There is perhaps no greater drama during the earthly ministry of Christ as those moments when He is approached for healing. Throughout the Gospels we hear of the lowly going to extreme measures - being lowered through a roof, squeezing through crowds, breeching societal norms - just to seek to touch Him. We hear passionate cries from those in need of saving: "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!" "Only say the word and my servant shall be healed." "Yes, Lord, I believe that you can do this." The last line of today's Gospel illustrates the same truth. "And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all." All the crowd sought to touch Him. They knew who was in their midst. They recognized that He, in fact, is the son of David, the one promised to them. They had realized the healing power of Jesus, and they were not afraid to approach Him for that healing. Come hell or high water, they were going to get to their Jesus. Do we approach the Lord with that same audacity? Do we come to Him in fervor, in urgency, in confidence? Do we bring our ugliest, dirtiest, most helpless wounds before Him, exposed and vulnerable? Do we unabashedly proclaim our faith in Him and then stake our whole being on that faith? I know I don’t always do those things. Many times I make excuses to avoid such intimacy with Our Creator. Oh, He’s too busy worrying about other events and people, my little matter is insignificant. Yeah, I’m really not as wounded as some other people so I’m just fine right here. Mmmm, if I let Him in on that little part of my heart, then He’ll probably want to change it. As if He isn’t all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing. So friends, let us be bold in our requests of the Lord today. Let us recognize that He is the Savior. Let us seek to touch Him, confident in His care, His unmatched love, and His ability to heal us all, and all that is within us. Let us cry out with the same impassioned desperation as those who first experienced the saving power of the Word made flesh. And let us never grow weary in beckoning Him to be the Lord of our life. Olivia Spears is a middle school religion teacher turned SAHM who is married to her high school best friend. You can find out more about her here.

Far too often, I don't listen to what God is telling me. I think I know better, I think I can do better, I am, far too often, too busy to even sit down and listen. There are just way too many things to do, Lord! But, really, He just wants to talk to me. And He just wants me to listen. I am like Joseph -- when I see something wrong, I want to fix it. I want to dismiss it properly and move onto the next thing. But that's not what the Lord wants. He wants me in this "mess" that I'm in. Even if things don't seem how I want them to be, He has appointed me the caretaker of this "mess." Even if my kids are being crazy and no one is listening and I just want to run away, this is the "mess" he gave me. This is my vocation. This is my surrendering to His will. Joseph obviously surrendered so much more. He surrendered and gave into the will of God to be Jesus' earthly father. Heavy, crazy, saint-making stuff right there. The earthly father of Emmanuel. My little difficult moments seem nothing in comparison to Joseph surrendering to what the angel of the Lord instructs him to do, but it is still important work, this surrender, our surrender. This is still holy work, this raising children in the trenches of life. This is still important, good work to lay down my frustrations, irritations, desires at the foot of the Father and say "Not my will, but Yours." I pray I take a page out of Joseph's book. That I look to His earthly father who is a beautiful example of surrendering to what the Lord wants, despite what we think is a better decision. I pray that I know how to lay it down, to sit, to listen, to hear the Lord when He instructs me on the way to go. I pray that I have the humility to look to my heavenly Father in all circumstances and to hear His will. Jenna Guizar is the wife to an amazing man and mother to three beautiful little girls. You can find out more about her here.

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another…” Owe no one anything except to love one another. Oh, how much simpler life would be if I only took this scripture to heart. I have a confession to make: I am a people pleaser. I worry about what other people will think of my decisions, and even what they think of me. I want to make sure people are happy with me and my work. I catch myself comparing my life to others. It’s so easy to do, right? When I stop and think, deep in my heart I know the truth about this: it’s not worth it. It’s not worth it to try to please everyone in this world, or to compare myself to others. My concern should be pleasing God. Pleasing God can be difficult in a world that is so often wrapped up in material things, in this life, in the here and now. However, as Christians we are called to keep an eternal perspective. Jesus tells us in the Gospel today, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Lord, help me to let go of my earthly concerns, for I want to be free from them in heaven. Lord, help me to bind myself in love for you, and in love for others. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” So often when I hear this scripture, I focus on the part about loving your neighbor (which is important!). Today, however, I am struck by the second part of the statement, “as yourself.” Do you love yourself? Do you really love yourself? Do you see yourself as the Lord sees you? By His grace we have been made in His image, and we should love who God made us to be. None of us are perfect, of course; we are human. But we are called to strive every day to become more and more who God calls us to be - and to owe no one anything, except love. Spend some time in prayer at the beginning of this new week, and ask the Lord what He loves about you. Open your heart, and allow yourself to receive His love. As you go through the week, spread His love by sharing with others what it is you love about them. Let us bind ourselves in love. Elise Howe is a devoted wife and musician currently living in NYC, though she will always be a midwestern gal at heart. You can find out more about her here.

I Corinthians 4: 10-13 "We are fools for Christ's sake... To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labour, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things." I don’t like to be uncomfortable. I don’t like to be inconvenienced. I definitely don’t like to be reviled, or persecuted, or slandered. And yet, these are exactly the kinds of things I should expect as a follower of Christ. This scripture passage is just one of many that remind us that the Christian life is not easy. We will face persecution and when we do, not only are we not to complain (which is my tendency), we are called to endure and to even bless our persecutors. Persecution looks different in different parts of the world. We must pray every day for our brothers and sisters who fear for their lives because of their faith in Jesus. I am fortunate enough to live in a part of the world where my life is not endangered because of my beliefs, but I still face persecution on some level. I am ridiculed because of my pro-life or pro-marriage beliefs. I am seen as foolish because I don’t use birth control. People don’t understand why I go to mass every weekend. They think I am prudish or old-fashioned for trying to be chaste and dress modestly. A faithful, Catholic life looks very counter-cultural in our society. And it can be scary and uncomfortable to live out my Catholic faith in the face of so much criticism. The easy thing to do would be to hide that part of my life from the world, to avoid confrontation and blend in as much as possible. I know I’m Catholic, but why does everyone else have to know? I have this thing called pride and my pride wants to be accepted, respected, praised, and loved by the world around me. But this scripture reminds me that that’s not what I am called to. I am called to live my faith when it’s easy, but more so when it’s difficult. I am called to love those who don’t understand my faith, especially those who ridicule me because of it. I am called to bear my trials cheerfully, to look foolish on account of Christ, to be the scum of the whole world. Have you ever been scared or embarrassed to show your faith in public? Anna Coyne is a wife, mother, knitter, gardener, and convert to the Catholic faith. Read more about her here.

Readings for September 5th First Reading: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4 I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God. Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 37:3-6, 27-28, 39-40 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. 4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; so shall you abide for ever. 28 For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. The righteous shall be preserved for ever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him. Gospel: Luke 5:33-39 33 And they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink." 34 And Jesus said to them, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days." 36 He told them a parable also: "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, `The old is good.'" ESV And Jesus said to them, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days." –Luke 5:34-35 (ESV) Feasting and fasting are part of our Christian heritage. But do we? Do we fast so we can feast and feast so we can fast? Or is every day just ordinary? As Catholics, most of us probably observe the mandated fasting days of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Hopefully we observe the Fridays of Lent as days of abstinence. Many of us don’t even realize that every Friday is a day of penance, but there it is, in Canon Law: 1. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent. The confusion came about in the US in 1966, when the Bishops abrogated the requirement for all Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays, and instead encouraged the faithful to make a sacrifice of their own choosing. What that meant, practically, was that we mostly all started eating meat on Fridays and kinda forgot to do any other penance at all. I was raised Catholic, and I know it wasn’t something *I* ever heard growing up. And that’s a shame. Because remembering that Friday is the day Christ suffered and died for my sins, and yours, is a thing that binds us together as a Catholic family. Abstaining from meat, or making another sacrifice, is a thing that sets us apart a bit, in a good way. And remembering the fasts helps us enjoy the feasts all the more. There are two official days of fasting on the General Roman Calendar. There are two HUNDRED and two official feasts, solemnities, and memorials. Do you have a few favorite saints? Do you have a special meal or dessert to celebrate their feast days? Jesus is reminding us to observe all things in their proper times. Every Friday is a day of penance, and every Sunday is a day of joy. Every Friday is a little Good Friday, and every Sunday is a little Easter Sunday. The liturgical calendar is bursting with reasons to celebrate our faith. Will you remember that today is Friday and choose to abstain from meat? Or make another sacrifice? Will this Sunday be a day of rejoicing in your heart and in your home? Will you have a special meal? Will you sit down with family or friends? Maybe even use the good dishes? Will you have dessert to celebrate the sweetness of God’s love? We will.   Kendra Tierney can be found tending nine chickens, seven children, and one husband in Los Angeles, CA. You can find out more about her here.

  In today’s Gospel reading according to St. Luke, Jesus helps Simon and his fishermen catch more fish than they ever had. By trusting Him to lower their nets again, the nets are so full they almost burst! One can only imagine their delight and joy at such a bountiful harvest. Success is exhilarating. Instead of turning to Jesus and asking him to come along with every trip out, Simon falls to his knees and professes he is a sinner and Jesus should depart from him. How did he realize that this man was from God? How did he recognize his own failings enough to say he wasn’t worthy of being around such a holy and powerful person? Instead of turning back for more successes and monetary gain, Simon, James, and John left their boats. They literally “left everything and followed him.” What faith! What incredible trust. Secondarily, Jesus told them they would be fishers of men instead of fish. Instead of the job they knew and were trained for, he had a new job in mind. Again, leaving what you know and what you have done your whole life? Departing from your habits to follow a man who inspired you? Pretty profound trust. Jesus calls us to do more than chase success, fame, or popularity. These earthly accolades are not what we are to trek towards. In fact, when we receive them, whether it be in the form of a promotion at work, being selected for a high profile volunteer position, or elected to an office in our community, that “success” isn’t the end of the road. We have the opportunity to seek God, truth, beauty, goodness as our final destination. Not that we shouldn’t enjoy success, but it’s a means to an end, not the end itself. Jesus is calling us for something beyond what we are comfortable with. Jesus asks us to leave our habits, our ways we know, and reach for something that is beyond the day-to-day grumblings and work. We do not have to abandon our careers or families to follow Him. Quite the contrary. Our approach to the every day can be infused with joy. Love can drive our actions and words. A kind request at work instead of a gruff command. A gentle correction of our children instead of a frustrated shout. Through our love of others, through showing them God loves them, being a vessel of love, we will bring others to Christ. Changing our attitude makes us fishers of men, too. Nell O'Leary is an attorney turned stay-at-home mom to three lovelies. She and her husband live in the great city of Saint Paul. You can find out more about her here.

A few years ago, I had one of those few moments of clarity amidst chaos and pain. Sitting in Mass, I was made aware of the fact that I had been relying on my husband for everything. Our marriage was strong, but I was expecting him to be my source of joy. He was my help and my shield, and all my trust was placed in him. I had such unrealistic expectations of this man in the flesh. When life got me down, I turned to him and was, of course, frustrated by his inability to fix it. Where was God in this? He was waiting patiently for me to begin a practice of turning to Himself instead. I was a spiritual infant. Turning then to my Father, and placing my trust in Him, leaning on Him, and seeking Him as my source of joy, has allowed me to more fully grow in Him. The process of turning away from things and people in this world as my source of joy has brought with it abundant grace. Paul warns us against being a fleshly people, jealous, and unable to take the solid spiritual food. Look at your relationships with others. We are merely God’s field, and our leaders are co-workers of the Lord, but it is only God who causes our growth, and heals our sickness. We can’t rely on even our brothers and sisters in Christ to do that. Our soul waits for the LORD, for He is our help and our shield, and it is in HIM our hearts rejoice. Do you rejoice in Him or in others? In whom do you place your trust? Upon whom do you rely upon for your joy? Do you blame those around you or seek fleshly solutions when things fail to go your way? Do you trust in Him or have you placed your faith in things of this world? MaryRuth Hackett is a full-time wife and mother doing her best to teach her four children to love God and country. You can find out more about her here.

  I slumped into the orange and gray subway seat, too tired to care about the grime permanently encrusted on the surface. I'm no stranger to emotional breakdowns on the A train -- I carry a pair of sunglasses in my tote for the dedicated purpose of hiding crying jags on public transportation. But it felt like the last piece of my heart had finally snapped, and there was nothing left to cry about. It wasn't just a bad day or month. It was a season that started as soon as my hair dried from the waters of baptism on Easter 2011. Can we be real? It's only beginning to change now, 3.5 years later. I'd like to say that there was a miracle that made everything better. Spoiler: there wasn't. It took -- is taking -- work. Relationships had to be severed. Habits destroyed. I had to learn to see myself with the mind of Christ and not my own understanding. I had to encounter Grace in the sacraments, even when I could pray "I believe, help my unbelief." But gradually, even though some situations stayed the same, I began to feel hope. You may not feel that faithfulness and love or grace right now. You may not feel loved or lovable, or think that there will ever be a day that feels better than this day right now. The Lord who "raises up all who are bowed down" might seem like a myth. That is okay. It is so, so okay to admit that it is hard. But the beauty of grace is that it doesn't depend on us recognizing it to exist. Something that helps me recognize His faithfulness and begin seeing myself with the mind of Christ is that old party game, two truths and a lie. I write down the lie first. Last week's? I am unwanted. Then I take the lie to prayer, and I ask for truth to be revealed in the dark places. Sometimes the lies don't want to go easily. They, much like the demons in today's Gospel, scream "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?" Another spoiler: Yes. He did. Is there a lie you can begin exchanging for truth? How can we view ourselves with the mind of Christ and recognize His faithfulness? Kassie Rutherford is a dancer, fiction writer and editor from Texas currently relocating from LA to NYC. You can find out more about her here.

    "When I came to you..." I am here. We are here. We are here to dive into the Word together, as a community of believers, as a community of mothers, as a community of wives, single women, daughters, sisters, sinners, thieves. "I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling," With fear and much trembling, we launch Blessed Is She today. In weakness and fear, I give you all of me in this project, in this daily devotions to the Word of God. We give you ourselves and nothing less to be vulnerable and to grow together. Every single day. "so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God." It is not us, the writers or the preachers or the ministers standing at the pulpit. It is the power of God that we rest our faith on. Open up your bible, sister. Read along with us. We come to you as women who needed the gentle push to open up the Word and let it enter into our lives daily. And we want you to come along for the ride. Today begins day 1 of Blessed Is She's daily devotions. We will look at the daily readings and write reflections on them that apply to our lives. It will be soothing to our souls to sit and reflect on what the Lord is trying to speak to us through His beautiful Word. It will be essential for our growth as Christian women to continue to grow in Him as opposed to remaining stagnant. Open up your bible, sister. And I'll join you. Let's do this. photo credit Jenna Guizar is the wife to an amazing man and mother to three beautiful little girls. You can find out more about her here.