April 15, 2025 // Tuesday of Holy Week Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6 Reflect on the Word //  A couple of months ago, we were searching for signs of spring on one of those mild winter days that tricks you into thinking winter might be over. The warmth, mud, and a few visible buds had stirred my mind to baby chicks and vegetable seedlings. Now that we are reveling in our first spring in the home we share as a blended family, my desire to put down roots is strong, but I know better than most that our future is not guaranteed. While I hope to live here for decades, I am at the mercy of God’s will, and I trust Him even though it still makes me uncomfortable. Human beings are created for home, for stability and constancy. But sin and the world require us to adapt to constant change. To paraphrase Saint Thérèse of Lisieux in her autobiography: the world is our ship and not our home. Jesus created me for a purpose. I am, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, a “sharp-edged sword” and “a polished arrow” (Isaiah 49:2). I am God’s  servant, and I deeply desire to be used for His glory. I sometimes wonder when others will recognize the efforts I make toward virtue and love, the way my heart is oriented toward the Kingdom. And “yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God” (Isaiah 49:4) We will almost certainly not see the fruit of our earthly labors until we reach Heaven, but we can rest securely in the knowledge that the Lord has formed us as His servants, that He will gather us back to Him when we wander, and that we are “made glorious in the sight of the LORD. My God is now my strength!” (Isaiah 49:5) God is using every one of us to be “a light to the nations, that [His] salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Let us not grow weary of doing good, of making our homes as Heaven-like as we can, of sharing the Gospel everywhere we go. The Lord meets us in our efforts, multiplies our offerings, and with every step of faith we are bringing His Kingdom nearer. Relate to the Lord // How can you do good today to bring God’s Kingdom to your home and to the world?  

April 14, 2025 // Monday of Holy Week Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 12:1-11 Reflect on the Word //  My baby boy rested his head against my chest, and I sang the Regina Caeli antiphon, over and over until I felt him finally drift into a deep sleep. This had become our routine. He was most content when held close, his sweet breath against my cheek. He protested any separation with a longing cry, little hands reaching, groping in the darkness, only settling when he discovered he was back in my arms. I smiled wearily and felt such peace, peace in the exhaustion, and all the aches and pains quickly became familiar friends during this season of life. Tremendous peace because, like they often do, my child showed me the goodness of the Lord. I whimper and grope in the darkness, and He comes and lets me rest my head on His chest. The beat of His Sacred Heart soothes my soul. He holds me close, and I find rest. Day after day. Night after night. He is always there.  His loving presence invites us to pour out and share in a holy affection with Him, our Beloved. Like Mary, we are drawn to give Him all that is precious to us: “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of oil” (John 12:3). We approach Him, our grasp tight, but prepared to let go. Prepared to trust Him. The tenderness in His eyes penetrates the depths of our being, and we feel the freedom to lavish Him with love. And though there are times when I hear the deceptive voice of the enemy attempting to sow doubt in my heart, the voice of our Blessed Lord rises above the clamor: “Leave her alone” (John 12:7). Our hearts long to be close to Him in this way, and He tenderly waits and allows us to humbly place ourselves at His feet, spilling our tears, giving it all without counting the cost, because He is the greatest Lover.  Relate to the Lord // Take a few moments to imagine yourself as that little infant resting on Jesus’ Heart. Breathe deeply and rest.  

Saturday, April 12, 2025Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days April 13 // Palm Sunday of Passion of the Lord April 14 // Monday of Holy Week April 15 // Tuesday of Holy Week April 16 // Wednesday of Holy Week April 17 // Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper April 18 // Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  We are about to enter into the holiest week of the year, beginning with tomorrow, Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord. Before Mass even begins, the priest will bless palms and read from the Gospel of Luke, which tells of Jesus’ glorious entrance into Jerusalem. First, He goes on to the Mount of Olives, anticipating His Agony in the Garden. Will we join in the praise tomorrow of our Savior Who is ready to die for us, to give His “back to those who beat” Him and His “cheeks to those who plucked [His] beard” (Isaiah 50:6)? Will we stay with Him when He cries out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Psalm 22:2a) This week is the reason He became a Man. In giving us His life, He teaches us how to live—to empty ourselves and humble ourselves, to give all for love of God (see Philippians 2:7-8). When you hear the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Luke tomorrow at Mass, imagine yourself in the scene. Will you be beside Jesus the whole time consoling Him? Can you imagine following Him beside His sorrowful Mother or weeping with the women of Jerusalem? Stand in the crowd and witness how your sins have condemned the One Whom you ought to love. Cry with Peter after denying Jesus. Hang beside the good thief and ask Jesus to remember you. Prepare Jesus’s body for burial with Joseph and lay Him in the tomb. This week is for you. In Christ’s Love, Susanna   Read the readings for the Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord (Year C) //  Gospel at the Procession with Palms // Luke 19:28-40First Reading // Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalm // Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 Second Reading // Philippians 2:6-11 Gospel // Luke 22:14–23:56 Prayer Practice // Where in the Passion do you feel drawn to remain with Jesus this Holy Week?  

April 11, 2025 // Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent // Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop, Martyr Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 10:31-42 Reflect on the Word //  I can think back and recall all too quickly the many times I’ve doubted God. Not His existence, but whether or not I should trust in His plan, if He had a plan, or if He would be present with me through what I could tell were going to be tough times ahead. Frankly, I feel like this comes up on a weekly basis in my personal prayer life. I talk to Jesus about my problems, my worries and anxieties, and most of the time all I hear back is: Trust in Me. But why is my immediate reaction to Jesus’ invitation to trust met with instant defensiveness? Why after so many years of blessings, in seeing God’s marvelous work in my life in so many ways and manifestations, do I want to reject resting in His love and plan?  It’s as if I am picking up rocks to throw at Jesus like the Jews in today’s Gospel (see John 10:31). I’ve seen the good works Jesus has done in my own life; yet, I still want to meet Jesus with hostility when He asks me to trust. Why do I come up with excuses not to believe God wants what’s best for me?  Jesus is offering us the choice to see and believe the works He has done in our lives. They may be big moments of dramatic conversion or quiet moments of grace where we felt His presence, but they are His good, wonderful works. We can stand in the crowd with the Jews in the Gospel and decide if we want to “believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father" (John 10:38). Jesus wants to lead us to union with Him and His Father, to help us know that we are in His loving care and enfolded in His plan for us. Our choice to believe is a risky one, but it is a risk worth taking.   Relate to the Lord // Today, recall the Lord in your life and let His faithfulness increase your trust now.  

April 10, 2025 // Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Genesis 17: 3-9 Reflect on the Word //  “God’s Pearl.” Since childhood, the little wooden plaque on my bedside table had proclaimed the meaning of my name, but not until adulthood did I shift from mild disdain to deep appreciation for my name.  My mom had liked the name Shannon before I was born, but the neighbors picked it first for their daughter—so Megan it was. I joined a quickly-growing sea of other Megans; in elementary school, I was distinguished by my first name and last initial. By high school, I was one of seven Megans in my high school orchestra (with as many spelling variations to match). Nearing my third decade of life and battling with chronic suffering, I was prompted one day to pray with my name's meaning: God’s Pearl. Oysters form pearls as a response to discomfort and suffering, I remembered. A beautiful gem of redemption born from pain. Maybe my name isn’t just the next best choice on the list. Maybe I’m more than a nobody in the crowd of Megans.  Indeed, I sensed the Lord respond, You are MY beloved Pearl, being formed in beauty and grace throughout a lifetime of redemptive suffering.  Names are extremely meaningful to God. The Catechism tells us that Jesus’ name “expresses both His identity and His mission” (§ 430). In Genesis, God named Abraham, which means “father of multitudes” (see Genesis 17:3-9). In his name, a childless Abraham received not only an irrevocable promise, but discovered his own deeper identity and greater mission. Likewise, when I learned the truth of my name through God’s eyes, my identity was anchored; my mission became clear.   Today’s First Reading invites us to ponder the deeper meaning of our names. God has made a covenant with each of us, just as He did with Abraham. He’s inviting us to receive the name proclaimed over us at Baptism as part of that covenant, and consider how our names might reveal our unique mission.  Your name is not arbitrary to God. It is intentional. He calls you by name—with delight. Hear Him proclaim it now with tenderness and love. Through it, learn how incomparably, eternally precious you are to Him. Relate to the Lord // What does your name mean? How do you feel about your name and how is God revealing your identity through it?   

April 9, 2025 // Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 Reflect on the Word //  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The first I remember hearing of their story was at church camp as a youth. We sang a song about them, sitting around the campfire in the cool summer air, and as the fire transfixed us, we would almost make out their shapes in our imagination. They were a sort of spiritual superheroes calling us to a wild trust.  They survived a fire so hot that it melted the people who threw them into the flames. But their confidence in the Lord and trust in His eternal plan burned brighter.  "There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter,” they spoke to the king (Daniel 3:16).  Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we have no need to defend ourselves when we are doing the will of God, and yet I defend myself constantly. I take offense when no offense is intended, and snap back my retort almost automatically when I feel attacked. These three men were threatened. It wasn’t a threat to their pride or image—it was a threat to their life. With a choice to protect your earthly life or to protect your eternal life, which would you choose? I would love to say that I would respond that there is no need for me to defend myself, but I know that when left to my own devices, I would.  Because that is what I do every day. It is one of my imperfections. And I am fairly certain I am not alone.  We prefer to defend ourselves and our earthly pride rather than growing in humility and accepting the offense or letting go of the insult. Rather than growing in humility and holiness trusting that God has allowed the circumstance for some reason, we retaliate and fight. Oh, what a better path to turn directly to the Lord in these times, with the confidence that He can save us, if we only continue to be obedient to His commands.  Relate to the Lord // Pray for humility today. :)  

April 8, 2025 // Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9 Reflect on the Word // My list was growing longer as I jotted down what was weighing on my heart. Sitting in the beautiful space, surrounded by women with heavy burdens and great joys, I listened to the speakers of a women’s retreat as they asked me to write down my “stuff.” Well now, I thought to myself, Lord, do You have an hour, because this list is basically writing itself and I’m not even near finished. I raged. I lamented. I cried. I went numb. I turned in on myself, shoulders hunching, and eyebrows furrowing. Scribble, scribble—my son’s learning disabilities, my other son’s anger problems, my daughter’s mood swings, my other son’s impulsiveness, the baby’s sleep issues, exhaustion, work, bills, nutrition, exercise, all the things.   I’m tired of it! It’s too much for one person! Lord, I can’t do it. Well, My daughter. You’re not supposed to. The children of Israel aired their grievances: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” (Numbers 24:5) And I sat there and aired mine too. I felt that heart anguish and shook my metaphorical fists to the sky. But the Lord knows our suffering; He asked the children of Israel to merely look upon the bronze serpent to live. He asks us to gaze upon Him as well, to see Him suffering with us on the Cross. He whispers to our weary, exhausted, hungry, and wretched hearts, I’ve got them, I’ve got this. We each have heavy burdens and great joys. He wants them all from us. They aren’t ours to hoard and catalog, hide away, and shame. He wants us to give Him our lists and focus on what we can control—the disposition of our hearts. Relate to the Lord // How will you position your heart towards Jesus today?  

April 7, 2025 // Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent // Optional Memorial of Saint John Baptist de la Salle, Priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 8:12-20 Reflect on the Word // I felt the darkness envelop me as I glanced down at our monthly insurance bill. Though it had been two months since my husband stepped away from his full-time job in order to start his business, we had felt this call from the Lord in our hearts for years prior, a prompting that we finally had the courage to listen to. Still, the doubts began to plague me—how could we pay this each month? Would the finances come? I took these questions with me into the night, tossing and turning in the darkness while they coursed through my anxious mind. They were unrelenting and crippled any trust I had built. Like the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, my doubt had clouded the truth that God had spoken deep within me.  Jesus explicitly reveals a truth about Himself to the Pharisees, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Still, the Pharisees doubt Him by saying, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified” (John 8:13).  It is so easy to doubt in the face of uncertainty, even when the truth has been explicitly stated—as it was for the Pharisees in the Gospel today. We fall for the lie that everything is dependent on us, that we are alone, that God is not Who He says He is. In our lack of relationship with Him, we are led into the darkness of doubt.  I wonder what truths about God you are doubting in your own life, dear sister. What whispers has He spoken to your heart that you do not trust? It is easy to find yourself lost in the darkness of doubt, but He is the light. He will illuminate the way. We must only listen and trust.  Relate to the Lord // Whose voice are you listening to? Listen for words of Truth and Light today.

Saturday, April 5, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, April 5 (today!) // Optional Memorial of Saint Vincent Ferrer, Priest Sunday, April 6 // Fifth Sunday of Lent Monday, April 7 // Optional Memorial of Saint John Baptist de la Salle, Priest Friday, April 11 // Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop, Martyr Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  As we come to the Fifth Sunday of Lent tomorrow, let us keep pace with Saint Paul and “continue [our] pursuit toward the goal” (Philippians 3:14), that of following through on our Lenten commitments. In them we are “sharing of [Christ’s] sufferings by being conformed to his death,” and with Saint Paul we hope to “attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11). At this point in Lent,  we might ask ourselves, Why should I keep giving this good thing up?  It is too much effort for two more weeks! But the Lord reminds us that, “Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing” (Psalm 126:5). We cannot avoid suffering in this life and we know we become better by taking sacrifices voluntarily, and all of it can be joined with Jesus’—our own Savior’s— suffering.  When we join with Him in suffering in Lent, we will find truth in His words, “I put water in the desert, and rivers in the wasteland, for my chosen people to drink” (Isaiah 43:20). This water is grace, which restores us to be more in union with Him. We meet Him there and He tells us, “See, I am doing something new!” (Isaiah 43:19) And when we let His grace wash over we will find when we are brought before Him sinful and sorrowful at the end of our lives, that He will say to us like He did to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more” (John 8:11). In Christ’s Love, Susanna   Read the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year C):  First Reading // Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm // Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6. Second Reading // Philippians 3:8-14 Gospel // John 8:1-11 Prayer Practice // What “new thing” is the Lord doing this Lent? Share your Lenten prayer with a friend.  

April 4, 2025 // Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent // Optional Memorial of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 6:43-55 (from optional Readings for Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church)  Reflect on the Word // The sun was toasty and its shining rays led us to where the ripest fruit was. My son quickly found that using the fruit picker to shake the branches was the fastest way to remove the ripe fruit. We laughed as it toppled over our heads, and it seemed as if it was a joyful welcome from the tree itself.  Recently, our old neighbor’s fruitful and good apricot trees were delivered into the hands of indifferent tenants. Every time we would open the garage door my kids would look across the way and voice their frustration that these new neighbors were not kind to these trees. They remembered the care the previous owners had offered the ground, the elderly man crouching over and watering the roots everyday, using the hose to balance his stance, gazing up in satisfaction at the harmonious work between man and nature.   Seeing the trees droop and the life going out before them, my oldest son and daughter commanded us to do something. One day we saw the new owners walking by and kindly asked if we could pick the fruit off the trees. With the green light we went to work. We took the last of what it would ever grow that summer. The love that had been given, poured out, and received ceased completely.  We hear in the Gospel that, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). We can understand the fragility of nature and the work it takes to grow good fruit. This is reflective of our own interior life. When we allow Jesus to scatter the seeds of our prayer we can see God’s abundance in our lives. The opposite is true when we stop praying all together.  Sister, the harvest reaped by God in us is always good. We have a Father Who cares for us like a gardener, Who desires to cultivate the goodness of our souls with the most gentle, loving hands. Relate to the Lord // What fruit is God the Gardener cultivating in you in this season? What needs pruning?  

April 3, 2025 // Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 5:31-47 Reflect on the Word //  In the opening pages of Jacques Philippe's tiny wonder Searching for and Maintaining Peace, he reminds us of a pivotal message of  Jesus Christ—that our Lord says to us, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He doesn’t say “you can do something” or “you can do a little bit” or even “you can do enough,” He says we can do nothing without Him. Nothing.  Does this make you feel small? Good. I think it should. When we read today’s Gospel, Jesus is saying a similar thing; He is chastising the Jews for not having the faith required to accept Him as the Savior. They believed in Moses, they believed in John the Baptist, but still they rejected the Son. He says to them,“ But you do not want to come to me to have life” (John 5:40). How many things in our lives are similar? We put our hope in so much, with so little return. Being entertained, satisfying our senses, material things, an addiction to wasted time. Even good and worthy things we can tend to place our trust in—our own successes, our family life or marriages, our daily output, our accomplishments and abilities. But still Jesus is asking us just to desire Him, to know Him, to trust Him. Then and only then will we be filled with the stuff of Life, His own self, fueling and motivating and giving Life to every other thing, and turning our efforts into a real treasure. Then and only then will we know how small and incapable we are, and how beloved, which is ultimately at the heart of true interior peace. In this light, Christ's chastisement becomes more than just a slap on the wrist; it is so clearly the loving call of a benevolent God—trust in Me, hope in Me, believe in Me, and I will give you rest. Relate to the Lord // What would it look like to be small and loved today?

April 2, 2025 // Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent // Optional Memorial Saint Francis of Paola, Hermit Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 49:8-15 Reflect on the Word //  *trigger warning of pregnancy loss* We hung up the phone and stared at each other in shock. I started to cry and my husband tried to comfort me, though he, too, was filled with worry. Earlier that day our hearts overflowed with joy at the sight of our first baby at a six-week ultrasound. Later my OB called after seeing the results to inform us that our baby’s heart rate was quite low. We would need to have a repeat ultrasound in a week’s time to see whether our baby would survive.  The week that followed was one of the longest I can remember. I spent the majority of it on my knees. I researched prayers and wrote a litany of all the best Saints to intercede for us from Heaven. I begged the Lord to protect, to nourish, to—please, God, please—save our baby. I have never prayed so hard in all my life.  A week later we received the devastating news that our baby was no longer living inside my womb.  “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14). In today’s First Reading the prophet Isaiah proclaims the Lord’s faithfulness in keeping, leading and guiding His people. The Lord makes a way where there isn’t one and comforts and shows mercy. Sometimes, our lived experience does not feel like it lines up with these promises. Sometimes, we feel like Zion: forsaken and forgotten.  Yet “in a time of favor” (Isaiah 49:8) the Lord always comes through for us. It may not look how we want or be on our desired timeline, yet we must believe the Lord when He says: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). As we continue our Lenten journey, we have the opportunity to grow in the hope this Scripture passage brings. We can return His tender love by placing our trust in Him once again, regardless of our feelings or circumstances. He is with you, sister. You are His beloved daughter, and you are always on His Heart.  Relate to the Lord // Declare this truth inspired by Scripture today: God has not forgotten me (see Isaiah 49:15).

April 1, 2025 // Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 5:1-16 Reflect on the Word //  The makeshift chapel was dim and the crowds of people had dwindled down to a few stragglers. It was Holy Week and this was my favorite night of the year. The night when the Garden of Gethsemane is recreated through the altar of repose.  As I prayed in the back of the room, looking up toward the tabernacle, I felt an intense need to be closer to Him. Approaching the altar, my heart started to race. I knelt down just a few feet from Jesus in the Eucharist, and pain started welling up in my chest.  I brought Him the most sorrowful mysteries of my life, and He looked at me with the most sorrowful eyes of His pierced Heart. They were His knowing eyes. The ones that deeply understood the grief of my recent miscarriage. The eyes that saw the depth of my disappointment every month my prayer for a child wasn’t answered. The eyes that knew exactly what my suffering looked like, and just how long I had been there, desperately waiting to be healed.  The sick man in today’s Gospel encountered these eyes too.  We don’t just witness Jesus healing him from thirty-eight years of illness. We witness His Heart for this man, and just how familiar He is with his mat.  “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’” (John 5:6, emphasis added) Sister, you know what your mat looks like. That place in your life where you feel sick, stuck, paralyzed, broken, or forgotten by God.  You know how long your “thirty-eight years” has felt. You know how many times you’ve asked the Lord for healing and answers. You know how much pain it has caused you. You know how many sacrifices you’ve made.  Are we willing to trust that our Divine Healer knows this too? Are we ready to believe that the Lord, Who is intimately familiar with the most sorrowful mysteries of our lives, desperately wants to make us well?  Jesus sees you, and He knows.  Relate to the Lord // Pause right now, look to Jesus interiorly, and receive His understanding gaze.  

March 31, 2025 // Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12a, 13b Reflect on the Word // *trigger warning of pregnancy loss* I sat on our bathroom floor wondering how one body could hold so much pain within it—both emotional and physical. It had been a handful of years since we'd experienced our first miscarriage and even more since we'd been able to conceive again. The physical pain of endometriosis and the emotional pain of the season we were in sat heavily within me that afternoon—one of many afternoons on which I'd wondered if He saw me, heard me, or understood me at all. “Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;     O LORD, be my helper” (Psalm 30:11). I'd prayed and begged ceaselessly for healing. I was at my wit’s end. In that moment, a tiny bit of openness was the result—honestly, out of pure desperation and sheer exhaustion. His response? I felt Him, in my prayer, come to me that day and sit with me there on that bathroom floor and catch each and every tear that left my weeping eyes. It was my personal pain paired with broken-openness to His presence that drew Him all the more near. The Psalmist today praises the Lord for having rescued him (see Psalm 30:2). Sometimes it seems like the Lord is not actively answering any of our prayers, but He is—in fact—doing so in ways we can't articulate for ourselves. I look back and see clearly how God continues to answer my prayers for healing. Not because I no longer struggle with bouts of physical or emotional pain. Not because we've welcomed a sweet new life into our family. Not because my prayer requests are granted exactly as I want. But because He—in my struggle—embraces my weakest parts. My deepest hopes. My tight-gripped dreams. And invites me to exchange my will for His Own. The Lord turns “mourning into dancing” (Psalm 30:12). He brings us “up from the nether world” (Psalm 30:4) of our crushed dreams and the depths of our pain. With each new day dawning, He takes our pain and transforms it into a deeper knowledge of His grand plan for us and it is this: eternity. Relate to the Lord // How has He turned your mourning into dancing? What mourning would you like Him to turn into dancing?  

Saturday, March 29, 2025 Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Sunday, March 30 // Fourth Sunday of Lent Wednesday, April 2 // Optional Memorial of Saint Francis of Paola, Hermit Friday, April 4  // Optional Memorial of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy” (Psalm 34:6), the Psalmist tells us on this Laetare (“Rejoice!”) Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent. When we called Him, He answered us and saved us from all our distress. Saint Paul tells us how God sent His Son to reconcile “the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:18), more than restoring what was lost in the Garden of Eden. For in Christ we are “a new creation: the old things have passed away” and “new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet, despite all of this, we still wander away.  We take our inheritance of grace, and like the prodigal son in the Gospel, we squander it. The grace is always there waiting for us, but we make ourselves impenetrable to it, cutting ourselves off through sin. The parable, though, does not end there. For like the prodigal son, we can pick ourselves up and stumble back to the Father, with the words on our lips that we “no longer deserve to be called your son” or daughter (Luke 15:19). But the Father loves us too much to leave us as servants; He takes off the robe of His divine life and wraps it around our shoulders. And then we feast with Him off the fruits of the Promised Land, for He has “removed the reproach of Egypt from you” (Joshua 5:9). Sister, this and every Sunday we can “taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 34:9a) in the glory of the Mass and glorify Him for all He has done for us. In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C):  First Reading // Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 Psalm // Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 Second Reading // 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Gospel // Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Prayer Practice // How is your joy? Take an inventory of all the blessings and graces this past week (or so far this Lent) and give thanks!  

March 28, 2025 // Friday of the Third Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Hosea 14:2-10 Reflect on the Word // The bells barely finished their tolling for Mass as I slipped into the far corner of the last pew in the small white wooden church. Seconds before the opening hymn I dropped to my knees and my head fell into my hands. I didn’t want to be seen, noticed, spoken to, or acknowledged. I didn’t really want to be at Mass that Sunday morning,  but I also didn’t want to compound the weight of the guilt I was already feeling by skipping Mass too. Besides, I was the “good girl” on my heavily secular college campus. I always went to Mass on Sunday. If I didn’t go, surely someone would suspect. So, there I was, the “good girl” college sophomore, feeling anything but good. Lord, You don’t suspect. You know. You know every inward thought and movement of the heart. You look on me with love and call me back to You when I feel far away, stumbling in my iniquity, just like You never ceased to call Israel to return to You (see Hosea 14:2). You see us collapsed in our guilt, yet You urge us on to return to You, our Lord and God, You Who forgive every iniquity, in Whom the orphan and the sinner find compassion (see Hosea 14:3-4). Lord, Your words wash over me like a cleansing flood. Your words of healing and the gaze of Your heart, given freely in love, call me back to the path You have set before me, away from the gods in whom I once chose to put my trust, whom I  fashioned by the work of my hands (see Hosea 14:4). You heal our defection, love us freely and turn away Your wrath from us (see Hosea 14:5). We have no need to hide from You, the One Who bids us to rise from our guilt and return to You. May the healing dew (see Hosea 14:6) of Your mercy soften our hearts, that forgiven, restored, healed by Your grace we might walk the straight paths You set before those who are just (see Hosea 14:10).  Relate to the Lord // Pray with the First Reading today. What does it reveal to you personally about the Lord’s saving love?  

March 27, 2025 // Thursday of the Third Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Jeremiah 7:23-28 Reflect on the Word // I had been so excited to meet with this priest who was coming to town. Many of my friends lauded him as kind, gentle, and paternal. So when I received a kind, but strong, rebuke from him in spiritual direction I was angry and seriously annoyed. This was not what I had planned. He was supposed to speak some encouraging words and be on his way! I stormed up to my room and taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes in an attempt to pray. Jesus, I know that he is kind and good but that was . . .  I couldn’t finish my sentence before I was hit with the deep conviction that his rebuke was not only true, but it was also exactly what I needed. Before spiritual direction I had told the Lord, I trust whatever You want to do through this priest, thinking it would be some sort of eccentric spiritual practice. But the reality is that there were certain parts of my heart that needed to mature. I could no longer live as an adult with girlish ways. I knew it was the Father’s will to invite me to live as the woman He created me to be.  I needed to respond differently than Israel had responded to God in today’s First Reading: “This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction” (Jeremiah 7:28). God the Father in His goodness wanted me to become more fully the person that He created me to be. Just like a sculptor has to chip away at the rough bits of his statue, so, too, does the Lord chip away at my rough parts. It is not an act of unkindness but an act of love to not let me settle for less than I was made for. When I cannot see my potential for holiness, He can. When I cannot see the good that can come out of even my own mistakes, He can. The chipping away is painful, but His love makes even the most bitter correction sweet.  When correction from God comes our way it can be easy to shrink away or wince, but the reality is that He is making us something totally new. May we have the grace to not turn away in the face of correction but run straight towards His Sacred Heart to ask for the grace of conversion.  Relate to the Lord // How is Jesus working to make you totally new? How can you cooperate with Him?