Q: What do you like about St. Jude parish?  In what way do you participate in parish life?
I have been a parishioner of St Jude Chalfont since we moved back to this area in 2016.  I feel blessed to be part of this parish where many members of my father’s family were parishioners for many years.  They were married here, and their children attended St Jude school.  Now my daughter attends St. Jude school.  I also love that this parish is also a shrine.  I consider St. Jude Chalfont to be our spiritual home.
 
I taught 6 ^th grade PREP here for 2 years. My daughter went into a Mommy phase, which made it difficult to teach, so I had to stop for now. This year, I participated in the Women’s prayer group Beholding HIS Glory, and currently Beholding Your KING.  It is a great way to meet other prayerful, awesome women parishioners at St. Jude. 
 
Other than that, I leave it to the Holy Spirit to let me know when to act next.  I am pretty busy working full-time and being a mom, but I’m open to suggestions. 
 
Q: How do you nurture your faith, personally?
Generally and simply, I try to follow the Commandments, stay in a state of Grace, especially before receiving Communion, periodic Confession, and remembering that I am always in God’s presence.  When we place ourselves in His presence, we are more conscious of making good decisions about how we spend or waste our time, how we interact with our family, friends, and enemies, how we forgive or try to forgive, and how we are called to do God’s Will.  And then, life often gets a bit messy and complicated.  So, I try my best.
 
Over the years, I have been well aware that my Faith is a true and real gift from God.  Jesus and His Mercy are my saving grace.  Our Sacraments are our keys to Heaven.  What gifts we have in the Catholic Church!  With that, we are called to give back.  So, I’ve volunteered my time to teach PREP, joined an RCIA leader team, and sat on a Jesuit parish spirituality committee.  Personally, my walk with God led me to becoming a Sister of St. Joseph Associate in Mission and completing the 19 ^th annotation of the St. Ignatius Spiritual Exercises.
 
I have recently decided to consecrate myself to our Blessed Mother.  I wear a scapular, and I (try to) pray the Rosary daily.  I try to offer each decade for a specific prayer intention.  I have always had a strong devotion to Mary. 
 
Q: Do you have a piece of advice to share with young people or parents about maintaining or passing on the Faith?
I say this because I know this:  I was away from the Church for many years and KNOW that Jesus was waiting patiently for me to return to the Eucharist.  His Grace kept me alive during those “off-years”.  It reminds me of a question I posed to a Jesuit back in 2009; I asked, “If Jesus is the center of my world, my rock, my strength, and my refuge, then what did people do before Jesus was born?”  The Jesuit replied simply, “They had God’s Grace.”
 
So, in these times of coronavirus pandemic uncertainty, social distancing from the Sacraments, let us remember that God is very close to us.  You can imagine the Holy Spirit whispering in your ear, “I am here.  Be strong.”  The Sacraments, which I consider my Heaven on Earth, will be waiting for us when the dust settles, and we can once again join each other in community in the physical Church and once again receive the Sacraments. 
 
I said this to my 6 ^th grade PREP students a hundred times, “No matter what happens in life, good or bad, stay close to God!” I tell them that I often skip away at lunchtime from work, regardless of where I’m working in the world, and find a Mass.  Sixth-graders cannot do that, but they can encourage their parents to go to Mass on weekends. 
 
I would say to new parents, take your crying babies and talkative toddlers to Mass!  Crying and jabbering is how they praise God.  God is pleased.  And smile at the grumpy parishioners who give you dirty looks.  :0)
 
Q: What do you do to have fun? Do you have a hobby?
I love to travel!  I yearn for new adventures, learning new languages and living different cultures.  I studied abroad in college.  And when I was 26, I booked a one-way ticket to Europe, said I’d be back in a year, and instead circled the globe and returned to the U.S. four years later.  More recently, focusing on religious sites, I have been to Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, Jasna Gora Czestochowa in Poland, Medjugorje in Bosnia, the Holy land in Israel, Santiago in Spain, Rome and San Giovanno Rotundo in Italy, and Corcovado Rio in Brazil, to name a few.  I was supposed to travel to the Holy land again this Lent but it has been postponed to the Fall due to coronavirus travel restrictions. 
 
As James Michener states, “I suppose that is why pilgrims always make their journey, to learn and to share.”  I would love to share my pilgrimage experiences.  I have so many great pictures, journal writings, and memories.  As for Israel, my first experience in the Holy Land led me to understand that Jerusalem and the surrounding areas are the only place on earth Jesus physically walked, thus Israel is His Shrine.  This upcoming trip I plan to walk the mysteries of the Rosary. I am considering creating YouTube videos of the actual Rosary mystery sites and creating an online Rosary, or something...  But nonetheless, the Rosary is my focus this trip.
 
One trip on my bucket list is walking the Camino de Santiago.  The walk/hike runs from the French Pyrenees Mountains to the western coast of Spain, in the city of Santiago de Compostela, the shrine of St James.  Perhaps we can organize a parish trip for 2021 or 2022!  We would stop at villages along the way.
 
If you would like to learn more about the Camino, a great film is The Way, directed by Emilio Estevez.  Also, I posted a YouTube video of the famous Santiago de Compostela magnificent swinging Botafumeiro, or incense burner, which is approx. 5 feet tall.  My brother and I traveled to Spain in 2011 and recorded this video.    https://youtu.be/7y66RWGgfo4
 
Q: What would people be surprised to know about you?
I recently published a short, simple, children’s prayer book.  Kids can pray with the Saints.  It is called With a Little Prayer and it has an imprimatur.  If you’re interested, please visit my webpage https://www.christianfaithpublishing.com/books/?book=with-a-little-prayer or search @withalittleprayer on Facebook. It is for sale on Amazon, iTunes, and Barnesandnoble.com.  Search “Zglenski” and you’ll find it.
Last but not least, I offer you all an invitation to join my FREE, online, private Facebook prayer group.  The more prayers, the better!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/327390381230863/

Thank you, Jen, this was very inspiring!