March 6, 2025 // Thursday after Ash Wednesday Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 9:22-25   Reflect on the Word //  “Have you ever considered a religious vocation?” my mom inquired. I froze. I was in my early twenties and a little boy crazy. I wanted a husband and children. Although I loved God, the thought of giving that up was too much. However, I agreed to attend a six-week discernment summer program (with the preconceived notion that I didn’t have a religious vocation). It didn’t end as I imagined.  Today’s Gospel brings me back to the feelings of that summer. The Apostles had just witnessed Jesus multiply the loaves and fish and heard Peter declare that Jesus was the Christ (see Luke 9:10-17, 20). They must have been on a high seeing the miraculous power of Jesus. Perhaps they imagined the honor they’d receive having been chosen by Him. Then Jesus drops the bomb, explaining that He must suffer, be rejected, and be killed before rising (see Luke 9:22). Furthermore, He proclaims, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). I can imagine their confusion, wondering why Jesus would subject Himself to suffering and then expect the Apostles to do the same.  I felt that same confusion considering a religious vocation. How could giving up everything I desired make me happy? Yet Jesus quietly pursued my heart. Whether in the chapel, walking the grounds, or even cleaning the bathrooms, He stood close and waited for me. By the end of summer, I longed to consecrate my life to Him. Ultimately, it wasn’t my calling to be a religious, but Jesus needed me to completely surrender myself in order for me to find a new life in Him. Jesus is still doing that today. He still calls me to completely surrender myself to Him. He is calling and pursuing each of us, in our home, at school, and at our work. He’s asking us to accept all the little crosses of our days and to surrender ourselves to Him so we can draw closer to His heart and live a new life in Him.  Relate to the Lord // How has Jesus been pursuing your heart lately? Pay attention to His love today.  

March 5, 2025 // Ash Wednesday Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Reflect on the Word //  My husband smiled when he heard the secret words we had agreed upon, words that communicated to him alone my desire to leave the gathering for private time together. Such secrets can guard intimacy in a relationship. In today’s Gospel, Jesus repeats two small words, secret and hidden, shedding light on the intimacy our Heavenly Father desires with each of us.   “But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. [. . .] [P]ray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matthew 6:3-4, 6, emphasis added). When we aim for approval and affirmation from others, rather than God, we devalue the love God desires to give us.  “But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you" (Matthew 6:17, emphasis added). The Father is hidden within us at our very core since our Baptism, and wants us to meet Him there. When we keep secret our good deeds and hide our sacrifices, we guard the intimacy we share with God. He sees each little secret gift, hears every silent prayer, and knows how frequently we fast from earthly goods out of love for Him. He receives our secret love language of gifts with delight and reverence. He asks us to revere the intimacy of His work in us and, in return, generates His Own life in us, enabling us to bear fruit. He’s a Father Who delights in secrets! We are marked with ashes today as an outward sign of our need for ongoing repentance and conversion. Ashes remind us that we fall short of the love God desires for us to give and to receive. Black smudges on our foreheads, though visible to all, hold secrets between our souls and our loving Father, communicating to Him alone the depths of our desire to be free from oft-hidden sins and experience greater intimacy with our Maker. Relate to the Lord // What secret will you share with the Lord this Lent? Today?  

March 4, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Casimir Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 10:28-31 Reflect on the Word //  I was the first on both sides of the family to have children, which made it exciting for everyone. Everything my son did was new and thrilling, especially for the extended family, as he represented the start of a whole new generation. One day, when he was just a toddler, his aunt watched him share his treats with all the adoring adults. Before long, he had given them all away. Unfazed, he simply turned and moved on to play. He was willing to share something precious, giving it all away, holding nothing back for himself. His aunt marveled, saying, “He has no notion of scarcity.” I responded that he knew his needs would be met, so he didn’t feel the need to hold anything back. Sometimes, I know that instead of giving everything away in trust, I operate with a scarcity mentality, clinging to what I can while surrendering what I must. I like to keep a few things in reserve—just in case. It’s a way of maintaining a little control: I surrender to You, Lord—oh, but not that. That I can manage. Too often, I wait until I have no other option before I finally give something over to the Lord. Scripture tells us that when we give “for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel” (Mark 10:29), it will be repaid a hundredfold. The real question that keeps me in contemplation is this—where is my heart in the surrender? Am I truly giving up, or am I offering it to the Lord for His sake and the sake of the Gospel? When we hold back, we reveal our weakness in trust. It is trust that allows us to give completely, holding nothing back. How much more beautiful it would be to wake each day, not knowing what it will bring, and to surrender it all in blissful ignorance, trusting in the Lord. What a gift it is to love and trust like a child, fully relying on our Father, knowing that our needs will be met. Relate to the Lord // Where are you operating in a scarcity mindset? Ask the Lord to show you His provision.

March 3, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Katharine Drexel, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States] Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Sirach 17:20-24 Reflect on the Word //  “Stay in the right two lanes.” “Turn left.” I gripped the steering wheel and felt the muscles in my shoulders become tense as my phone recalculated directions to the airport. I had missed a turn and was lost—again. As I navigated through the dark streets of the most unsavory part of town, I berated myself for my lack of a sense of direction.  My husband, waiting at the curb of the airport with our daughter, called. He’d expected me to be there a long time ago. “Where are you?” he asked, his voice strained. Good question. Where are you? That’s the first question in the Bible too. The question God asks to draw Adam and Eve out of hiding and back to Himself. It’s the question we are asked when we find ourselves lost in our own sin and shame—not because we can find the way ourselves, but because we can’t.  And we need to cry out to the One Who has provided the way home.  “To the penitent God provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing hope” (Sirach 17:24). The Lord provides “a way back” when we are tempted to despair. Our bad choices, our wrong turns, the sinful ways we’ve steered ourselves into some dismal alleys—it can lead us to believe it is too late, that we’re simply too off course.  The First Reading from Sirach today reminds us that if we are willing to repent, to turn to Him, there is always a way back. There is, in fact, one Way back.  Jesus Christ is the Way.  And He is always, always ready to recalculate, taking our missed opportunities and failures and turning them into our exact path to holiness. Nothing is wasted in the spiritual life. Not even wrong turns. Sister, your story may include some detours and “scenic routes,” but never doubt God’s ability to re-route you back to Himself.  Just answer the question, “Where are you?” with humility and honesty, and ask for help getting home. He’s put the path on your heart, and the Way is waiting to carry you there.  Relate to the Lord // How has Jesus been the Way for you when you’ve gotten off track? How is He leading you back to Himself even now?  

Saturday, March 1, 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 2 // Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, March 3 // Optional Memorial of Saint Katharine Drexel, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States] Tuesday, March 4 // Optional Memorial of Saint Casimir Wednesday, March 5 // Ash Wednesday (Fasting and Abstinence Day!) Friday, March 7 // Optional Memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs   Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  On this Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time the opening words of the First Reading show us our need for healing: “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks” (Sirach 27:4). How often do we respond to trials with complaints and excuses, revealing the depths of our ingratitude? Jesus echoes this theme in the Gospel, proclaiming that “from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). The words that we speak and the things we do reveal our true character. As we begin the season of Lent this Wednesday with the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we will likely see more of our failings uncovered. But this is no reason to lose hope, for Saint Paul reminds us that, “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).  We can dive into this season with renewed purpose. In our prayer we can “give thanks to the LORD” and “sing praise to [His] name, Most High” (Psalm 92:2), forming new habits in our speech. In our fasting we can ask the Lord to help us to “remove the wooden beams from [our] eye first” (Luke 6:42). And as we give alms, we can detach ourselves from worldly things and be “planted in the house of the Lord,” so that we will be the good tree of the Gospel which bears good fruit. And as we fast, may we proclaim God’s “kindness at dawn and [His] faithfulness throughout the night” (Psalm 92:3).In Christ’s Love, Susanna   Read the readings for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Sirach 27:4-7 Psalm //Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16 Second Reading // 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 Gospel // Luke 6:39-45 Prayer Practice // Spend time seeking Jesus’ Heart in prayer today. How is He inviting you to pray, fast, and give alms this coming Lent?  

February 28, 2025 // Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Sirach 6:5-17 Reflect on the Word //  My heart warmed as I read this text from a friend: You are my priority. I read those four simple words once more, deeply touched by how much they moved me, meeting a need that I didn’t know I had.  Later that autumn, this friend and I found a few spare moments in our calendars to curl up on her couch with hot tea and squares of dark chocolate. She listened patiently as I shared all the goings-on in my life that were both hard and good, and I tried to do the same for her. I think we both left that evening with our cups full. “A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter,” we read. “[H]e who finds one finds a treasure” (Sirach 6:14). How beautiful it is that an entire passage of Scripture is devoted to finding and cultivating true friendship! These true friends show up for us when life is easy breezy and without care, and all the more so when life is tumultuous and full of sorrow. True friends are Christ-like, pouring themselves out for the good of the other. Hand in hand with these friends, we find shelter from the storm of life, with an abiding assurance that we are seen, heard, and loved. In a world in which loneliness is on the rise and it is far too easy to feel forgotten or passed over, we must not forget the deep importance of both having and being a good friend.  It is not lost on me that the friendship described above is one that was cultivated within the Blessed is She community. Let us remember as we journey through this Christian life together that we are not meant to go it alone. We are made for communion. And we are worthy to be a priority in the life of another.  Relate to the Lord // Who makes you feel like you’re a priority? Send them a text or a card to thank them for their love and friendship.

February 27, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Mark 9:41-50 Reflect on the Word // I dropped the remote on the couch and sighed. There was nothing good to watch—especially since my standards of “good” had changed. I once thought that being strong in my faith meant I should be unaffected by the world’s crudeness—that sensitivity equaled naiveté. I waved away the crass language in my Army unit; I thought I could tolerate films and books with some smut. Yet the more I truly came to know the Lord in His purity and goodness, the more I realized that He desired the same purity and true goodness for me—right down to the content and conversations I consumed. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better if [. . .] he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42).  We are the Lord’s little ones. He so values our dignity as a child of God that He invites us into a restoration of innocence—through all of our senses.  “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. [. . .] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. [. . .] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out” (Mark 43-47). Consider how the Lord has given you the gift of each of your bodily senses to help you know Him, love Him, and receive His love more deeply. Ponder how He tenderly created your body and soul not as a junkyard to collect the world’s vulgarity, but as a temple and treasure room to house His divine glory.  A growing sensitivity and a pruning of what you consume can heal your human senses from this abuse of the world. It can reclaim your memory and imagination from the demeaning words and images forced upon it.  Through the intensity of Christ’s hyperbole, allow yourself to feel His zeal for establishing healthy boundaries for your body, mind, and soul. He longs to rescue you from this degradation. He is waiting to fill your mind and memories with eternal goodness—preparing you for a life of pure love, pure freedom, and pure joy in Heaven.  Relate to the Lord // What is He inviting you to prune? What boundaries might be healing for your body, heart, mind, and soul?

February 26, 2025 // Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Sirach 4:11-19 Reflect on the Word //  I want to ask her so many questions. How does she maintain her poise, even under the duress of really challenging and complicated situations? How does she remain so beautiful—she never ages!—when every little bit of stress seems to show itself so readily across my beleaguered face and body? How can she bring such everlasting happiness and calm wherever she goes? How is it that merely her presence invites the embrace of the Lord, the Holy One? And His glorious inheritance of blessing? Too often have I shunned her. Too often have I dismissed her with arrogance and immaturity and taken the path that looked easier or followed my own willful heart only to end in misery. Oh wisdom, most beloved by the Father, how I long for you. Teach me your ways. Show me how to walk in your paths, how to walk through the world the Lord has seen fit for me to inhabit. Like you, I want to bring calm, trust, beauty, and joy wherever I go. Like you, I want to live in such a way as to constantly invite the embrace of the Lord I love so much. Like you, I want to “breathe life into” (Sirach 4:11) all those I meet. Jesus, grant me the grace of wisdom, and the courage to follow her wherever she leads, trusting in the promises you keep through her: life, light, peace, happiness, and blessing wherever I dwell (see Sirach 4:13). Sister, let’s be women of wisdom, women with deep spiritual poise and patience, women who love God’s Word and strive to live it, that we would be a living testimony to how the Lord blesses those who love wisdom. Relate to the Lord // Where do you need wisdom? Ask the Lord for this gift of the Holy Spirit today.

February 25, 2025 // Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 9:30-37 Reflect on the Word //  The first time I had significant success with weight loss I was just out of college. I wanted to look amazing for my best friend/college roommate’s wedding (and the guy I was going to be walking down the aisle with). And in truth, by the time that beautiful November day rolled around, I looked fabulous. Said guy literally applauded when we first saw each other in the hotel lobby.  But months later the weight crept back on. So I dieted again. Then lost again. Only to put some, all, or even more back on. Over the years as I would re-engage my health, it seemed I would tackle one obstacle only to be faced with another. Besides the basics of nutrition and movement, I had hormones that needed attention and food allergies I’d always dismissed as normal. I needed to prioritize stress management(!) and drink way more water. And with every change of lifestyle, I came face to face with my need for deep, deep healing of my self-image.  We see it in the disciples too. They’ve been called by Jesus, left everything, and literally followed Him on the way. But their personalities, weaknesses, and pet sins came too. Despite all the miracles they’d witnessed and truth they’d heard preached, in today’s Gospel we hear them arguing about which one of them was the greatest. Each and every one of them had utterly changed their lives because of Jesus, but their transformation didn’t end with that initial encounter. Like us, their discipleship was a journey. Maybe that’s why so often in the Gospels Jesus engages their hearts on a walk. "What were you arguing about on the way?" (Mark 9:16) He didn’t expect them to be further along than they were or get it all right all the time. He taught them. With Jesus, every conversation becomes an opportunity for that deep, deep healing we all need.  Like the little child He takes into His lap (Mark 9:36), we are still learning, still growing. Today, let Him wrap you in His embrace and allow His love to change you along the way. Relate to the Lord // Take a walk with the Lord today. Share your heart with Him.

February 24, 2025 // Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 9:14-29 Reflect on the Word //  Pain shot through my shoulder, radiating into my arm and neck. At this rate, I was going to end up in bed in hopes of easing the tension building and muscles spasming. “Lord, please take away this pain. Or at least lighten it . . . if You want to.” My prayer petered out as I uttered this request of mine. Maybe it was too selfish, too small, not worth asking. Was I bothering Jesus with insignificant blatherings about complaints? “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). If you can. This doubt that infringes upon the request of the father in today’s Gospel reading is one I know well. I have much greater faith when asking God to help someone I love, such as for healing a friend with cancer, or for a miracle in a family member’s marriage. But that if looms up when I ask something for myself. I doubt if I am worth it. If God cares about these small worries of mine. If He will hear and answer me.  And Jesus replies, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith” (Mark 9:23). It is lack of faith—my doubt that He cares for me and my pain. I want to rely fully on the Father’s love for me, trusting that it covers even the smallest of my requests. And so I utter the same words of the father in today’s Gospel: “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) And I pray: Lord, show me Your compassion. Teach me Your love for me, the least of these. Make known Your care. Help my unbelief.  There are so many ways our faith can be shaken, our trust in God caring for us and our needs being attacked by doubt. Jesus wants us to receive the gift of faith and to walk freely in knowing He cares for each of us fully.  Relate to the Lord // Is there a situation you’re facing where you wonder if God cares? Honestly relate your fears to Him.

Saturday, February 22, 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, February 22 (today!) // Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle Sunday, February 23 // Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Thursday, February 27 // Optional Memorial of Saint Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  On the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time we are shown much about the Lord’s great mercy toward us. We hear in the Psalm, “Not according to our sins does he deal with us” (Psalm 103:10). In the First Reading we enter right into the story of David fleeing from King Saul, who is unjustly seeking to kill David. David finds himself with an opportunity to kill the king in his sleep and chooses not to (see 1 Samuel 26:9, 12). While David knows he is destined to be king after Saul, he is not willing to take matters into his own hands. He knows that the Lord will make any wrong right again. David’s act of mercy prefigures the mercy which Jesus has shown to us, and David’s inspired words in the Psalm show us how to receive the Lord’s mercy with gratitude and praise. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2). Yet, we often forget the Lord’s mercy when we are hurt by others. Jesus tells us to “love [our] enemies and do good to them” (Luke 6:35). We are to be as merciful as the Father, the Father Who sent His Son to be the new Adam, so that we can be forgiven, become His anointed ones in Baptism, and “bear the image of the heavenly one” (1 Corinthians 15:49).In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time:  First Reading // 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 Psalm // Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13 Second Reading // 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 Gospel // Luke 6:27-38 Prayer Practice // Where do you need to receive mercy? Where are you being invited to offer mercy?

February 21, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 8:34-9:1 Reflect on the Word //  I anxiously paced up and down on our wooden deck. The sky was blue and the wind was strong, reflecting the violent storm that was building up in my heart. The storm inside me hardened my heart towards my current cross and stirred up all that I had believed about the Lord. The only thing that remained still were the lies that the enemy had slowly rooted into my heart.  He doesn’t care that your brother is suffering. He doesn't care about your pain. He’s not faithful.  “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). I had always viewed Jesus’ words, “Take up [your] cross,” as a catch-phrase or something flippant and ignorant towards my suffering. It was so hard for me to grasp Jesus’ gentle invitation last year in that season of suffering. I had assumed that carrying my cross would mean that I would be isolated and would have to cling to my own self-reliance. I knew that I would lose my life (see Mark 8:35), but I didn’t know that would lead me to Him. I didn’t know that He would be carrying my cross with me.  Some of the sufferings from last year still remain in my life now. Inviting Jesus into it doesn't necessarily make the suffering go away, but now I know Who I’m following. Friend, Jesus walks with you as you carry your cross. He allows Himself to be moved by your suffering. He’s not afraid of your pain. In union with Him, our cross is His Cross, and He willingly carries it with us.  Jesus means it when He says, “[W]hoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35). He came to save, not to hurt.  Just as the Resurrection was the fruit of Jesus’ suffering, so will your suffering with Jesus will bring resurrection into your life. Friend, He will bring new life into you. His desire for resurrection in your life and heart is real, and it’s a promise.  Relate to the Lord // How can you deny yourself today and take up your cross? Consider offering a simple sacrifice for love of Him.

February 20, 2025 // Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 8:27-33 Reflect on the Word // I rested in her consoling beauty as I looked up at the glowing statue of Our Lady of Grace. In that silence, our dear Mother touched that core part of my heart which knows how to ask to be rooted only and always in the Lord. At once, I saw the source of my distraction and how I wasted precious time being worried about what people were thinking in this new place.  I had just moved from the other side of the country. Three time zones and many climates away from my old home, I was relieved that our beautiful and gentle Mother sweetly encouraged me to recognize that I would not feel displaced here or anywhere if I simply remained in her and our good God. The Gospel today is written by Saint Mark, a close disciple of Saint Peter who probably heard this story from Peter himself. The Lord plunges Simon Peter to the root of their relationship today. Jesus asks him, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29) as if none of the answers that preceded his mattered. “Who do you, Peter, say that I am?” He sees our hearts. He knows Peter needs to pronounce his faith out loud, perhaps to own it more. We, too, are called to pronounce Who Jesus is in our prayer to Him and our interior answer will be given evidence through our actions. Jesus also rebukes Peter, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mark 8:33). Peter had been living and ministering alongside Jesus Christ for years, but Jesus needed to clearly rebuke him for not submitting in obedience to Who Jesus is—the One Who will suffer greatly, be rejected, be killed, and rise after three days. You and I, like Peter and the other Apostles, are unfathomably blessed to have the Mother of God who waits to be allowed to teach us how to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, how to grow in our capacity to say an ever more all-encompassing yes, and to allow God to be God. Relate to the Lord // How is your relationship with our Lady? Pray a Hail Mary now and invite her to walk with you today.

February 19, 2025 // Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 8:22-26 Reflect on the Word // I find myself, quite often, checking the clock. If I make it to x time, I can do the next thing. Only x more hours, then it’s naptime and I can go pray. Just a few more minutes and my husband should be home, so I can get some rest. My maps app says I’ll arrive at my next destination soon. The deadline urges that there are x many days left to complete my tasks. I live at a pace with similar urgency as the people who brought the blind man to Jesus in today’s Gospel, desperate for something to change. I just have to make it to the next thing. The Lord, in all of His goodness, loves me much more than just helping me get things done. I can imagine myself in the place of the blind man in the Gospel. Jesus takes me by the hand and pulls me lovingly away from it all. I am removed instantly from the expectations, the tasks, and ongoing lists I make for myself. He draws me to intimacy with Him. He invites me into conversation, not a mere transaction. Not only did He give the blind man sight, He gave Him a restored vision, one that comes from a divine encounter.  Sister, may we be reminded that the love Jesus has for us is not reserved to one act or one moment. He is the God of abundance; always having so much more for us. He does not tire of revisiting the area He has already touched in our lives. He desires to lay His healing hands where we desire to see distinctly.  It makes a difference to step outside of the moment you are currently in, fix your eyes on Jesus, and to take a deep breath in His presence. He instructs us to go home, to the place where He dwells with us. We do not have to return to our day in haste. He wants us to sit with Him long enough so that He may restore any and every area of our lives that needs His healing touch.  Relate to the Lord // What healing have you received? Even if Christ has already worked on it before, allow Him again to restore you completely. 

February 18, 2025 // Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 8:14-21 Reflect on the Word //  The pile of brown moving boxes stashed in the far corner of our room greet my gaze; they are filled to the brim with books we have yet to unpack. These boxes have undoubtedly begun to blend into this space—as each day passes, they become increasingly easy to forget, neglect, and ignore.  More often than I care to admit, these boxes are a lot like the miracles the Lord has worked in my own life—both big and small. In the busyness of my day, I am quick to forget, neglect, and ignore the ways in which He has miraculously multiplied my meager offerings: my patience, my trust, my surrender, my gratitude . . .  I am like the disciples in today’s Gospel, whom Jesus asks, “Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand?” (Mark 8:18-19) How often do we long to see and hear Him, but shirk the invitation to sit at His feet? I approach a box that sits on top of three others. I open it and there lies a prayer journal from the early years of my relationship with the Lord. I flip it open and read: “It is in the ordinary that I come to you. It is in the day-to-day that I desire to be near you. It is here, right here, in this space that My Spirit attends to your own! Do you have eyes and not see? Ears and not hear?”  The Lord is continually speaking to us all the message of today’s Gospel. With gentleness, patience, and delight, He has led us to where we are now. He has never not seen or heard us. He sees and hears all of each of us. And He asks us to remember what He has done for us, to see Him in the day-to-day miracles of life, to hear His voice in all we do.  He was with us—at the very beginning when He first drew us to Him—and is with us now. Right here—wherever we are—is where He wants to be. Relate to the Lord // Ask Jesus to open your eyes and ears to His presence today. Where do you see and hear Him in your daily life?

February 17, 2025 // Optional Memorial of the Seven Founders of the Order of Servites, religious Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 8:11-13 Reflect on the Word // It had been several months of wrestling interiorly about how I was ever going to bring my capstone project to completion, let alone actually dream of fully implementing it. For years, I had dreamt about developing a Catholic adoption consulting agency so that I could support families throughout the journey of adoption. I wanted this to be my mission field. As I neared the end of my studies, I just kept asking God for a sign that this really was the direction He wanted me to go. I had convinced myself that a sign from Jesus would be the only thing I needed to launch me into this mission—my sign. And like Jesus did with the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, He seemed to sigh “from the depth of his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation’” (Mark 8:12). Too often, we don’t see Jesus for Who He is, the One Who brings us into a life that makes sense, a life that is grounded in the love of God for all people. When we let Him work in us, then we become signs of Who Jesus was and is and will be forever.  The Gospel ends with Jesus getting into a boat and heading across the water. He walks away. He doesn’t argue and wrestle to convince anyone to trust Him, believe in Him, or follow Him. The door is wide open. The welcome is warm. But Jesus doesn’t force us to follow Him. He doesn’t force us to see what we are blind to, or hear what we refuse to listen to. Jesus’ love is not, and will never be, coercive.  When we are tempted to seek only for a sign from the Lord, let us pray for clarity of heart to see Him as the sign. He is the answer to every next step, every discernment, every question. There is great joy in the comfort He brings.   Relate to the Lord // How might Jesus be the sign for what you’ve been looking or waiting for?

Saturday, February 15, 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, February 16 // Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday, February 17 // Optional Memorial of the Seven Founders of the Order of Servites, religious Friday, February 21 // Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister, The Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time are all about the virtue of hope. With this being the Jubilee Year of Hope, let us pay special attention to God’s Words about hope. Christian hope is based in the truth that Christ is the Son of God and that after He died, He rose from the dead. Saint Paul writes that “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Our hope is meant to be in the next life, that we will rise with Christ. And some days, this whole idea does seem a little bizarre. In the eyes of the world, our hope and faith seem ridiculous. This is why we need hope to give us the oomph to push through the doubts of the world. The First Reading shows us that hope gives us trust in the Lord, so that we are not “a barren bush” (Jeremiah 17:6) with no faith. With hope we are “planted beside waters” and “in the year of drought [. . .] still bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8).  “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord,” (Psalm 40:5a) from the Psalm Response this week sums up the Beatitudes, which Jesus proclaims in the Gospel. The Beatitudes only make sense when we have the virtue of hope, for only with hope can we be happy when we are poor, hungry, weeping, and hated. The Lord wants to fill us with His deep joy, that no matter what trials and temptations we face, He is with us. He has been raised, and we can “rejoice and leap for joy” (Luke 6:23) because of it.In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time:  First Reading // Jeremiah 17:5-8 Psalm // Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 & 6 Second Reading // 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20 Gospel // Luke 6:17, 20-26 Prayer Practice // How is your hope? Ask the Holy Spirit for an infusion of this heavenly virtue today.