August 22, 2026 // Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 85:9ab, 10, 11-12, 13-14  Reflect on the Word //  The bishop of my diocese recently called upon the faithful to consider leaving a legacy gift to the Church as a means to support Christ’s mission even beyond this earthly life. What struck me in his appeal were these words in particular: “Our faith calls us to not only be stewards of the blessings we have received in this lifetime, but to consider how they might bear fruit long after we are called home to the Lord.”   The bishop's statement invites us to reflect not only on our spending choices, but on how we live, how we give, and how we entrust the future to the Lord’s care. I can’t speak for your own heart, sister, but I, for one, want to be remembered not only for what I received, but for what I gave: the faith I shared, the hope I inspired, and the love I made visible to the world, so that the “glory of the Lord will dwell” (Psalm 85:10) forever in the spaces He sent me. That is the legacy I want to leave others.  And so I look to our Lady, who lovingly handed on the fruits of her fidelity and faith through a life lived for God. Today, as we venerate Mary as queen, we recognize that she is crowned with honor and glory not in order to exalt her own gifts, but so that our souls might yield their increase (see Psalm 85:13). The Memorial of Mary’s Queenship points to the day when God’s promises will be realized: “Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice look down from heaven” (Psalm 85:11-12). Indeed, dear friend, Mary’s legacy reminds us that we live for eternity. In this, we are invited to mirror the witness of our reigning Mother, who walked “along the way of his steps” (Psalm 85:14) and who shows us the way home. Hers is a legacy of love. Let the same be said of us someday.  Mary, Queen of Heaven and earth, pray for us! Relate to the Lord // Pray the fifth Glorious mystery, the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a full Rosary today.

July 16, 2026 // Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30 Reflect on the Word //  “What’s going on? Do you need to talk?”  My colleague’s combative tone and demeanor suddenly softened as she sank into the chair I offered her. With tears piercing her eyes, she began to share about the heavy burdens that had prompted her outburst just moments before. I had summoned this employee to my cubicle to chastise her, but it was clear by her burnt-out and scattered state that she needed much more than the fraternal correction I had already given. Here before me was a daughter of the Father desperately in need of rest, and the Lord, by placing her in my midst, was inviting me to alleviate her load, even if only for a moment.  “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In today’s Gospel, our tender Lord implores us to find reprieve from all that weighs down our bodies and hearts. And yet, Jesus isn’t merely offering us an escape from our problems; He is revealing His eagerness to share the load by inviting us to yoke ourselves to His love (see Matthew 11:29). Our Savior is both Burden-Bearer and Burden-Sharer, Who beautifully gives us an example of how we, too, are to love. But how often are we willing to let others unload their weight of suffering? Do we reserve a welcoming space in our hearts for the tired new mom, the over-caffeinated college student, the lonely widow? United with Christ, we can be the “easy yoke” that our brothers and sisters are seeking.  To my blessed surprise, when I asked that staff member how I could pray for her, she requested a prayer at that very moment. And as we prayed together, a lightness washed over her that hadn’t been present before.  By choosing to gently accompany others through their struggles, our lives become a radiance of Christ’s and a safe haven for every labored and burdened soul we encounter. May our witness echo the words of the Divine Shepherd, Who lovingly assures us and all those we walk with, You can find rest here.  Relate to the Lord // Look for an opportunity to pray with someone today—and take it!

May 29, 2026 // Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Paul VI, Pope Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 11:11-26 Reflect on the Word //  I paused as the word on the page leapt out at me: “home.” Heart racing with joy, I quickly jotted down what I perceived the Lord was revealing to me—this word, and no other, was what He wanted to use to shape and sanctify my soul in the year to come.  A common spiritual practice among Catholics, adopting a word (and Saint!) of the year had recently become one of my favorite ways to partner with God’s plans for my life and ponder the hard questions necessary to grow in holiness.  This year was no different. While “home” held many connotations known only to Christ and me, it also challenged my heart to examine my domestic habits. Did I recognize my home as holy ground? Was I rightly honoring it as a sacred space set apart for loving and serving Him and others? Or was a proper table-turning cleanse in order (see Mark 11:15)?  “My house shall be called a house of prayer [. . .] But you have made it a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17). In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls out the inordinate worldly customs eclipsing the honor due to His Father alone, and He is swift to deconstruct the “den of thieves” that His beloved sons and daughters have built outside of worshiping Him.         Friend, what are the “thieves” that rob your attention, your time, your headspace, your heart? The Lord is well aware of what is in us and what needs to be driven out. What if we invited Jesus to purge everything in us that is not of Him? What if it could be said of our souls, “He did not permit anyone to carry anything through” (Mark 11:16)? What if we could be fully cleansed by and for His love?  Sister, we can be.  In my holy imagination, I picture it playing out like this: Entering the temple area of our hearts, Jesus “[looks] around at everything” (Mark 11:11) and, pleased with what He sees, exclaims, “My house is, indeed, a house of prayer.” And we, His unworthy hosts, respond with joy, “Welcome home.”  Relate to the Lord // Welcome Jesus into the home of your heart again and again today.

April 14, 2026 // Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter  Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Acts 4:32-37   Reflect on the Word //  “Now that Lent is over, I don’t think I’m going back.”  My mom’s face clouded over with disappointment as I shared my decision to deactivate my social media page, which had become more of a ministry over the past several years. Before this statement, I had every intention of resurrecting my online presence after a much-needed forty-day fast. But now, I couldn’t reconcile how this public space aligned with the Lord’s mission for my life and prayer as His consecrated spouse. To be perfectly honest, a disordered focus on views, likes, and follower count had started to creep in as well, causing me to grasp control of my platform as if it were my own possession rather than the fruit of God’s provision.   The remedy came in today’s First Reading: “[F]or those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need” (Acts 4:34-35).   Rather than abandoning my online community and God’s blessing of growth, I was being invited to do something even more radical: lay the “proceeds” of my labor at the feet of Jesus and then let Him disperse my offering to those it would bless or benefit. This was a harder challenge than abandoning my ministry altogether, as it required me to reserve my choicest fruits for the Lord alone, claiming nothing as my own.  Dearest sister, where is the Beloved asking for the first fruits of your heart? As Saint John of the Cross says, “The property of love is never to seek self, to keep back nothing, but to give everything to the one it loves” (source).  The Lord is a jealous Lover, but He also calls us to love the people He places in our path. We can ask Him to help us to seek Him first and foremost and then share the love that is too good to keep to ourselves with those who have need of it. All that we are and have is His. Let’s give it all back to Him to do with us as He wills.   Relate to the Lord // Pray with this question: Where is the Beloved asking for the first fruits of your heart?

March 3, 2026 // Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent // 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: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 Reflect on the Word //  “And then tell her, ‘I need to say this, so it doesn’t fester and come between us.’”   I sniffled and nodded softly as the priest’s tender counsel confronted the depths of the delicate, yet complex, family dynamic that had brought me to the Sacrament of Confession. Father had listened deeply and compassionately while I unpacked the hurtful actions of a loved one that often left me feeling ignored and unseen. In the past few weeks, a sharp pebble of hurt had encroached on my heart, and I knew that Satan’s ploy to twist it into a boulder of bitterness would prevail if I continued to hold onto it. But here, before the font of mercy, I finally knew how to move forward in love as Father gave me the gentle language to use that would invite healing and repair. The conversation it required wasn’t going to be easy, but with the Lord’s help, we could tend to the wound and start anew.    “Come now, let us set things right,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 1:18). In today’s First Reading, our loving God coaxes us to “put away” all that poisons our souls and keeps us estranged from Him (see Isaiah 1:16). The season of Lent is a sobering reminder that when left to ourselves in our frail humanity, we are prone to fall, which is why the Lord doesn’t admonish us to repentance only to abandon us to our own devices. No, through the prophet Isaiah, “the instruction of our God” shows us how to reorient our hearts: “Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good” (Isaiah 1:16). Thankfully, all the misdeeds that have widened the chasm between us and the Father’s gaze can be washed away in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We need only come to Him to experience this holy restoration.   Because here’s the truth, sister: Nothing is irreparable for God’s redeeming love. Even if our sins are “like scarlet” (Isaiah 1:18), we can be made clean. This is the invitation and the promise.  The instructions are just a bonus. Relate to the Lord // What needs to be set right between you and the Lord? Talk to Him about it.

January 6, 2026 // Optional Memorial of Saint André Bessette, religious [In the Dioceses of the United States]  Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 6:34-44  Reflect on the Word //   “We didn’t know it at the time, but God was using everything to prepare him for eternity.” Tears pricked my eyes as I texted my friend about the news of our pastor’s recent passing.  Just a month prior, she had championed my idea to start a spiritual bouquet at our parish for Father’s healing, even pledging ten Holy Hours herself to kick off the cause.  An outpouring of promised intercession followed as my parish community collectively joined in the prayer effort for Jesus to touch this suffering shepherd and restore him to health. Hundreds of Masses and Rosaries, numerous novenas, and countless hours spent before the Blessed Sacrament were added to the bouquet, in hopes that we would be able to present our faithful priest with a beautiful gift of prayer when he recovered.   But his recovery wasn't part of the divine plan. And when I learned from two tearful parishioners that he had died, my heart, like our Lord’s in today’s Gospel, “was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).   In my role as consecrated virgin and spiritual mother, Christ invited me to hold the mournful hearts of my parish family, as well as the questions that flowed from their grief: “Why did God let Father hang on for weeks just to take him away from us? Were our prayers even heard?”   Oh, sister, our gifts seem like meager offerings when the miracle doesn’t come, don’t they? But the One Who multiplied bread and fish for the hungry (see Mark 6:38-44) can, without question, use our earthly fragments for glory. Every sacrifice, every prayer, and every whispered plea is a sacred offering that feeds and strengthens the soul, ours and the ones for whom we pour ourselves out. I am certain that one very sick priest was able to bear the crushing burden of his affliction because he was being filled by a powerful bouquet of prayer.  And just like the overflowing baskets of leftover food from Jesus' miracle (see Mark 6:43), our offerings made in love are always enough for Jesus to work His miracles.  Relate to the Lord // What will you offer to Jesus today, whether spiritually in prayer or materially through service to others?

December 15, 2025 // Monday of the Third Week of Advent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17a Reflect on the Word //   One of my favorite worship songs is  “Wait” by Phil Wickham. The tender yet powerful chorus flows like a prayer and is evidence of the singer having discovered the sweetness of stillness in divine communion: “Cause the longer I wait, the more You can do. And the deeper I fall in love with You. So I wait. Wait for You.”  Ironically, or rather providentially, I was given a chance to live out these lyrics this past Lent. Prompted by my own silent prayer, I signed up for a twelve-week Catholic wellness program as my Lenten discipline. I had heard phenomenal things about this apostolate, and I was looking forward to all the ways God was going to love me into wholeness through this new approach.  So I waited. And waited. But no matter how many changes I made or commitments I put into practice, I couldn't see the Lord moving—or healing. And the answers I sought in my desperate pursuit for understanding and direction were only met with painful silence.   Unlike the prophet Balaam, “who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows” and  “sees what the Almighty sees” (Numbers 24:4), my eyes and heart remained veiled to the divine plan. It was only after many months of patient waiting that clarity began to burst forth like “free-flowing waters” (Numbers 24:7).  Sister, we aren’t meant to have all the answers, let alone immediate ones. The season of Advent is a good reminder for us, that whether we are waiting on a breakthrough, healing, or restoration, hurry is incompatible with the loving pace of God. All things transpire in His perfect timing, including the ultimate victory and reign of the One Whose coming Balaam announced (see Numbers 24:17). The Lord does beautiful things in our lives when we choose to wait on Him and His works. But we don’t wait alone. Like “gardens beside a stream” (Numbers 24:6), He is with us through the waiting until His promises unfold.  Because the longer we wait, the more He can do. So however long it takes, Lord, we will wait for You.  Relate to the Lord // What does waiting with the Lord look like for you? 

August 12, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 Reflect on the Word //  “The roses are beautiful!” I grinned as the towheaded toddler expressed her delight over the small vase of pink flowers displayed on the library’s circulation desk.  Now, the flowers in question weren’t roses—they were carnations. And they certainly were not what I would christen “beautiful.” To be honest, I hadn’t even noticed them, despite the fact that they had been flaunting their unimpressive petals beside my workstation all morning—that is, until this innocent child had the eyes to see and pointed them out.   Later that week, as I waited on a young mom loaded down with picture books, I was met by a sweet observation from her little girl, who piped out gleefully: “She has the same color eyes that I do, Mommy!”     Amazed,  I realized that in my haste to serve, I had failed to look (really look) at my young customer long enough to notice that her eyes were indeed green, just like mine.     Jesus would have noticed, I mused as I considered the keen insights of these precious little ones who had crossed my path.  Perhaps that is why our Lord tells His disciples in today’s Gospel that “unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Children have a great capacity to see as God sees, with a singular and selfless gaze of love. Most of them don’t let the anxieties and warped interests of the world alter or obscure their vision. They see beauty in carnations. They catch the color of a stranger’s eyes. They possess an innate awe of God’s creation and faith in its purest form. Simply put, their young hearts are more able to be turned and attuned to the Heart of the Father, Who never stops rejoicing over them.  So, dear sister,  let’s turn. Let’s aim to emulate the sheer wonder and humility children embody wherever they go. Then, we will surely be invited to taste the delights which all little souls experience in Heaven. Relate to the Lord // Look at a picture of your younger self and ask the Father to show You His Heart for her.  

June 27, 2025 // Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 15:3-7   Reflect on the Word // “He’s really cute.”    My heart twisted as I tried to picture the young nephew whom I had never seen and whose name I didn’t know. As my mom related to me all she had discovered, my brain was forced to swat away the suspicion that social media had undeniably confirmed: My estranged brother had welcomed a second child into the world more than a year before and had kept this little boy’s birth—and his life—from the rest of our family.  I didn’t let on, but the news gutted me, especially since I had been praying fervently for reconciliation with my older sibling for several years. Are my prayers even making a difference, Lord? I wondered. After all, didn’t this grievance point to only greater strain and disunity? As I placed my hurt in the Heart of Jesus, I imagined how much more hurt He must be when His beloved ones stray.  “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?” (Luke 15:3-4)   Jesus’ question from Luke’s Gospel reveals the attentiveness and intensity of love that encapsulates the Good Shepherd’s Heart, which we celebrate and adore today in our Lord. Any shepherd knows the flock is not complete unless every sheep is safe and accounted for. Jesus notices when one of His own is not close to Him, and the separation pains Him so much that He cannot rest until the one He seeks is found. Sister, we are precious and irreplaceable to the Lord, as are the friends and loved ones we pray will return to the fold. But we don’t have to rescue them. Christ, our Good Shepherd, lovingly pursues the lost with a Heart that is open and aching for reunion. Our part is simply to point the lost lambs to His Love, a Love that won’t give up the search until every wounded and wayward soul is nestled near His Heart.       For it is within this Most Sacred and Merciful Heart that we find our way home.   Relate to the Lord // Place your lost loved ones in the Sacred Heart of Jesus today. Trust Him to bring them home.

May 26, 2025 // Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel from the Optional Memorial of Saint Philip Neri: John 17:20-26 Reflect on the Word // One step closer. My breath caught and my heart thrummed as the priest processed the monstrance throughout the church, stopping in front of each woman to allow her gaze to meet the God of the universe truly present before us now in the Blessed Sacrament. Some cried, others bowed their heads low, and one exuberantly threw out her hands in greeting to our King.   He’s coming. What should I do? What should I say? My thoughts whirled as Father entered the aisle where I was kneeling. Unknowingly to my pounding heart, I had been in this position before. Five years prior, during a similar Eucharistic Procession, I looked at our Lord with love and promised to belong exclusively to Him forever. Now, on the second anniversary of my consecration to a life of virginity, I was at a loss for words. As my encounter with Jesus drew near, I joined our worship leader in song: “My beloved is the most beautiful among thousands and thousands.” And in a burning rush of inspiration, I asked Him to take all the graces and merits of my vocation—past, present, and future—and flood the heart of every woman in the room.  “That the love with which you loved me may be in them” (John 17:26). This is the prayer of Christ in today’s Gospel, but in that moment, it became my own. The God Who created me for love and to be loved as the espoused bride of His Heart wanted our “oneness” to set every soul wedded to Him by Baptism afire. On that night, it looked like a hundred-plus women seeking His face. Today, sweet sister, it looks like you.   Sharing this experience with a friend afterward, she told me that a palpable warmth had enveloped the room when Jesus was in front of me.   What would happen if, together, we spread that warmth to others? Like the ball of fire that caused Saint Philip Neri’s heart to literally expand with divine love (source), our lives could be the flames that help our brothers and sisters to burn. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit—the eternal outpouring of love between the Father and Son—to enflame us anew so that the whole world may be purified and “brought to perfection as one” (John 17:23).    Relate to the Lord // Ask the Holy Spirit to put someone on your heart to encourage today. Share God’s burning love with them!

April 17, 2025 // Holy Thursday Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm from the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18 Reflect on the Word //  I cupped my fingers gingerly around the small vessel of wine and prayed for steady hands as I joined the other women in our procession toward the altar. It wasn’t my first time bringing up the gifts at Mass, but the fact that I had been asked to do so at this particular moment felt divinely ordained. In all honesty, I hadn’t planned on celebrating Holy Thursday Mass at this parish. I was coming out of Lent with a deep-rooted ache in my heart that no amount of prayer, fasting, or almsgiving had been able to shake. But I sensed that resurrection awaited me here.   The bishop smiled at me as I presented the simple offering that would soon be changed substantially into the Blood of Jesus Christ. What I would come to discover was that something had changed in me too. Or, as the Psalmist would say, my bonds had been loosed (see Psalm 116:16).   Through the ordinary action of handing over the wine for the sacred banquet, I had been invited to hand over my heart as well, with all its woundedness. And that’s precisely the point, isn’t it, sister? That through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, our very selves would be taken to the Father as an oblation and emptied out “in the presence of all his people” (Psalm 116:18) to bring about transformation. Healing. Communion.   We chant together as one body in today’s Responsorial Psalm, “Our blessing cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:16).  But do we truly perceive the beauty of this profound sharing in the Paschal sacrifice? As we embark on the journey of the Sacred Triduum, let’s bring the whole of our being to the One Who held nothing back from us. His Blood was shed so we might drink in the Father’s glory to the full. A self-emptying love like this demands nothing less in return.   Listen, dear one. Can you hear Him beckon us to the table? Come, He says, receive Me. Give yourself to Me. Share in this Communion.  Relate to the Lord // What will you offer Jesus this Holy Thursday? Place it on the altar to be transformed in the liturgy.

March 24, 2025 // Monday of the Third Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4 Reflect on the Word //  “It was Holy Week, but extended to twelve months.”   “Wow!” I exclaimed in a whisper, as the words of the priest resounded powerfully through the small, but nearly packed, movie theater.   The documentary was called Radiating Joy, but tears welled up in my eyes as I continued to watch Michelle Duppong’s story of joyful suffering unfold. A newly named Servant of God, Michelle was a campus missionary whose indomitable joy and radiant witness while dying of cancer touched the life of every person she met.   More and more moved as the film rolled on, I was reminded of my own health struggles and the redemptive power I had found in uniting every procedure with the Cross of Christ. I felt like a friend had entered into the midst of my suffering as I followed the young and vibrant Michelle through a yearlong cancer battle fraught with progressively painful and intense treatments, often requiring her to go several days without food or water.  And yet, in nearly every frame, this suffering servant was smiling, full of the light of Jesus and leading all those who encountered her to hunger and thirst more for Him.   “Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?” (Psalm 42:3) The cry of the Psalmist in today’s Scripture embodies the depth of longing every human heart experiences in this valley of tears. It is a thirst that can only be satiated when it is joined with the holy thirst of our Lord on Calvary. Paradoxically, the more we quench His thirst, the more thirsty we become. For love. For souls. For the “running waters” (Psalm 42:2) of mercy pouring from His pierced Heart.  Sister, it is only at the Cross that we can drink freely, quenching our own thirst and that of others for God’s love. Michelle Duppong knew this and found joy in drinking the cup of suffering to the very dregs. The question is, are we thirsty enough to do the same?   Relate to the Lord // How’s your thirst? Ask the Lord to increase your desire for Him, for love, and for souls.

January 21, 2025 // Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Hebrews 6:10-20  Reflect on the Word// “Can I pick you up a coffee on my way back from the bank?”  It was Friday, and my boss was being uncharacteristically amiable. After a week filled with angry emails and explosive outbursts, my heart stayed guarded to this kindness as I politely refused her offer. Even when she suggested tea instead (I’m not much of a coffee drinker), my no obstinately endured.  But as she turned to leave, I remembered how I had been praying for this woman’s brokenness and I heard Jesus whisper to my heart, I want to love you through her today. Let Me.  It was as if our Lord sought to offer me a small perk of grace and encouragement in the midst of what had become a rigorous and nerve-wracking sprint with no end in sight. Truth be told, I was losing momentum, or as the Letter to the Hebrews so aptly puts it, becoming “sluggish” (Hebrews 6:12).  The author of the Letter to the Hebrews, exhorts them (and us) to “demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end,” and to be “imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises” (Hebrews 6:11-12).   No doubt it can be grueling to live out the first part of this challenge, especially when we don’t have the strength or desire to stay eager through the trying circumstances in which we often find ourselves. But God always sees our work and “the love [we] have demonstrated for his name” (Hebrews 6:10).  When we are tempted to throw in the towel, He anchors us in the promises of His Son, Who bore the excruciating sufferings of the Cross in order to show us there is nothing we won’t face that He didn't face first. He paved the way for a Resurrection promise so that we might “hold fast to the hope that lies before us” (Hebrews 6:18).   Sister, it is in this hope that we can find renewed strength to keep going. But it doesn’t hurt to have a bit of caffeine along the way.       Relate to the Lord // How has grace been given to you lately? How can you extend grace to another today?

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 1:26-38 Reflect on the Word//  I stared at the blank page of my workbook, brain gnawing at the unanswered questions before me. I had hoped that bringing these prompts to the Lord would jolt me out of the lackluster prayer that had marked the last two days of my retreat. But as I skipped through them despondently, one question stopped me in my tracks: What are your hopes and dreams for the next ten years? Suddenly it hit me: I had no idea.  In this hard season, I had gotten so accustomed to offering up the daily stresses and struggles of life that I had stopped giving myself permission to dream.   Of course, there’s beauty in abandoning ourselves to the present moment, which is where God’s will is manifested to us and holiness is found. But here’s the thing: dreaming, when guided by the Holy Spirit and united to His Heart, is a type of co-creation with God, the perfect planner and master visionary.   Long before the angel appeared to Mary, the Lord dreamed up the idea of who Mary would be. From all eternity, God chose as the mother of His Son, “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David” (Luke 1:27).  In the infinite designs of His Heart, He predestined Mary to be “full of grace” from the first moment of her existence, a privilege known as her Immaculate Conception, which we celebrate today.   As a young girl, Mary must have had a heart soaring with dreams. And yet, she stayed open to God’s designs for her life, which awakened her soul to greater dreams and desires which she didn’t even know she had. And so with a single response of faith—“Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38)—she is able to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in conceiving the Dawn of our salvation, Jesus Christ, thus fulfilling the marvelous plan God dreamed about before time began.    The Lord has a marvelous dream on His Heart for us too. We need only believe it and then allow ourselves to dream bigger. For “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). Relate to the Lord // What are your hopes and dreams? Share them with the Lord (and a friend) today.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest,” says the Lord. // Matthew 11:28 (Alleluia verse) I swiped a tear from my cheek as I removed the last few items off my desk and nestled them carefully into the packing crate. Beside the pens and the witty office memes that had once wallpapered my space (courtesy of my fun-loving cubicle mate) lay the framed photo of Jesus that I always kept close.        I sniffled quietly. Why are you sending me back, Lord?   The warmth and safety in His eyes pierced my questioning heart and offered a ray of peace in the midst of sadness. Still, I wrestled with what this meant.   Five months. That’s how long I had been working at a different office branch while my regular work building underwent extensive renovations. What was estimated to be a two-month project ended up taking more than double the time. And in that time, the slower pace and family-like atmosphere of my temporary assignment served as a refuge and a shelter when I needed it most. My energy picked up, my health improved, and the excessive tiredness that often left me slogging through the workday was gone. I also laughed. A lot. Honestly, I hadn’t realized how burned out I was until my heavy burdens were lifted.   But now, as I prepared to leave, the avalanche of all that awaited me came barreling in.   Let Me be your Bethany, I later heard our Lord whisper to my heart.  In his book 33 Days to Greater Glory, Father Michael Gaitley writes this: “The house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Bethany was something of an oasis of peace and joy for Jesus. He deeply loved the family there, and their home became the place that the Father specially prepared for His Son to strengthen and console him...”    Clearly, Bethany was the safe haven where Jesus found friendship, hospitality, and shelter. How beautiful that in the tenderness of His Heart, He offers all that and more to us (see Matthew 11:28).   Sister, if you find yourself aching for respite from the heaviness of work, motherhood, or ministry, rest in Jesus. His love is the only Bethany we’ll ever need. 

The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. // Mark 10:45 (Alleluia verse) Are you okay? There are several emails left unanswered.  My stomach lurched as I read her text and realized I had forgotten to do my part—again.  I quickly typed out an apology and then allowed the words that had been squeezing my heart to surface on my phone screen: I don’t know how much longer I can do this.  The honesty of that text was a long time coming. For nearly three years, it had been my joy to help my home parish in this particular ministry, but lately, it was becoming harder and harder to offer my gifts. More times than not, I found myself irritated and burdened by the tasks delegated to me, straining to give “timely help” to the rest of the team (see Hebrews 4:16). I knew I wasn’t showing up wholeheartedly; however, the guilt of letting others down, loyalty to my church community, and the noble words of Jesus from today’s Gospel (see Mark 10:35-45) prevented me from admitting defeat. Then I recalled what my vocation director had once said: “Whenever we give of ourselves, it has to come from a free space.”  Sister, our lives are meant to be icons of loving service in imitation of Christ, but we cannot serve from a place of forced or impoverished love. As disciples, we must be cognizant of how and where we are using our time, our talents, and our energies. We need to prayerfully discern when to detach from exterior demands in order to make room for the Lord to fill—and refill—us. We can’t do it all, my friend, but our Savior, Who sympathizes with our weaknesses (see Hebrews 4:15), will see the precious fruit in what we offer and breathe life into our smallest acts of love.     Take some time to examine your commitments today. Are they misaligned with where Jesus is desiring to make room in your heart? Ask Him to help you surrender the cluttered spaces and unnecessary yeses so that you can give more freely and humbly of yourself elsewhere—your marriage, your family, your home, and to Him.

But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. // Mark 9:32  What does that mean, Lord? my bewildered heart implored as I wrestled with the words that had blossomed from my customary time of silent prayer after Holy Communion. Was my Eucharistic Spouse really telling me it was time to uproot myself from the parish I called home and allow Him to nurture my charisms and gifts elsewhere?  I echoed this possibility in my daily conversations with the Lord and in subsequent meetings with my spiritual director, who gently bid me not to be troubled as I awaited clarity. And so, I kept asking for it, pondering the words I had received and questioning what Christ wanted me to know.   The answers I sought did come in time, but they were different than what I expected and, honestly, a tad harder to swallow.   In today’s Gospel, the disciples, too, find it difficult to digest the information our Lord reveals to them when speaking about the brutality and future glory that awaits Him (see Mark 9:30-32). They are afraid to ask Jesus what it all means, not because they fear Jesus Himself, but because they are afraid of the answers He might give in response, answers that could radically upend everything.   How often do we do the same? We hold back from asking the very questions that weigh heavy on our minds and hearts, afraid that the answers will take shape in the form of rejection, disappointment, or a call to deeper conversion. But, friend, when we hide behind masks of silence and fear, we create obstacles to experiencing the Lord’s divine plan in our lives and in the depths of our hearts. As today’s Second Reading reminds us, we cannot possess if we do not ask (see James 4:2).      Whenever you pray, let the questions flow. And don’t be afraid of what Jesus wants to tell you. The answers He holds in His Heart are just for you, dear sister, conceived from His perfect plan to lead you into deeper trust and surrender. So, ask Him anything, and then be still as He lifts every cloud of confusion with His loving truth.