In Revelations yesterday, John says "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Rev 7:9 What comfort that brought me. I changed it to God will wipe away every tear from your eyes because he is saying it to us, too! I had this experience when I was leaving from my mission in Brazil back in 2012 - I was crying as I had just said goodbye to all the children I had come to love over the past year and a half. The little boy that lived in my house was going with me to take me to the airport. He was saying the Hail Mary as we began driving, as we always did, and burst into tears. I didn't want to show him that I was also crying so the tears were silent. He looked up at me and didn't say anything - he just wiped my tears. I think in that moment God physically wiped my tears, although I believe that He also does spiritually if we turn to Him in our time of need. Grab this wallpaper for your phone and desktop below - made by Erica of Be A Heart Design. Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

Let’s get to know each other a bit more, as sisters in Christ. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in on our Instagram post and/or your own Instagram post, tagging #BISsisterhood. Britt is wife to a rancher, mom to a crew (of four), and a tiny piece of a greater plan. She spends her days raising cattle on the grasslands of New Mexico along with raising the little ones, when they’re not raising her. When she’s not running around wondering where she last set her cup of coffee, she’s enjoying being able to live her vocation as a wife and mother. Find out more at her blog, The Fisk Files. What is your favorite religious text or book? Ahhh...so hard to decide. An all-time favorite is Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. A new favorite is Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Jacques Philippe. Do you have a special Saint that you feel a strong connection to? How so? I've always loved Saint Therese. I feel like she offers an example for all of us... especially those of us who feel like we have little to give. I've asked for her intercession as we prayed to be blessed with each of our babies, and I've seen many roses from her. There are so many saints I love, but she will always be one of my favorites! Which virtue do you find yourself working on the most throughout your day? PATIENCE! Ha. I feel like the more I pray for it, the less I have. What part of your walk with Christ is the biggest struggle? Detachment. Padre Pio said, "The soul need be saddened by only one thing: an offense against God." I worry too much about what others think of me, and my only concern should be what He thinks of me. What keeps you Catholic? A friend who I loved dearly wasn't Catholic. Talk after talk, he finally told me that if he believed it to be true, he would be Catholic. Instead, he believed his faith was truth. It hit me hard. I'm Catholic because I believe it is Truth. Knowing what I know as a Catholic and the graces that abound from this faith, I cannot imagine a life outside of the Church. Do you have a motto / quote / saying you live by? As frustrated as I was hearing it growing up, "Offer it up" has now become something that gives me peace during moments when I don't understand exactly why a situation is given to me. Side note: These "Offer it up" mugs by Katrina of Hatch Prints are our very favorite. How do you "walk the walk"? I do my very best to walk the walk simply by the daily choices I make and the example my kids see, but I fail daily and am reminded of what a gift His mercy is. How does Christ call you to serve - is it prayer/contemplation/acts of service, etc.? Really, I think the greatest way in which He calls me right now is in my vocation as a wife and mother... in doing everything I can to lead my spouse and children back to Christ. Your turn! Answer this on Instagram or in the comments:

It's already the third week of Easter! How are you living in this resurrected time? Below you can download a beautiful wallpaper made by Kristin Foss. Today's psalmist said, "I will praise you Lord. You have rescued me." Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

When Jesus first saw the disciples, he said to them, "peace be with you." How many times do we let our anxieties, our fears, our worries, our stresses, our sadnesses get us down? Jesus says to us, too, peace be with you. Katrina of Hatch Prints made a beautiful wallpaper for our tech devices so that we can remember this at all times. You can grab it below! Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

Let's get to know each other a bit more, as sisters in Christ. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in on our Instagram post and/or your own Instagram post, tagging #BISsisterhood. Mary Lenaburg married her first (and only) blind date going on 27 years, is a full-time liturgist, and parents one adult son navigating his path on earth and a special needs daughter safely in Heaven. She thanks God for caffeine and chocolate. What is your favorite religious text or book? I am currently reading This Tremendous Lover by Boylan, and I have to admit it's a game changer for me. Such deep insights into the relationship Christ wishes to have with each of us. He spends our life time in pursuit of our soul giving us every opportunity to enter into relationship with him. It's never forced but always available. Another favorite is Mother Theresa's Letters. Just amazing. Do you have a special Saint that you feel a strong connection to? How so? St Jude Thaddeus for one. Coming from a family of ten, my Dad taught us "The Prayer to St. Jude," and we would say it at every meal. He is also the Patron Saint of families and hopeless causes of which my Dad would say we were both. My other favorite is Our Lady of Sorrows. I identify greatly with her path in life. Which virtue do you find yourself working on the most throughout your day? Piety and perseverance are my constant companions. I struggle with each in my own way. I tend to be a great cheerleader for everyone else but then look in the mirror and forget it all. What part of your walk with Christ is the biggest struggle? My being completely obedient to God as well as my pride and self-reliance. This can be seen directly in my up-and-down prayer life. I need to be much more committed to that daily reliance on God's provision and grace. What keeps you Catholic? The Eucharist - the source and summit of our faith. Two thousand years+ of sacred tradition that give me a strong foundation to lean on as I discern God's will for what step to take next. Do you have a motto / quote / saying you live by? It's a phrase from my Dad. He would say again and again, "Mary Beth, never quit, never give up, never lose your faith! It's the one reason you walk this earth. For God chose this time and place just for you, do make the most of it." -- WJGreen Jr. He was a pretty smart man, and I miss him everyday. Your turn! Answer this on Instagram or in your own blog post: An InLinkz Link-up

Today we are starting off with a new way of doing some #BISsisterhood introductions -- by sharing bits about our writers so that we can all get to know each other more. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in your own Instagram and/or blog post and link-up with us below, tagging #BISsisterhood. Let's start off with Ginny Kobitz Moyer, who is a mother, high school English teacher, and BBC period drama junkie. She is the author of Random MOMents of Grace: Experiencing God in the Adventures of Motherhood and Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God. Ginny lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two boys, and about thirty thousand Legos. You can read about her messy, mostly-mindful life at RandomActsofMomness.com. What is your favorite religious text or book? Tattoos on the Heart by the Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle. It's about his ministry to ex-gang members in LA. I tell everyone to read it. It is such a beautiful book for building compassion and understanding the love of God. It'll make you laugh out loud, too. Which virtue do you find yourself working on the most throughout your day? I'm a mom and a high school teacher. Not surprisingly, I'd have to go with patience. What keeps you Catholic? The rituals, liturgies, and sacraments. I love how embodied and concrete they are ... there is always a way to engage with God not as an abstraction, but through the senses. There is so much power in that. Do you have a motto / quote / saying you live by? "Pray as you can, not as you can't," said Dom John Chapman. I heard that quote years ago and was like, AMEN! Sometimes there is "prayer guilt" among Catholics -- if you don't pray this specific way, you are doing it wrong . In reality, there are as many ways to pray as there are Catholics. Do whatever form of prayer works for you and keeps you coming back. Your turn!! An InLinkz Link-up

  Alleluia! He is risen! We made it! What a beautiful journey it has been through Lent with all of you, sweet sisters! We are so humbled and encouraged and overjoyed to be on this walk with you. This week, the amazing Tara of Frameworthy Designs made a wallpaper for you to download for FREE. Get it below! And if you haven't heard yet, we are starting our new Easter On The Way series in our first ever published book on Amazon. Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

Good Friday…the day that started it all…our salvation and our great hope that one day we will be with Christ again in Heaven. How odd is it that every Good Friday I can remember has been a gloomy day? Today, the fog prevents me from seeing past our front gate, and mist drizzles in the air, reminding me that today, Jesus died for us. As the soldiers beat him and jeered, he never conceded to their demands. He never renounced His Father or relieved Himself of His suffering (something he could have easily done, being God). Instead, he prayed. He prayed for them…for those who were taking his very life. In essence, He prayed for us…we are the Roman soldiers; we are Judas; we are the very ones who nailed him to the cross. As we are called to fast and abstain from meat this last Friday of Lent, we cannot help but be reminded (as each hunger pain hits) of the ultimate sacrifice made this day so many years ago…for us. Did we deserve it? No. Do we ever? No. But, thank God for His mercy, for His grace offers us another chance at eternity with Him, every time we fail. And, now, as a mom, I have a tiny bit better understanding of Mary’s perspective. She watched in horror as others humiliated her Son, as they ripped into His skin with every whip, as the blood poured from His brow when they mockingly placed a crown of thorns on His head. She knew that this was the purpose of His life, yet it did not take away the pain…the greatest pain as a parent…losing a child. Helpless, she had to trust in God’s plan. Looking to Mary and Jesus today I am reminded of God’s incredible work in our lives. Sure, there are times when it feels as if He isn’t there. Times when we do not understand our suffering. Times when the world gets us down and our thoughts quickly turn to what others may think. If we are true to ourselves, those are not the times when God is far away. He never is. Those are the times in which He is strengthening our resolve…allowing us doubt, questioning, and suffering to share in the cross of Christ. And when we are at our worst, He gently reminds us of those who have come before, leaving an example for every generation…Mary and Jesus. Having been “one of those weeks,” I can easily get bogged down in my own “pain.” Never, though, does my pain entail watching my son suffer and die, as Mary did. Never do I have to physically carry a cross and be nailed to it in order to save someone else’s life. My pain is almost comical comparatively. However, when I pull myself from my worry and anxiety, I can clearly see what this Good Friday is all about…a love that is anything but selfish, a total commitment to God, and a humble acceptance of His will for our lives. Mary and Jesus knew that their ways were not of the world and that the world would not understand; they knew His will would come at great cost; they knew that suffering would rip them apart. However, they also knew that to choose anything less than His total will for their lives would cost more. Good Friday is not good in the sense of a happy, giddy celebration. It is Good because it has forever changed the world, reminding us that unconditional love doesn’t stop with wishing others well and offering an indifferent smile as we pass them by. It is Good because it reminds us that the Good is often painful; that God’s will for our lives demands that we love until it hurts; that in order to spend eternity with Him, we often have to deny ourselves a “Good” life in the eyes of society. Good Friday is not the end. It is the beginning. Will I look to the sufferings of this world and wallow in self-pity? Or, will I look past my self long enough to see Mary and her complete acceptance of a life of suffering? Will I allow the ideas of the world to shape my own, hoping that I fit into the mold? Or will I look to the King of the World, breathing His last breath on the cross, not trying to convince the crowd of His royalty, but instead praying for those who persecuted him while so fervently living God’s call. He gave everything so that we might have life. Good Friday reminds me that my very life must be completely His. Feel the Nails They tell me Jesus died For my transgressions That he paid that price a long, long time ago When he gave his life for me On a hill called Calvary But there’s something else I want to know Chorus Does he still feel the nails Every time I fail Can he hear the crowd cry “Crucify” again Am I causing him pain Then I know I’ve got to change I just can’t bear the thought of hurting him. 2nd verse It seems that I’m so good at breaking promises And I treat his precious grace so carelessly But each time he forgives What if he re-lives The agony He felt on that tree Chorus 1x Holy, holy Holy is the Lord Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Do you still feel the nails Every time I fail Have I crucified you Jesus with my sins Oh I’m tired of playing games I really want to change I never want to hurt you again Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord [bctt tweet="He gave everything so that we might have life."] Britt is a momma to four and a wife to one, raising cattle on the grasslands of New Mexico. photo credit This post originally appeared on The Fisk Files and was also posted on Good Friday 2015.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later." John 13:6-7 What I am doing now, you do not understand now, but you will understand later... The cross - suffering - is not something I understand in my life right now. To be honest, sometimes I hate it. It's scary and uncertain. I ask questions and wrestle with God. I beg, plead, and cry, wondering what possible good can come from deep pain and suffering. It feels lonely and dark. It is so easy to ask, "What's the point? What could possibly come from this in my life?" And yet, what is most painful and awful in life is what saves us - suffering. Jesus didn't redeem us by his miracles or teachings but by his suffering. And in doing this, He has radically transformed all my sufferings. They have a place to go: on the cross. In my broken humanity, I see the answer as I look at Jesus. The answer? To actively unite whatever my suffering to the cross, even if I never understand or see the fruit from it in this life. What can possibly come from my sufferings? A chance to participate with Him in the salvation of the human race. At a glance, that can sound like an overly romantic, fuzzy idea, but it certainly doesn't feel warm and fuzzy as you walk through it. But the challenge is to hold on, persevere, and believe that the most painful moments in life have a great, mysterious purpose. I have been devouring a new book over the past two evenings, and it has been an insightful read on so many levels. God's way out of the mess sometimes leads us further into the mess. He draws us in deeper, because He wants to take us deeper. Suffering brings repentance, and the greatest lessons in life often do come in the hardest of ways. Tonight, Christians around the world will enter the three most sacred days of the liturgical year, the Triduum. We enter Jesus's most active moments of His life, when He was hanging there. And in the darkest, most difficult moments in life, that is when we are most alive, most active; when uniting it to Jesus hanging there on Calvary. What God is allowing in life now, I do not understand... but someday I will. I'm just trusting in Your promise, all will be used for Your purposes and plans. [bctt tweet="What God is allowing in life now, I do not understand... but someday I will."] Patty is a runner, big dreamer, writer, and youth minister ordinaire. She loves all things John Wayne, a tasty mimosa, and is learning to find grace in all things. This post originally appeared on A Modern Grace.

Once upon a time, I planned ahead and decorated so nicely for changes in seasons. Now, it feels more like a scramble, but even now as we are in Holy Week, you and I can still create a liturgically-themed space in our homes. Yes, even you who swears she does not have a crafty bone in her body. First, remember that our focus is on the sacrifice of Christ and his Resurrection. Second, Martha Stewart we are not. With that cleared up, I start with a prayer space. The idea is for Holy Week to be simple, meaningful, and prayerful. It is a perfect week to focus on the Gospel stories, the Old Testament history and lamentations, and quiet, personal prayer. This is why a special prayer space is meaningful and my first priority over other things. We have a little table my husband built, and it placed it in our family room with our couches. This is where we gather every night as a family to pray, and it is my starting and focal point for decorating. You can be as elaborate or simple as you want! The basics: a crucifix. Simple as that. Extras: statues, candles, cloths, other holy images. What I have is gathered from around the house. This morning I grabbed a red piece of fabric from my quilting stash. See how simple? I didn't even iron it, because I'm lazy and last-minute. Ironing would nicer. If you have time to swing by a craft store (not Michael's, since they don't carry fabric), you can purchase a fat quarter of fabric for your table. They look like this at JoAnn's. Buy a few! White for Holy Thursday and Easter, red for Good Friday, and plan ahead for ordinary time and get green, if you like. You do not have to sew anything. Take it up a notch and sew the edges if you want a more finished look (and if you have time). We are still using purple votives this week. It will be so beautiful to bring out a white pillar for Easter! I am going to use a jar scented candle, because I already have it, and wrap it in burlap and lace. For Holy Week, our palms adorn the table. On Good Friday, all we will have out will be the red cloth, a rustic (hand-tied) cross made from branches from the yard, and the crucifix on the wall. I set out this children's Way of the Cross for us to read and pray with each day, especially on Good Friday. For Easter, the red table cloth is replaced by white, the purple votives disappear, and flowers grace my table. Fresh or silk or paper, it does not matter! Adding the color and sign of life makes the table so joyful! I also plan on painting "alleluia" onto this paper banner I grabbed from the clearance section at Target. It will hang across our mantle. Now you've gathered a few ideas for a Holy Week prayer space...what next? The Triduum. Oh, how I love the Triduum. It's been years since I was able to celebrate from Holy Thursday all the way through the Easter Vigil (the vigil is just so hard on my kids!)...but I do bring the family to Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday. This year, we are going to also celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass! My son will be in the children's choir, and since he also makes his First Communion this year, I think it will be a very special time. Truly, the best way to live this week is in prayer and celebrating the liturgy at church! Whatever else you choose to do, do it because it helps you enter more deeply into your devotion to our Risen Jesus, and not because any blogger or Pinterest pin made you feel like you had to. One year, I went all-out with a themed meal for Holy Thursday...but now, I skip it. I literally do not have time for all the things. Instead, I choose to focus on the story, the prayers, and the liturgy with my family. We do enjoy baking hot cross buns together on Good Friday. Beyond that, our time is spent decorating eggs, baking for Easter (if I'm hosting), and enjoying each others company. One neat recipe that seems simple--and I've always wanted to give it a try--is for Easter Story Cookies. These come with a story to tell with your children as you prepare and bake, for another way to teach and help them appreciate what Jesus did for us. Other resources and ideas: Downloadable and printable Holy Week prayer Fr. Mike Schmitz on how to pray through Holy Week For recipes, Catholic Cuisine always has great ideas

It's Holy Week. Yesterday greeted us with Palm Sunday, we entered into the Passion. Jesus takes on our sins. We join Him in the suffering. How many times do we ask God to remove our own suffering? We must not forget to also trust in His Will. He is in all - even in our suffering. May this be our prayer this week. "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done." Luke 32:42 Download for your desktop & phone below! Design by Erica of Be A Heart.   Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

As I sit here tonight thinking over the past few weeks of Lent, it's the first time I've ever wondered where it went. When Easter is so early in the year, it seems that Lent passes very quickly. It's hard for me to believe that my little ones were doing everything in their power to suppress the urge to have a fencing battle right in the middle of the consecration this morning during Mass when it feels as if they were dodging Father with the ashes just yesterday. As I do every year, I began this Lent thinking I would do it all differently. I wouldn't care if I didn't lose any weight from my fasting (because I would remind myself that wasn't the point). I wouldn't be so set on fixing all of me with twelve different things I needed to work on this year... instead I would choose one and really focus, not giving up under the weight of being overwhelmed. I wouldn't get so caught up in it all that my end focus would be me, me, me instead of Him, Him, Him as it had typically ended in the past. But, you now what? I sit here tonight three pounds heavier even after giving up sugar, breakfast and fasting on Fridays. What started with a deeper commitment to prayer ended up as reciting two prayers every morning, reading a devotion to His Diving Mercy, a parenting book, a daily devotional and my Bible. My desire to think about others more and offer my days for their intentions became a complete focus on myself, how I was failing and a reversion back into the world of social media when I teetered with giving that up as well. I failed, again. But, He didn't. See, after thirty-four years you would think that I might see the results of this year after year and finally do something different. But, I'm stubborn. And, I don't always learn. This year, however, I think I have. I'm heavier. I'm no more patient. I'm no less selfish. I'm no more well-read. And, I still need a world of help in the area of prayer. But, there is one thing I finally am...aware. God didn't necessarily want the extra food I didn't eat. He didn't care that I wanted to become a prayer expert by today when I wasn't even that great of a beginner forty days ago. And, I don't really think He was too impressed with my failed attempt to limit my social media presence. Instead, I think He just might have a smirk on His face as he shakes His head wondering what took me so long to truly admit that I. Need. Him. Truly, I have never doubted it. I've always known that I would be nowhere without Him. What I haven't let myself fully admit is that He doesn't need me. He doesn't need my attempts to control everything. He doesn't need my busyness that I like to call productivity. He doesn't need my sacrifices that I give with the ulterior motive of shedding the final pounds of baby weight. What He needs is for me to let him have everything...my heart and my soul for His will. So, this week, I will make sacrifices, but finally (with much grace and prayer) they won't be for me. I will shut it off in order to focus on the Passion of His only Son. I will let it all go, offering what I can in hopes of growing closer to Him, and doing that alone. Because, I do believe that our sacrifices matter. I know we can unite our suffering to His. And, I think He rewards our attempts to belong ever more to Him, even if we fail as often as we succeed. I will retreat from the world and what I convince myself to be important to focus on what truly is... my vocation as a wife, mother and daughter of His. Then, and only then, will I be able to see this week for what it is...an offering of a parent's child, one who knew no sin...His life for ours...lives saturated with stain upon stain of sin. This Holy Week, this way of the Cross, can serve to open our eyes and hearts to His unending mercy if we let it. He allowed the death of his only Son, his innocent Son, for our guilt. He allowed the mocking, the torture, and the nails to pierce His hands and feet as a crown of thorns sent blood running down his face for one thing...our salvation. He did it out of love for us. Let what you do this week be out of love for Him. For it is all that matters. [bctt tweet="He did it out of love for us. Let what you do this week be out of love for Him."] Britt is a momma to four and a wife to one, raising cattle on the grasslands of New Mexico. This post originally appeared on The Fisk Files.

Every week, we will open up a link-up for your blog posts, your instagram posts, your thoughts to share with each other as sisters. We will offer a prompt that goes with our On the Way: Lenten Workbook in these to get your mind thinking. This is an open link-up to your progress in faith and your personal prayer life this Lent, so this is YOURS to be creative with in terms of your blog posts or instagram posts. Write a letter, which you may or may not send, to a woman in your own life who has helped you on your faith journey. List what inspires you about her, thank her for her outstretched hand. Maybe she is no longer with us and you wish to write out words that you never had a chance to say directly to her. Or contemplate this verse this week: Then our mouths were filled with laughter; our tongues sang for joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD had done great things for them." Psalm 126:2 [bctt tweet="Linking up with @blessedisshe__ for the Lenten season. #BISLent"] photo credit An InLinkz Link-up

People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. - Matthew 9:17 I greet you from my desire for newness in my life, a desire, I’m sure, that is shared among many of you. I find that most of the time when I am struggling to achieve newness, the struggle is borne out of just that: the “achievement mentality," woven into the fabric of everyday life, but especially, life here in New York City. The other day, I was walking in the Financial District and was bombarded with evidence of how Man seeks to build his dynasty of power, money, wealth, and yet how futile this pursuit is, how short life is, and how sad some people are who are caught up in this great lie of earthly success as the end-all, be-all goal of life. This lie can be very subtly breathed in, as some seek to develop an intellectual prowess and are less concerned about money, but nevertheless, more concerned about their own mind as their instrument to wield their contribution to an intellectual lineage. This, too, emulates how Man seeks to build a personal dynasty or legacy. The truth, however, is that Jesus already won for us all that is worth winning; He has already achieved all that is worth achieving. Humility is the answer to a floundering achievement mentality, and sometimes, it’s better for us to fail so that we are not pushed onwards by bread that will not ultimately satisfy. But dear sisters, how fortunate are we, that in the midst of our desire, our hunger for new things, we have access to Christ, He Who is “before all things,” and “holds all things together”? And by the way, “all things” includes every nanosecond of your day, every hurt hidden in you, everything you have yet to encounter in your life – in Jesus, the entirety of your life is held together. Your life now is not separated from your eternal life; it is not held together by accomplishments or any feeling or perception of security, no matter how apparent. Life in the Spirit is held together and made whole, into a greater and greater likeness of Jesus, in whom “all the fullness was pleased to dwell,” by Jesus. And YOU are part of this “fullness.” Your life, at this very moment of reading, can be part of God’s fullness. But how often are we not convinced? How often are our hearts dull, content with bread that only intensifies our attention to very immediate hunger pangs? This is not a passive process, however; it requires courage and steadfast faith amidst the pain of stretching to new heights of love. Lord, soften our hearts; create in us new wineskins for the new wine You wish to pour into us. Make us aware of the hunger You have instilled in us, the hunger that seeks nourishment only You can satisfy. Alyssa I. Pintar Breen is a wife, a daughter, and a student of the Holy Spirit firstly, but also, a doctoral student of developmental psychology at NYU. She blogs weekly at forthechurchmilitant.wordpress.com.

Yesterday was our first Blessed Is She retreat in Phoenix. It was absolutely amazing to have so many incredible, God seeking women in one place. We can't wait to tell you more about it, but we wanted to include our entire community in the message of our retreat, Isaiah 61:3. We prayed for all of you, each and every one of you. So today we bring a special wallpaper with the verse that was the basis of our day yesterday in lieu of a verse from today's readings. It was made by Erica of Be A Heart. You can download for your devices below! Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

Dutch-born theologian Henri Nouwen said that we are all called to be mystics. But, in a busy world with long to-do lists and lots of good Netflix shows to fill our spare time, what is the value in zipping our lips and just being? Silence has a slew of benefits, from physical to mental. As far as spirituality is concerned, it’s not only useful for slowing down and calming down, but it’s also imperative in learning to listen both to yourself, to God, and to others. Taking some time each day to just be silent and mindful can help you to focus on what’s weighing on your heart. It can help you to hear God’s voice in your life. And, it can make you a better participant in the areas of your life in which you’re not silent. As I considered the value of silence, I called on Dominican Sister of Hope Associate and fellow Catholic Janet Corso who works as a Spiritual Director at Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center in New York. Janet says that, on her retreats, she often encounters women who are initially intimidated by silence, but are soon surprised at how much they unconsciously longed for it. “The more contemplative you are, the more you’re willing to listen to the movements of God,” Janet says. ‘To be contemplative means you have to befriend stillness and silence. It’s a path to a deeper relationship to God, to be able to listen.” Quiet time doesn’t necessarily have to be still time. In addition to just being and listening, consider repeating a short prayer word (even a single word works!), practicing mindful tai chi, or engaging in a devotional prayer. Once you’ve got the quiet down, try to carry that mindfulness into the rest of the tasks of your day. Ask yourself today how you can take time to be silent, to listen to Him, to be fully present in the world around you. And then, when noisiness starts back up, carry some of that presence over to the rest of your day, whether it’s through a small prayer word, a breathing technique, or a simple utterance of gratefulness. Gina Ciliberto is the Digital Media Journalist for the Dominican Sisters of Hope: 160+ Catholic Sisters who live hope in fifteen states and Puerto Rico. More about the Sisters lives and ministries at www.ophope.org

Today the gospel reading is the story of the prodigal son. The father says, everything I have is yours. God says that to us, too. Grab this free downloadable wallpaper made by Tara of Frameworthy Designs! Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper