Saint Paul boasts in his letter to the Philippians 4:10-19 that he knows how to live in every circumstance and he has strength for everything. This sounds really nice, Saint Paul, please, do enlighten me! “My God will fully supply whatever you need” (Philippians 4:19). Although the Christians who first received Saint Paul’s letter in Philippi are currently very dead, the words of Saint Paul remain very alive today. Yes, Saint Paul’s words are a proclamation of Truth over the messiness of 2020. My God will fully supply for what you need for your vocation. My God will fully supply for what you need for this pandemic. My God will fully supply for what you need for your loved ones. My God will fully supply for what you need for your employment. My God will fully supply for what you need for the healing of the wounds of racism. My God will fully supply for what you need for the wildfires. My God will fully supply for what you need for the hurricanes. My God will fully supply for what you need for the elections. My God will fully supply for what you need for the education of your children. My God will fully supply for what you need for your holiness. We are safe in the hands of Divine Providence. Stay close to Jesus in the Sacraments: live your baptismal identity of priest, prophet, and king; be healed in Confession, participate in Mass and receive the Eucharist (with livestreaming and Spiritual Communion as needed), be strengthened by your Confirmation, call the priest for Anointing when you or a loved one is ill. And Our Lady, Star of the Sea, will guide you through this storm. Let her be a light of hope when you are feeling lost, abandoned, and alone. Her pierced heart profoundly understands earthly suffering. Let Mary, full of Grace, accompany you with an abundance of grace for every trial you are enduring. Our Lady is with you and will lead you to your home in Heaven with the Trinity. [bctt tweet="We are safe in the hands of Divine Providence. // Rose Coleman" username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion Read this short list of ways to bring your faith more alive throughout your day.

We are experts at cleansing the outside. There are numerous times a day for scrubbing, sanitizing, and rinsing the filth from our environments. The dishes, the laundry, and the clutter are a never-ending story in our lives. As we disinfect the outside of our lives, there is often a temptation towards fear. Have you ever felt trapped in the shame of your mess, your weaknesses, and your sins? Do you hope that others won’t notice the chaos you experience? Dear sisters in Christ, the Good News for us today is that “[f]or freedom Christ set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Jesus invites us to freedom in Him. Will you let Him do His work in your heart today? Our personal holiness is His project. With confident trust, invite the Divine Messiah to do the cleansing. As we let Jesus into the mess, listen to our Savior’s instructions: “As to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you” (Luke 11:41). Have you ever noticed this connection between the interior life, alms giving, and purity? The Father desires to give us a rich interior life of prayer, and He sent His Beloved Son to reveal perfect love. As we live our lives in Christ, we practice acts of charity with the alms we offer in worship to the Father. Generosity is a Fruit of the Holy Spirit that springs from a pure heart. How beautiful that Emmanuel, God with us, chooses to dwell in us. We are cleansed as we become His home. In my own life, I have found such joy and healing in creative almsgiving. Be attentive to the Holy Spirit today and let Him show you where to give alms. Rake the leaves of your elderly neighbor, bring a meal to a new mom, visit with a widow, pay for someone’s food, write a message of hope on the sidewalk, clean the kitchen for your friend battling cancer. And as you enter into other’s mess through giving alms, enter back into your own heart and delight with the freedom that everything will be clean for you. [bctt tweet="Be attentive to the Holy Spirit today. // Rose Coleman " username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion Enter more deeply into the works of mercy with our study on them.

The enemy sometimes tries to whisper his lies to our minds. Do any of these phrases sound familiar? “You are not good enough.” “You are not trying hard enough.” “That should have been easier for you.” “You’re broken and unfixable.” “It’s all your fault.” “There’s no hope.” Psychologists label this stinkin’ thinkin’ as cognitive distortions. I have been so grateful for the psychologists and psychiatrists who have given me helpful tools to combat these destructive lies. The hard work of therapy has helped me to identify the distortions and examine the evidence. The most consoling Good News is that Jesus wants to heal and protect us from these deceptions. Saint Paul reminds us that “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). The Father desires for us to live in the truth of our baptismal identity as His beloved daughters. The Holy Spirit lavishes us with His gifts in Confirmation. Christ abides in us, especially in the Eucharist. God loves us so much. He has the power and authority to command these unclean thoughts to come out of us. Jesus desires to help us to see the truth with His eyes. And when the enemy whispers these subtle lies to our minds, simply remember that “we have the mind of Christ.” Listen to Him proclaim His truth over you: “You are very good.” “I will give you My strength.” “I am with you in your suffering.” “I will make you whole.” “It’s not your fault.” “There’s hope.” listen to today’s devotion [bctt tweet="Jesus desires to help us to see the truth with His eyes. // Rose Coleman " username="blessedisshe__"] Jesus, I love You. Jesus, I trust in You.

One year ago today, I was in Auschwitz, Poland for the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe. It was the final day of my pilgrimage and it was pouring rain. I joined thousands for Mass in the concentration camp to remember prisoner #16670 who was martyred on August 14, 1941. The bishops and priests said Mass on a stage erected right outside of Block 11. This is the building where Saint Maximilian Maria died from a lethal injection of carbolic acid in basement cell #18. The showers continued for the whole Liturgy of the Word. Tears were pouring down from the heavens. The only thing I could understand from the Archbishop of Krakow’s homily was the name of this beloved Saint and the name of this horrible place. Then as the offertory began, the rain cleared, and everyone closed their umbrellas. Thousands of us knelt in the mud during the Consecration, encountering the messiness of suffering in such a little way. At Communion, I prayed that Jesus would help me to say yes. We gathered because of one man’s yes. As a boy in prayer, Saint Maximilian Maria said yes to Mary and choose both the red crown of martyrdom and the white crown of purity. He said yes to religious life with the Franciscans. He said yes to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in founding the Knights of the Immaculate and Niepokalanów, the City of the Immaculate. He said yes to missionary work in Japan. He said yes to return to Poland and two Nazi arrests. He said yes in offering his life for Franciszek Gajowniczek: “I am a Catholic priest; take me and spare this man.” He said yes to a fortnight in a starvation bunker. He said yes, seventy-nine years ago today, on the vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to a lethal injection. After Mass, we prayed at his prison cell, where he was a light of hope to all around him. Today, let us pray that the intercession of Saint Maximilian Maria will inspire us to both little and heroic yeses to Jesus. listen to today’s devotion [bctt tweet="He said yes // Rose Coleman " username="blessedisshe__"] Learn more about this amazing Saint here.

I grew up in a bubble. It was a lovely, sheltered, Christian bubble where I flourished. The first public school I attended was my university where I encountered people whose lives were not centered on God: the atheists, agnostics, and a biology professor who desecrated the Eucharist. My heart ached that people would encounter Jesus through me. As a child, I loved reading about missionary Saints who brought the Light of Christ to those living in darkness. Inspired by their example, after graduation I began teaching in secular elementary schools. The Second Vatican Council clearly called the laity to be leaven in the world, and I am grateful for that time to help others rise to the greatness God was calling them to live. (source) However, to my surprise, Jesus did not want me to stay there. Like the twelve disciples in Matthew’s Gospel today, I listened to Jesus’ directions to not go into pagan territory. Jesus was calling me deeper into His Heart, and I began to discern the Consecrated Life. Jesus lead me from my secular life in the world to a hidden life with Him. During my time of formation in Religious Life, I encountered many “lost sheep in the house of Israel.” My heart broke for my religious education students preparing for First Holy Communion who rarely went to Mass and my eighth graders, in a Catholic School that lost so much of its Catholic identity, who could not define the three persons of the Trinity. Also, how can there be so many who do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? And then Jesus surprised me again. After intense discernment, I followed Jesus out of the convent and returned home. Jesus promised more life, and He gave it! I am now proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven as a teacher at a thriving Catholic School. I never could have predicted this winding path to holiness, but I pray for the grace to continue to say yes to wherever He sends me. listen to today’s devotion [bctt tweet="Jesus promised more life, and He gave it! // Rose Coleman" username="blessedisshe__"] Sisters, where is Jesus sending you to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven today?

Mary “kept all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51). As we celebrate today the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are invited to deeper intimacy with Our Lady. And when we grow in relationship with her, be confident that Mary’s Immaculate Heart always leads us to deeper union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mary remembered, pondered, studied, and stored the life of Jesus in her heart. She is the exemplar of contemplation and she wants to teach us how to pray. Amidst the chaos and noise that comes today, she desires to assist us in developing quiet and holy silence. Even if it is just for a few minutes! Jesus was formed in Mary’s womb, under the generous love of her heart. This maternal love is our refuge, too. Mary invites us close to ponder with her the life and teachings of Christ. She wants us to see Christ with her maternal perspective. But where do we start? The Rosary is a comprehensive walk with Mary through the life of Christ. The Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries have been a deep well of grace for Christians for centuries. However, in all honesty, I have prayed countless distracted rosaries without any pondering of the Mysteries. Praying a separate Holy Hour with just one mystery at time has helped me tremendously. Today’s Gospel of the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple, the Fifth Joyful Mystery, might be a great passage to start with today. When pondering these things in our hearts with Mary, we can ask for her intercession to help us with distractions in prayer. When distractions come, simply pray, “Mary, help me to keep all these things in my heart." And as you work your way through the passages in the Gospels of the Mysteries of the Rosary, you will receive a new wellspring of grace. This will allow memories of prayer to flood your heart as your rosary passes through your fingers. And as you contemplate the life of Jesus with Mary, she will help you to keep all these things in your heart. 📿 Make It a Daily Habit Find Your Perfect Rosary From the Blessed Mother to St. Therese, St. Joseph, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, our rosaries are made to pray for your intentions every day. Shop All Rosaries → Walk through this simple step-by-step guide on how to pray the Rosary.