peter and Paul Basilica in Chattanooga, Tennessee, however, a parish “Buy Nothing” group offers a tangible way for parishioners to support each other.

The Buy Nothing Project is a global (secular) movement of local gift economies begun by friends
The Pillar •

At Oklahoma parishes, date nights help foster ‘Marriage in His Image’

Getting married in the Catholic Church typically comes with a significant amount of preparation, designed to help couples as they enter into a lifelong sacramental union.

Couples are often required to meet with a priest or deacon, fill out a lengthy questionnaire intended to identify strength and weaknesses in their relationship, and attend marriage prep classes or retreats.

But support and enrichment opportunities for married couples in the Church are less plentiful after the wedding.

And on
The Pillar •

‘Household’ gatherings offer intentional community at South Bend parish

America is facing a crisis of loneliness. With nationwide declines in social connectivity, even the U.S. surgeon general is concerned about the “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” facing Americans.

And Catholics are not exempt from the crisis.

But parishioners at St. Thérèse Little Flower in South Bend, Indiana, might just have a parish-based approach to address the epidemic of loneliness.

The parish has launched a program of “households” – intentional communities of a few dozen people who
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