This is it. We have prayed together diligently for the last 31 days. If you have ever been on retreat, you know that the question "How do I keep this going?!" can lurk at the end of a moving spiritual experience. How do we continue? How do I keep the flame in my heart alive? As St. Therese has reminded us the last few days, we can keep the flame alive in the smallest of acts. Choosing to love, choosing to serve, choosing to pray, choosing to offer our days to Jesus. Even as sanctity exists in the smallness, our souls also need to be fed. One of the most fruitful ways I have found for my soul to be fed is on retreat. Retreats provide a unique opportunity to be embraced in prayer and spend hours focused on the Lord. Look to your parish and diocese opportunities for retreat -- even just a morning or afternoon in prayer with others can rekindle the flame in your heart. And if you can, come spend time in prayer and sisterhood at the upcoming Blessed Is She retreat. This retreat is open to women of all ages, from all walks of life. There will be set aside time for prayer, for worship, for talks that will transform your faith journey and deepen your relationship with the Lord. I would love to put my hands in yours and pray together, as we have throughout this month. I would love to share a meal together with you this Lent. Together, we will go deeper. Together, we will know Him more. [bctt tweet="Together, we will go deeper. Together, we will know Him more."] Sign up here photo credit Comment below with your thoughts: Did your heart grow closer to God this month? Is your prayer rejuvenated and ready for 2016? How are you going to continue on in grace? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

Let's revisit St. Therese today -- such a powerful patron is worth a few posts! Elizabeth Foss shared this post on her blog about the Little Way in the face of motherhood and suffering. We all noticed it the year Patrick was fourteen. It seemed like overnight, but really, it wasn't. It was the whole fourteenth year. And my husband turned gray. It wasn't all Patrick, of course. That was the year of the fragile pregnancy and the fragile baby, and the college athlete who spent too much time on the bench. And then there was Patrick. Gray hair. This has been my year to turn gray. My friend the stylist is out on maternity leave. My hair was long overdue for a cut, making me crazy, curls more out of control as they lose color. I couldn't wait for her to return (and I have a hunch she won't), so I went to see the lady who cut my hair last year. To remind her of how it is supposed to be cut, I showed her a picture from the wedding. "Oh my goodness! It's turned so gray!" Is this how they get people to beg for color to go with their cut? No, thanks. I work too hard to keep color and chemicals out of my food to pay someone to allow it to seep into my scalp. If it's going to be gray, it's going to be gray. And apparently, it's going to be gray. It's not Patrick, this time. Well, there is that dang bench in college again, but no one thinks that will last long. He's discouraged, but he's just building character. There are other things this time around, things that pull on a mama's heart. And things that make her hair turn gray. She wonders, remembers, that it's not all turning out the way we thought it would. Way back when we thought life was black and white and there were no shades of gray... Now? Now there's gray. There is the benefit of experience. It stands in the gap where once stood the confidence (and naivete?) of youth. And my problems? They are decidedly first world problems. In the morning, as I pull gray hairs from between my fingers and ask if perhaps today could be calm for my children, my neighbors, and my friends, my husband reminds me that life is hard. Really hard. Gently, he pointed to the idea that when it's hard, there are children and young adults who look to our home for refuge. They call this home. And I didn't give birth to all of them. Life is hard and we are called to be Christ to one another in the midst of the hard. [bctt tweet="Life is hard and we are called to be Christ to one another in the midst of the hard."] Later in the day, a friend reminds me that children are starving, wars are waging, young fathers are dying of AIDS. All a world away in a place that is not at all first world. That's hard life, she says. I am chagrined. And silenced. The question burns though, all day, as I answer text messages and call in resources and troubleshoot and cry and pray and wait and worry on the behalf of people in my here and now: Is it somehow less when we suffer in the first world? Do those who suffer the pains of affluence--who know exactly how far their disease has progressed because they can afford a CT scan after they've drunk horrid yellow radioactive dye; those who struggle away from home for the first time because they've been afforded an education and tuition to university; those who wonder about paying the bills of a middle class lifestyle because suddenly costs will rise and income will decrease--is their suffering less worthy of my time and attention than the suffering across the ocean? St. Therese wanted to be a missionary to foreign lands. Instead, God called her to the cloister. Still, the Church calls Therese of Lisieux the patron of missions. Why? She shares the patronage with the great Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier. His spiritual principle was, to “love those people to whom we are sent and to make ourselves loved by them.” St. Therese never left the cloister, never. Her motto? “To love Jesus and to make him loved.” She lived this mission wholeheartedly: “Just as a torrent, throwing itself with impetuosity into the ocean, drags after it everything it encounters in its passage, in the same way, Jesus, the soul who plunges into the shoreless ocean of your love draws with her all the treasures she possesses. Lord, You know it, I have no other treasures than the souls it has pleased You to unite to mine; it is You who entrusted these treasures to me.” To other people He has entrusted populations of impoverished natives of foreign lands. Me? He has sent me to a small town in the shadow of Washington, DC. He knows this small circle in suburbia is all that I can manage. I'm sure He's wondering at how poorly I "manage" even that some days. Then again, He has numbered every gray hair on my head. Nothing surprises Him. Mothers are mostly little and hidden. St. Therese had great apostolic zeal, yet it wasn't until after her death that the example of her life, the simplicity of her spirituality, and the intercession of her spirit, made her an apostle to the nations. St. Therese is a good patron for mothers at home, particularly mothers at home who might occasionally be distracted by the proliferation of blog posts and books that urge them to move beyond their "comfortable selfishness" to evangelize and bring comfort to the remote corners of the world. Go! By all means, whatever it takes, if it is God's call, go. It's not always God's call. Sometimes He calls us to quiet witness in our homes and communities. Sometimes He calls us to remain little and hidden in our domestic monasteries, nurturing the few souls in our spheres of influence. Loving them as unto the Lord. We can't bring healing to the impoverished masses huddled in their obvious suffering. We can't know what it feels like to fill the bellies and bind the wounds of the poor on foreign soil. Instead, we trust that giving a sippy cup of water to the least of these in our own kitchens is still doing His work. Vatican II defined missionary activity in these terms: “The special end of this missionary activity is the evangelization and the implantation of the Church among peoples or groups in which it has not yet taken root.” By golly, I assure you, that work is not yet finished in my home. At first it seemed so black and white, but really, this mission is colored in shades of gray. A woman can feed them, clothe them, educate them, comfort them, but in this culture, she is not guaranteed that they will stay close to God all their lives. The thing about the first world? There is a myriad of shiny things with which the devil can distract. The mission field is physically comfortable and spiritually very, very dangerous. It is one that requires the constant care and attention of the missionary, lest they are all blinded by the gray. I'm not a very good multi-tasker. The task at home is quite enough. I cannot serve soup in Africa. Right now, I cannot even seek the suffering in the cities close to my home. I'm just a mom in the suburbs, ladling chowder at my dining room table. And my hair is turning gray. Now. Here. This is where I'm called. This is where I pray He finds me, offering hope, serving unconditional love, and counting gifts. I'm giving until I've nothing left to give. I have to trust His grace to fill in the large gaps I've left when I feebly offer these days of relative comfort. I have to hope it is indeed enough. photo credit

So many people love St. Therese and her Little Way. Her zeal and holiness continue to inspire women in all vocations, reminding us that our smallness can be a tool for greatness in the hands of God. Abbey Dupuy shares why Therese speaks to her heart in today's post, which originally appeared at Catholic Mom. “I think I need a new patron saint, “ I told my husband. “Is that even allowed?” he replied, turning from the sink where he was finishing up the dinner dishes. “I’m not sure,” I said, immediately feeling guilty and changing the subject. It wasn’t that I didn’t love St. Therese any more. It was just that I was having a hard time connecting. When I started RCIA, I already knew which saint I would choose for my confirmation saint. I had read her book, Story of a Soul, several times, highlighting my favorite passages and putting quotes from it on my desk. I wanted to be a missionary, and St. Therese was a patroness and encourager of missionaries. Besides, I loved her simple philosophy of giving glory to God by doing small tasks with great love. Her idea that even small sacrifices had value as offerings to God felt right to me. I knew Therese was my kindred spirit. As the years passed and my missionary zeal faded in the glow of marriage, work, and children, I didn’t think as much about Therese. The more I immersed myself in the living of my life, especially as more children arrived, the more the gap widened in my relationship with her. I felt she couldn’t relate to how things were for me now. How much does a mother of four small kids have in common with a young, unmarried, cloistered nun? It was fine for her to talk about her spiritual ways, but I had piles of laundry to fold and sandwiches to make and noses to wipe and diapers to change. This year, as her feast day approached, I pulled out a picture of St. Therese and promised myself I would reach out to her. Maybe I’d reread my old copy of Story of a Soul, or pray my old St. Therese chaplet, or do a novena. Maybe I’d just try to dedicate my small acts of service to God in her honor. I had plans, and I meant to follow through. By midmorning on her feast day, though, I was ready to give up. I couldn’t find my copy of the book or my chaplet. The kids were wild, and I’d already lost my temper with them. Lucy kicked me in the face while I was changing her diaper, which she had chosen to use instead of going to the potty “on purpose!” she shouted gleefully, thrilled with her own control over the situation. My teeth were gritted, my heart was heavy, and I felt that the gulf between me and my saint had never been wider. That evening, propped up in bed with a fussy baby, I was feeling quite sorry for myself. Here I was, on the feast day of my patroness, and I couldn’t even manage to do anything for her. Frustrated, I told her I was sorry for messing everything up. My eyes fell on my rosary beside me on the bedside table, and I remembered a story about St. Therese having ongoing difficulty staying awake during the recitation of the rosary. Suddenly, I realized why I was having such a hard time connecting with her now. I was focusing on all the ways in which she was holier than I was…her great love, her spiritual understanding, and her closeness to Jesus. Somehow, I had forgotten to remember how she developed her Little Way in the first place. Therese felt she was too flawed, too insignificant and too unworthy to do great things for God. She developed her Little Way so that she could use her small sacrifices and acts of service to show Jesus she loved him. She wasn’t perfect at all. That was exactly her appeal. Her faults were exactly why she was still the perfect saint for me. I am not a missionary serving in an exotic location now. On any given day, I’m wiping a lot of noses and cleaning up spills and pulling cereal out of children’s hair. I might even be grumpy while I’m doing those things. I realize now, though, that every time I have one of those tasks to complete, every time I am a servant to one of my children or to my husband, every time I do a small act in love, I am honoring God. I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to try to love, as Therese did…and I have plenty of opportunities for that. Comment below with your thoughts: What can you offer up today? Who can you serve in love today? Are you welcoming God in to sanctify your smallness? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

Today, we recall the spiritual life of the Dominican Order, on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas (a Dominican himself!). Laurel Muff reflects on the meaning that Dominican spirituality has brought into her life. As I was finishing high school and into my early college years, I gave some serious thought about joining the religious life. One order that particularly attracted me was the Dominicans. I love their active ministry which lives under the motto: contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere (to contemplate, and to give to others the fruits of contemplation). Their deep prayer life produces an outflowing of love in the form of preaching the Gospel, in word and deed. The convent I visited in Pontcalec, France, where the sisters run two boarding schools, was an excellent example of the Dominican way of life. The four pillars of Dominican spirituality are prayer, study, apostolate and community. Prayer and studies are at the very core of Dominican life, but it is for the sake of apostolate and community. As it should with any vocation, prayer forms the heart of the Dominican life. Time for prayer is punctuated throughout the day so that the sisters can foster and maintain their relationship with God. Also, integral is time spent for study. Study forms the backbone and inspires prayer. As a person encounters God through creation and Scripture, he can’t help but yearn for a relationship with Him. Study, for a Dominican, is a seeking of Veritas (Truth)--another motto of the Order. It is not studying for the mere sake of the exercise, but for the sake of discovering the truth. Therefore, a Dominican’s studies are meant to develop an attitude of discovery and the discipline of inquiry. There was time set aside daily for personal study. From prayer and study, apostolate easily flows as the wisdom gained is to be shared. This is done both in word and example (verbo et exemplo). Many Dominicans are teachers at high schools, as were the nuns in France, and colleges. They live the Gospel as example and share the Gospel with the students they encounter. Dominicans live in community. As one cannot love others without first loving God, so, too, one cannot truly love God without loving others. One’s spiritual journey is never isolated between oneself and God alone. It takes place, also, in our encounters with others. For example, we learn the true meaning of forgiveness when it is shown to us and when we impart it to others. God is revealed through the persons we encounter daily. The sisters not only lived this communal aspect with each other, but also with those they ministered to. Although I discovered that the vocation God was calling me to was, in fact, the married life, so much of the Dominican way of life I still appreciate and strive to imitate--making time for daily prayer, using prior and continual studies to inform how I live my life and teach my children, and, of course, the building up of the “domestic church” as a small community, as well as engaging in community with others outside the home, bringing the light of Christ to the world. [bctt tweet="One’s spiritual journey is never isolated between oneself and God alone."] photo credit Comment below with your thoughts: Do you punctuate your day with prayer? Can you find opportunities to pray in your work? How do you grow in wisdom in your faith life? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

Colleen Mitchell has a very personal relationship with Franciscan spirituality. Her post today, originally posted on her blog, reflects on the honest, humble reality of living close to God in the Franciscan spirit. I sit in the small room on the side of the chapel whispering out all my faults and failings and broken things. It is not at all like I thought it would be. The first opportunity to go to confession in English in half a year. I was anxious to wash away the ugliness inside me. To lay it before God and have Him say "forgiven". I thought it would all tumble out easily, my soul eager to push it all out into the light and watch it fade in Christ's love. Instead, it is slow. My mouth makes words but they seem a shallow imitation of what lies within. I know my eyes are pleading to be really understood, beyond the halting sighs that say more than what I am managing to make mouth speak. He looks back at me, the bearded friar priest in the patched and faded frock and says, "When are you planning to make a retreat? I think you need some silence and some space to wrestle some things out with God. Maybe even do a little yelling." I wonder how it is so obvious, how my vague list of ways my tongue has slipped, ways frustration has made me a person neither I nor Jesus like very much, could lead him right to the heart of the deep things I can not seem to say: the long-lying pains and griefs I have held dormant this year, trying to so hard to serve well and to love well and to live well that there has been no time to risk the hard work of falling apart and being put back together again. The work of mending. I look at his patched up habit, years of a life of prayer and penance and a vision hard fought for. Years of patched up tears and pricks and rips. I tell myself this is a man who knows a thing or two about being mended. I confess the biggest mess of all inside me. "I have not done it. I have rejected intimacy with God because I am a competency addict." I am the one who holds it together at all costs. I am the one who can keep her emotions in check for the sake of getting the job done. I am the one who kindly thanks God for His arms wide open in healing embrace and turns away, pointing out the person who needs Him way more than I do. I am a sinner who thinks it might just be easier to keep things casual with God, to stay in the kitchen and do the dishes and brew resentment and let someone else sit at His feet and be loved and know mercy. Easier to trip constantly on the torn hem of my soul than stop to stitch it back up. Easier to let my skin prickle with the cold that enters through the rips and tears of my heart than to patch them up with new mercies. Suddenly I am saying this thing I didn't know I needed to say: "Sometimes I feel like my relationship with God is that marriage that everyone else knows is falling apart while the wife walks around pretending it is perfect." I don't know whether the laugh that follows is because I don't want him to think I am being too dramatic, or because I am terrified by what I have just said. He gazes long and steady, ignores both my laugh and my discomfort, and asks if I know how serious that is, what I have just said. Asks what my plan is to be honest with myself and with God. Tells me it is time. Time to take care of myself. Not the grab a friend for coffee and pedicure variety of taking care of myself. More like make life take a hard stop while I meet Him in the wilderness and let Him stare at me at long until He finally says, "So? What's going in there, love?" And then I answer Him honestly. And I feel like I have been in a dark room and suddenly stepped into the sun. It feels good and warm but it hurts my eyes and I am squinting in the glare. And then I am bowing my head and accepting forgiveness for the things I said that were not really the thing at all and trying to breathe through to the other side of the fact that he is right and He is waiting and I won't get off of this one easily. There are no tears this night, nothing breaks open inside me and brings quick, easy relief the way I wish it would. There is just a quiet, resigned awareness. I have work to do. The work of laying aside the work to lay myself bare before the Lover of my Soul. Not busy work but eternal work. I step out from the small room knowing deep inside that the time has come. I have been willingly walking in the shadows of the cross but afraid to stand in the light of the resurrection. I have made myself busy doing because being is more than I can bear. [bctt tweet="I have made myself busy doing because being is more than I can bear."] I have longed to be KNOWN but only through my own preset filters. It is time to embrace the no filter life of grace. The place where I don't try to tidy up before His arrival, correct the shades and shadows of my soul, make it polished and pretty and publishable. The months lay ahead of me and I am crafting a plan to find the prescribed space to wrestle and heal. But I know I cannot wait for that moment, that here, now, it is time to begin. I kneel slowly before Him and sigh long. Then slide to the floor to sit at His feet. I look at myself through the lens of my mind and refuse to try to make the scene prettier. This is my no filter life and I am going to live it. photo by Sara Miller Comment below with your thoughts: Where can you seek humility in your life? Are you putting your guard up in your prayer? How can you seek Him honestly? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

This all started with an idea I had, about how I could be really intentional about this year. I kept coming back to wanting to straighten my priorities, to listen to what the Lord wanted for me this year, especially in terms of my vocation. So on Periscope, you ladies helped me word this sentence for a campaign of sorts. You brilliant ladies came up with this: This year I will delight in being a ________. And so I ran with it. Starting on Instagram, I took a picture of what my word was and invited the rest of you do to the same, if you wanted. An update + a g i v e a w a y ?? I want to focus this year on an aspect of my life that I want to / need to work on. There have been too many times that I've pushed aside important pieces of my life and vocation for other things that I seem to far more "desire." And I'm wondering if you've ever experienced this, too? This give and take of one passion over another, of one evil over a good, this "balancing act" that seems to do everything but set me in balance. So, this year, I've decided to choose delight. I've decided to choose something I know the Lord is calling me to be better at, to try harder at, to give more of myself to. And what is that, for you? Is it being an artist? Is it being a sister? Is it being a friend? Is it being a writer? Is it being a leader? Is it being a mother? What is it that the Lord has put in your life, and you've yet to delight in that area? What is it that the Lord has set around you that you have at times neglected? What is it that YOU choose to delight in, this year? Here's what I ask of you: Write down that one word. Write down the word that finishes this sentence: This year I will delight in being a ___________. Take a picture of your word, and let that word resonate in the barrels of your soul, that you may delight *especially* in that aspect of your life. That you flourish there, that you blossom there, that you grow, cultivate, and b e c o m e there. Once you write down your word + snap a picture, either post it on Instagram, tagging #BISdelight OR email it to jenna@blessedisshe.net. Every person who does this is entered to win a #BISLent bundle (the workbook + the sold-out Station of the Cross cards). *Your picture may appear in a short compilation video of responses. A photo posted by Blessed Is She (@blessedisshe__) on Jan 22, 2016 at 9:27am PST And here are YOUR responses, one by one. Thank you, sisters. Thank you for being with me on this journey to becoming more myself, every single day. The song in the video is by Ike Ndolo, who is our worship leader for the Blessed is She retreat.

People have loved St. Ignatius of Loyola and his distinctive spirituality for hundreds of years. Bobbi Rol shared her nightly version with us earlier this month, and today, Patty Hubbard shares her love of Ignatian spirituality, originally posted on her blog last Thanksgiving. You sometimes hear people share on what their favorite holidays are and the reasons behind it. Christmas has always been my favorite, but over the last few years Thanksgiving has been gaining ground to tie with my all-time favorite holiday. I've always felt Thanksgiving gets overlooked and under-appreciated. I don't know if it has to do with the turkey, football games, or the insanity of Black Friday. Over the past year, I have read a lot on Ignatian spirituality and the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola. What I have grown to love about Ignatian spirituality is that it's a way for people (whatever their vocation or state in life) to see God in all things while becoming a contemplative in action. As I have grown to identify more with Ignatian spirituality in my life, I had the thought it was St. Igantius who helped teach me that thanksgiving (gratitude) is always a choice in life-no matter the circumstance or situation. One of the most profound ways to pray in Ignatian spirituality is a prayerful review of the day called the Examen. It is a practice where you prayerfully review the past day; reflecting upon all the events, and looking to where you saw/experienced God. The point of the Examen is to look on your day to see where God's presence and activity was in it. A review of the events of the day to find God's presence in it: this was a practice highly affirmed by Ignatius as the most important activity a person could do every single day. Okay, yeah that's nice. But why? What was so important about this? Well, let's back track for a second. A significant element of the Examen is a review of the day. And if we can see/find/experience God's presence in the day (no matter what happens), it teaches us the life-changing power of thankfulness and gratitude. So the answer? The power of gratitude. The power it has no matter the pain or suffering we encounter in this life. The power it has to ease the heavy crosses we carry. The power it has to bring about that peace Jesus spoke of that surpasses all understanding. Gratitude, thankfulness is spiritual dynamite. To thank God in all things, for all things is medicine the weary world needs to live life with purpose. Ann Voskamp is another grace seeker who is passionate on how this one practice of daily gratitude can change lives and radically re-shape the culture. As she says, "only when we give thanks, will you get to be joyful. Being grateful is what makes you joyful." And while daily praying the Examen is a discipline I want to get better at, I am constantly reminded that the act of thankfulness and gratitude is always, always a choice. I can either shake my fist at God and give Him my "choice" words or I can sit in the stillness with open hands of acceptance. I can be like that tenth leper who quickly returned to Jesus to say "thank you" for his healing. I want to be like that tenth leper in my life, no matter what comes. Gratitude, a spirit of thankfulness, is a choice. And no matter what, God is always good and I (we) are always loved by Him. So tomorrow between the good food and hustle n' bustle of the day, take some time to put pen to paper. Allow the practice of daily gratitude to begin to transform you from the inside out. See how gratitude, thankfulness will change you. Be that tenth leper, and do it everyday onward. So why do you think Thanksgiving is treated like pre-gaming for Christmas? Do you believe it is possible to be grateful and thankful for all things, in all things? What makes living with a heart of gratitude so difficult in our world today? Also, if you you're interested in learning more about Ignatian spirituality or praying the Examen, the following books are ones I have loved and found most helpful: The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by Fr. James Martin, SJ A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer: Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola's Examen by Jim Manney The Ignatian Workout by Tim Muldoon [bctt tweet="I want to be like that tenth leper in my life, no matter what comes."] photo by Sara Miller Comment below with your thoughts: Does Ignatian spirituality speak to your heart? How do you build gratitude into your prayer life? Is "thanksgiving" something you celebrate year-round? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

I want to remind you of something. We, each one of us, is doing His work... whether it be serving our families, babies, husbands, mother, fathers or whether it be as a missionary in the fields caring for the forgotten or whether it be working in ministries within our churches to teach and educate others or whether it be just simply serving and caring for ourselves --- we are doing His work: His holy, good, important work. And we need to remember that. That we are doing work that is important. That we are doing work that matters. So if we are just like this twig, cut off the branch of our chaotic lives and transformed into a new creation -- HIS creation, HIS mission, HIS purpose --- imagine the change that could happen. If we stopped in the midst of the turmoil of every day living, and remembered our relationship with Him. If we did that, if we did just that, and remembered how important this relationship is, then we can get back to doing the holy, good, important work in our lives with a true spirit of generosity, a true spirit of peace, a true spirit of renewal. If we step away from the every day chaos of life, and we pause to remember... We can move mountains. We can change lives (even, most especially, most importantly, our own). We can shed light in the areas that otherwise felt dark. We can provide warmth where the cold held tight. [bctt tweet="If we step away from the every day chaos of life, and we pause to remember... we can change lives."] We can become more ourselves, if we just pressed pause, and we remembered -- that we are loved, that we are sought after, that we are here for a purpose. Press pause and come on retreat. You will walk away renewed, more alive, and more yourself. You will walk away more prepared to serve others because of your renewal, because of your spirit, because of your strength, your courage, your faith. Give yourself that gift. Come receive beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, the garment of praise for mourning... all for His glory. (Isaiah 61:3)   Purchase your retreat ticket here

Today is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Take the opportunity to reflect on where you need to seek conversion in your own life and heart. There is a little white church, which sits on the crest of a hill, at the cross roads of several lazy highways, surrounded by centuries of gravestones. It has plain white-washed sides, a little steeple, and a gravel parking lot. It is dedicated to St. Joseph. When I lived near it, I would go there for Sunday Mass -- but now that I've moved away, I only go when I want to make mass during the work day. I never liked it much, though it is a lovely church. There were mostly elderly couples in the church--I never saw someone my own age--wealthy, comfortable, gracious, but formal. There were only two priests: One was mid-fifties, with a broad smile; he never really said anything substantial, though he was nice enough. The other priest seemed much older. Grey hair, and lots of wrinkles; he walked with a slight limp. He gave two sentence homilies, and seemed almost nonchalant about the form of the Mass. He rarely raised the host during the consecration. He never distributed communion. I would kneel there in the pew, and clench my jaw and meditate on the sad state of priests in this country, angry at him for not seeming to care. It was only later that I realized he was crippled. I went there for the first time in probably a year, and he was saying Mass. I was late, and he was already reading the gospel. I rolled my eyes, because he was reading the Gospel from the altar. He hardly moved the entire mass. And then, after the final blessing, this poor priest walked as slowly and difficultly as you can imagine, down the one step, and through the side door to the sacristy. Though it was five or six steps for a normal man, it took him a full two minutes to make the journey, and it suddenly dawned on me that he wasn't lazy: he was ill. The entire congregation, usually so quick to leave after the final blessings, stood still, respectfully waiting for him to leave the altar, and I was deeply shamed. Here was a man of God, and I was slandering him in my mind. A man of God, who had to overcome severe difficulties every day to serve his parish, and do God's work, and I was judging him. Pride, and vanity, and anger, and sadness all mixed up in my mind, because of one crippled priest. That was a few months ago. I still rarely go to St. Joseph's. But today I ventured back, for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The reading is, of course, the account in Acts of that dramatic scene on the Road to Damascus. But we don't need to fall off a horse to know that Christ's words to Saul are words for all of us, if we dare to listen: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Margaret Perry is a writer and restaurant manager based in Virginia. She (sporadically) writes about children's books for The Catholic Information Center, and her work has appeared in First Things. This post originally appeared on her blog Ten Thousand Places. She also makes jam. photo credit Comment below with your thoughts: Where do you have opportunities for conversion in your life? Are you persecuting anyone in your thoughts, words, or actions? How can you be more merciful in those thoughts, words, or actions? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

I always heard this verse as "For the joy of the Lord is your strength," so it really struck me when I read it in today's first reading as, "Rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength." Nehemiah 8:10 It's not only the joy of the Lord, it is the act of rejoicing in Him that must be our strength. And not only is it our strength, but it MUST be our strength. Today I can choose to participate in the act of rejoicing and not stand idly by. Join me as we find our strength together! Grab this free download made by Erica of Be A Heart down below. You can also purchase it as an 8x10 print in our shop (along with our Lenten workbook before they all sell out!) Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

Today, we want to hear what devotions are most important to you! This month, our writers have shared some of their favorite ways to connect with the Lord, whether through the Rosary, with prayer to his Sacred Heart, or creating a physical prayer space. Next week, we will we explore different ways that we can pray with the saints. The prayers of the saints vary as greatly as their personality, and we can learn a lot from the way each of them pray. As each of us grows in sanctity toward the goal of sainthood, we each will be drawn to certain devotions and modes of prayer. As we look toward the finish line of this prayer pledge, it is time to consider how each of us will keep up our prayer lives every day. So today, share the devotions that call to your heart. Comment below with your thoughts: What devotion do you turn to again and again? Are there devotions you want to begin to explore? What saints are role models for your prayer life? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

Elizabeth Foss originally wrote this post for her blog almost ten years ago, but the lessons and graces of the Rosary are timeless. A few months ago, a friend suggested we pray a daily rosary. Actually, she suggested a fifteen decade daily rosary. We were both tired, frustrated and stressed to the limits. We had exhausted all the typical remedies for this state of being. Veterans of this Catholic home education large-family lifestyle, we tweaked our diets, our exercise plans, our chore systems, our sleeping (well, we tried), our school plans. We both changed parishes (we live two time zones apart but somehow we both were in the wrong church). All the tried and true remedies for burnout and frustration were failing us. As our families grew and our children got bigger, the stakes went up. We recognized that nothing on earth was "working" to gain for us that much needed peace. Our souls were restless indeed. All of this we shared with each other. We hashed out all the usual solutions, we swapped meal plans and chore plans and lesson plans. Independently, we took it to prayer. That's when she came back with the absolute certainty that she was supposed to pray a fifteen decade rosary every day. And she was pretty certain I was supposed to do the same. Only glitch was that she had this revelation while I was reading Rosarium Virginis Mariae. I was increasingly sure that I was supposed to shower my soul with the light of those five Luminous decades as well. Fifteen for her, twenty for me. I bought a CD so that I could turn driving time, walking time, bed time into rosary time. Really, the Holy Spirit did the pointing and clicking this time. I bought Praying the Rosary with St. Therese of Lisieux. My daughter, always looking over my shoulder as I blog, objects to the "Just for Mom" category. She reminds me that she hears the CD all the time, too. And she is increasingly devoted to both the Blessed Mother and the Little Flower. Those quotes are touching her. This beautiful CD has it all. Lovely Gregorian chant in the background. Soothing voices of prayer. And every Hail Mary is preceded by a quote from the Little Flower. Those quotes have worked their way into my soul, they are becoming me... or I am becoming them. Either way, through the powerful intercession of the Blessed Mother, that elusive peace is happening. My friend and I exchange emails, coveting each other's decades. All is not peace and green pastures. Life is still happening. And it is really, really hard sometimes. There are days when I beg her to offer all fifteen of hers to me and days when I reciprocate. We rarely pray the whole thing at the same time; instead we snatch decades throughout the day. And maybe that is better, kind of like booster shots for the soul. We've shared some pretty amazing success stories. And we're both pretty sold on the power of ALL those decades. photo by Elizabeth Foss Comment below with your thoughts: Have you grown in your devotion to the Rosary since our last post about praying to Jesus with Mary? Has the Rosary brought any special graces into your life? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

Throughout most of my life, I've had a strong devotion to and love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There are many reasons why, but I've picked seven today to help inspire you to the same. 1. It is a human heart which understands our own. (And vice versa!) Christ is fully man so His is a divine love capable of being expressed in a human way. Learn from Him. He also understands in a very human way what we are going through. 2. It is the "fount of mercy." No matter how many mistakes we make, how many times we fall, this Heart of our Lord wants to forgive us and have us return to Him. His mercy is never-ending and all-encompassing. 3. It inspires heart-to-heart conversations with Our Lord. How much easier it is to speak with God when we discover a heart like our own! The humanity of Christ makes those heart-to-hearts that we would have with a close friend so much more easy. 4. It is a place to rest your weary heart. Rest in His Sacred Heart when you feel overwhelmed, beaten down, sorrowful. He understands as He has been there Himself and will help you find a way to overcome. 5. It is ardent and constant Love for YOU. The Love of our Lord is so IMMENSE! And He loves you as if you were the only person on this earth. He will always be there for you. 6. It is what unites all Christians -- the Heart of the Body of Christ. To be an authentic witness and member of the Body of Christ, it is important to connect with the Heart of the Body for He is our Lifeline. 7. It is the author of all that is beautiful and good in this world. To see beauty, to create beauty, to appreciate what is good, to choose what is good--this is the place to learn. [bctt tweet="The Sacred Heart of Jesus is author of all that is beautiful and good in this world."] photo by Madi Myers-Cook This post by Laurel Muff originally appeared on her blog.

How many of us have devotions to the Rosary? Laurel Muff reminds us how powerful the devotion to the Our Lady can be in this post. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. The Rosary is a special devotion in which we pray for the intercession of Mary to her son, Jesus, while meditating on the "mysteries" of Christ's life, especially those which intertwine with Mary's. It is normally said using a set of beads which helps us keep track of each decade we pray. {For a superb way to pray the Rosary with children, check out Catholic All Year's Facebook post on making and praying chocolate Rosaries! :) Also, what praying the family Rosary looks like in Kendra's house.} Joyful Mysteries The Annunciation ~ And [Gabriel] came to her and said, / “Hail, full of grace, / the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28) The Visitation ~ In those days Mary arose / and went with haste into the hill country./ to a city of Judah, / and she entered the house of Zechariah / and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, / the child leaped in her womb; / and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:39-41) The Nativity ~ She gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in Swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there Was no room for them in the place where travelers lodged. (Luke 2:7) The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple ~ When the day came to purity them according to the law Of Moses, the couple brought him up to Jerusalem so that He could be presented to the Lord "Every first-born male shall be consecrated to the Lord." (Luke 2:22-23) The Finding of Jesus in the Temple ~ On the day they came upon him in the temple Sitting in he midst of the teachers, listening to them and Asking them questions. (Luke 2:46) Luminous Mysteries The Baptism of Jesus ~ And when Jesus was baptized...The heavens were opened And He saw that Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on Him, And lo, a voice from the heaven, saying, "this is My beloved son, With whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16-17) Jesus' First Miracle ~ His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." Jesus said to them, "fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. (John 2:5-7) Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven ~ ...and preach as you go, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without pay, give with out pay. (Matthew 10:7-8) Transfiguration of Jesus ~ And he was praying, the appearance of his raiment become Dazzling white. And a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is My Son, My chosen; listen to him! (Luke 9:29, 35) The Last Supper ~ He took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you" and likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22: 19-20) Sorrowful Mysteries Agony in the Garden ~ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground. (Luke 22:43-44) Jesus is Scourged at the Pillar ~ And so Pilate being willing to satisfy the people, released to them Barabbas, and delivered up Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. (Mark 15:15) Jesus is Crowned with Thorns ~ And stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak about him. And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand... (Matthew 27:28-29) Jesus Carries His Cross ~ And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha. (John 19:17) Jesus is Crucified ~ Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost. (John 19: 28, 30) Glorious Mysteries The Resurrection ~ You need not be amazed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified. He has been raised up; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:6) The Ascension ~ Then, after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into Heaven and took his seat at God’s right hand. (Mark 16:19) The Descent of the Holy Spirit Upon the Apostles and Mary at Pentecost ~ All were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them. (Acts 2:4) Mary's Assumption ~ A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, With the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelation 12:1) Mary is Crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth ~ "You are the glory of Jerusalem…you are the splendid boast of our people… God is pleased with what you have wrought. May you be blessed by the Lord Almighty forever and ever. (Judith 15:9-10) By Mary's intercession, through the recitation of the Rosary, the course of history has turned at some very powerful moments in history. In 1571, on this day, the Ottoman Turks (Muslims) were resisted against all odds by the Christians at the Battle of Lepanto. Europe would look very different today if this had not occurred, as the Muslims were set to extend the Ottoman Empire and force the Muslim culture and religion (really, one and the same) on all. The Pope at the time, Pius V, had requested all the faithful to pray the Rosary to Our Lady, asking that the victory be theirs. Under the command of Don Juan of Austria, they destroyed the Ottoman ships, and it was attributed it to Mary's intercession. The Rosary is a mighty "weapon." We would do well to pray it for a very similar situation in the world today. [bctt tweet="The Rosary is a mighty "weapon."] I have witnessed Mary's influence in my own life using this powerful weapon. Over the course of about a year or so, I had been undergoing some horrible, and ever-growing, anxiety due to a bad situation that had occurred in my life. My roommate at the time introduced me to a novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots. {A novena is a set of prayers said over a nine-day period, usually for a specific intention.} A Rosary is said at the beginning of each day's prayer, after which a prayer was said that asked Mary's help in "undoing the knot" that was in my life. I was praying to be released from the heavy burden I felt on my soul of a past hurt and the anxiety it was causing me. Each successive day, I could literally feel the weight being taken off. The tears that poured out of me after I finished my prayers every evening were like a release of the flood of emotions and anxiety that flooded my soul. I finally was able to talk about the burden I carried. My heart was being cleansed to allow for love to enter in once again. It is amazing how palpable spiritual things can be at times to our very being. Comment below with your thoughts: Do you have a devotion to the Rosary? If you don't, do you have the time to day to sit with Our Lady in prayer? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

Today, Colleen Mitchell shares five ways to beautifully live the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Jesus offers us the works of mercy as a way to connect directly with Him through the people we meet every day. Read Matthew 25:31-46 today and reflect on where you meet Jesus. As we move through the Christmas season and into the new calendar year, I am trying to be ever mindful that the Church has already celebrated the beginning of a new year, and on top of that, a super-special extraordinary Jubilee Year. The Jubilee Year of Mercy, in which Pope Francis is calling us to remember and embrace the individual, personal mercy of God we each have received to make salvation open to us, to pursue and deeper love and longing for the holiness that should result from that gift, and to live out our lives as examples of the Father's mercy to others. I had the incredible privilege of being able to attend the opening Papal Mass for the jubilee year and to be among the first pilgrims to walk through the Holy Doors of St. Peter's afterwards. It was a pilgrimage I will not soon forget. The Mass, although attended by thousands sitting outside on a drizzly, cold morning, was so reverent and beautiful. The chanting of the official hymn was deeply moving. Watching Pope Francis stop to embrace Pope Emeritus Benedict before turning to push open those wide doors with obvious emotion was so incredible no words really suffice. Then, as we squeezed into the line to wait to pass through the doors, our spiritual director who accompanied us began to remind us of the point of the journey--why we were crossing that threshold and what it should mean. He reminded us to make a moment of true conversion of heart, to be mindful of our sinfulness and the call to holiness and to walk through those doors accepting the mercy of God that allows us to lay down that burden of sin and take up the work of holiness. It only took a few seconds really to pass through the doors once we had made our way through the lines, but it was a profound moment in my spiritual journey that I will not soon forget. Since that day, I have longed to really enter into this year fully and embrace all it has to offer us as Catholics and Christians. I mean, if there is one thing every Christian can embrace unilaterally, it is the mercy of God, is it not? Maybe since my missionary calling is a call to daily live the acts of mercy, or maybe because I am a so often a tired sinner who needs her Savior, or maybe because we as a couple have long been devotees to the Divine Mercy, whatever it is, I long to see people embrace this opportunity to go deeper into what it means to both give and receive the mercy of God, his greatest attribute. You might not be able to head to Rome and walk through the official Holy Doors at St. Peter's this year. But there are so many ways that you can embrace this special grace of this Jubilee Year. Did you know that there is a Holy Door in every Catholic diocese in the world? Making a pilgrimage, a real spiritual pilgrimage, through a Holy Door is definitely a must to live this Year of Mercy. In addition, I am going to try to pay attention to what Pope Francis has had to say and will say about the year by reading Misercordia Vultus closely, and his homilies and addresses during the special Masses throughout the year. These are great ways to really focus on the year's theme in special ways and make an effort to conform your heart to the Church's call to experience and live the Lord's mercy more deeply. But I think the key to really embracing this year's special message of mercy is to find ways to live it out in your every day. Here are 5 every days ways we can embrace and live the Jubilee year of mercy, not just on special pilgrimage days, but every day. 1.Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day. This prayer is such a beautiful way to enter into the true mercy of God for souls and pray for our world, so in need of his mercy. And it is so easy to pray. I love to brew an afternoon cup of tea and grab a few quiet moments to pray the Chaplet. When there is time, I love to listen to this version and sing it with my kids too. This is a great way every day way to remind yourself to focus on the great mercy of God for your own soul and those of others. If you remember to pray for the Pope and for others in your life in need of prayer during the Chaplet, you are also performing the spiritual work of mercy of praying for the living and the dead. It's a two for one! 2. Make your own holy door to remind yourself to be looking for opportunities to extend mercy in your comings and goings. Choose a door you enter and exit on a normal basis, your front or back door, your office door, your car door, and mark it as your "mercy door". Maybe place the logo of the Jubilee year there as reminder, or a small LED candle. Each time you enter and exit that door, try to say a short prayer that reminds you to be awake for opportunities to share God's mercy with those you will encounter on the other side of that door. This prayer is a perfect, short prayer to pray with every entrance and exit: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." 3. Practice the spiritual works of mercy in your own home. I don't know about you, but there are plenty of opportunities in my home to bear wrongs patiently and forgive others willingly. And if I look closely, there are also ample chances to comfort the afflicted, to pray for my family, and to live the spiritual works of mercy right here in my own home. I know I should do these things, but I often forget to see them as real spiritual work, benefitting both my own soul and those who receive those mercies. If I used this year to really discipline myself to live spiritual mercy in my own home as my life's work, I can only imagine how deeply my heart could be converted to true self-sacrificial love in my own family. 4. Focus on one corporal work of mercy for a month at a time. Make the time and space in your life to put that work into action in a very real, tangible way outside of your own home. If you have to cut back on commitments to make time and space in your schedule, that would be a very worthwhile effort for this year. If it is not possible to be physically present to a need, you could fast from some small indulgence every month and give to a worthwhile organization. If you would like to become a $10 monthly sponsor of St. Bryce, we would be eternally grateful to feed the hungry and clothe the naked in your name. 5. Pray daily using the Magnificat Year of Mercy Companion. Our spiritual director gifted my husband and me each with a copy of this little volume on the opening of the Jubilee year. It is filled with lovely meditations, litanies, prayers, and poems to help you focus on the year's theme. Adding this short 5-minute devotion to yor prayer time or reading them over a family meal is an excellent way to bring daily focus to the theme of mercy in your every day life. Whatever ways you choose, I do hope you are finding inspiration in this Jubilee Year of Mercy to embrace the Father's love for you more deeply and share it more freely with those in your own home and those you encounter outside your home. [bctt tweet="Here are 5 every days ways we can embrace and live the Jubilee year of mercy. #yearofmercy #JubileeYear @Pontifex"] *Photos in this post are all personal photos from our trip to Rome. Copyright @Colleen Mitchell 2015. Comment below with your thoughts: Do you have a spiritual focus for the new year? What are some ways you plan to incorporate that focus into your everyday life? What does the Father's mercy mean to you? How are you sharing it with others? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

Yesterday and today, Bobbi Rol of Revolution of Love shared posts about how she bookends her day with prayer. Today -- night prayer and what it looks like for her as a wife and mother. One of my goals in August was to improve my night prayers. I had gotten into the habit of saying my night prayers in bed before I feel asleep. However, 99% of the time I was snoring before I even got into it. Praying in the horizontal position was definitely not working for me. My goal was to say my prayers before I hit the pillow so I changed my routine. Now when the boys go to bed at 7:30-ish and the house becomes incredibly quiet, I grab my quiet-time-tote-bag (that holds my books, laptop, earphones, etc) and find a quiet spot where I can spend a little time with God. First I say a prayer to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to enlighten my heart and my mind so I can review my day and learn from my mistakes and be grateful for my blessings. To help improve these nightly exams of the heart (and my monthly confessions) I picked up an old practice I used to do years ago. It was brought back to mind when I was discussing night prayer with someone on the Blessed Is She Facebook page. I recalled how much it helped me then and I knew God was nudging me to return to it. So I bought a cheap 50 cent composition book and I use it as my exam book. I write down the things I am sorry for that day. My impatience or losing my temper or taking Brian for granted or for being unkind to so and so. Whatever it is. On occasion, there is something I don't want to put down on paper knowing that this book may be seen by other eyes so I literally write it in a code that I would know what it is but someone else wouldn't. I also wrote on the first page, "This is for my eyes only. If I have died and you find this book, please throw it away for me." LOL! No, but seriously. I did. ;-) Putting it down on paper may seem dumb but seriously after writing "for losing my patience" every stinkin day for weeks on end it really hits home that, girl, you gotta do something about this! And I do try and make a greater effort to control myself. It also helps when it is time for confession. I can thumb through the past month's entries and see what things I need to bring to the foot of the cross. When I examine my day, I don't just look at the negative. I also look at the good things that have happened. So after I write down the things I am sorry for, I open up my gratitude journal and write down three to five things I am grateful for that day. It can be a blessing - like a date night with Brian or getting all the laundry done or a phone call from my mom or it can be the grace of not losing my temper when someone scribbled on the wall with permanent marker. That shows me not only God's grace in action but that I am making baby steps towards improvement. Once my books are filled, I keep the gratitude journal and trash the other. After my exam, I say an Evening Prayer. My favorite is found on the iMissal app on my iPhone. It reads: O my God, at the end of this day I thank You most heartily for all the graces I have received from You. I am sorry that I have not made a better use of them. I am sorry for all the sins I have committed against You. Forgive me, O my God, and graciously protect me this night. Blessed Virgin Mary, my dear heavenly mother, take me under your protection. St. Joseph, my dear Guardian Angel, and all you saints of God, pray for me. Sweet Jesus, have pity on all poor sinners, and save them from hell. Have mercy on the suffering souls in purgatory... (followed with Act of Contrition) It may sound like a lot of work for our already busy lives, but seriously I can get the exam done in 10 minutes easy and from there I can spend more time in quiet prayer or say a rosary or read from a spiritual book for a longer block of prayer time. If I am on a tight schedule and have a lot of other obligations to finish before bed, then I keep it short. You can make it as short or as long as you want, depending on your situation. If you are single, you can fit it in after work or before a late night study session. If you are a busy mom with crying babies or tugging toddlers, five minutes may be your tops. For moms who nurse at night, your exam may be said at 2 AM. For moms with older kids, you may be saying yours on the couch as you wait for them to come home from their date. Do whatever works for you. The main thing is to reconnect and reconcile with God and to thank Him for all the blessings of the day, even when you have to work really hard at finding a blessing on a "bad" day. I'll admit there are times when I want to skip this prayer because I have so many other things that I need to do but the extra effort is worth the peace and grace I receive from ending my day with God. Plus the act of physically quieting myself reminds me that above all else, God must be at the center of my heart. Only then will everything else fall into place. How do you say your night prayers? Do you have a tip to help with preparing for confession? photo by Madi Myers-Cook Comment below with your thoughts: Have you explored night prayer in your day? If so, what does it look like for you? If not, how can you begin to integrate it into your day? or, simply answer: Did you pray today?

A few years ago, I went on seven retreats every year. I prepared for weeks - buying supplies, designating small groups, collecting permission slips, writing talks, and forming student leaders. I was a campus minister. I loaded up buses full of suitcases, storage bins packed with supplies, and about 40 souls. I was privileged to help give the gift of retreat to teenage girls. Once we pulled up to the retreat center in the serene mountains, the honor of watching God work through retreat began. I witnessed Him work in the lives of women when they were able to press pause in their everyday lives. It was because they chose to attend retreat that these girls got to stop and simply be. It was in this time that they got to experience the love of Christ in new ways, hear His call in their hearts, and recognize the ways He was moving that they were often too busy to see. No homework. No to-do lists. No responsibilities - only the opportunity to exist, listen, pray, and grow. What a gift, and a priceless one - time to be with the Father in the quiet, in the stillness, and in peace. The girls received the opportunity for retreat as part of their school curriculum, and I received the same gift when I was in high school. It was very simple to go - have mom sign the permission slip and write the check and turn it in. As I have walked into adulthood, I have come to know that the gift of retreat will never again be given to me - I must choose to give the gift of retreat to myself. I must choose to take the time, to sacrifice the finances, to take care of my own heart. Retreat must become part of the curriculum of my life. It is an opportunity that does not come often, but when it does, the possibility and importance of it holds much power. The power that comes in having time for reflection and growth is often monumental in our walk with Christ. This is time that shows us new life paths - it is time that makes way for deep healing - it is time that God desires us to just be, and to be with Him. Retreat. Is it a gift you are willing to give yourself?   Purchase your ticket to go on retreat.   Emily Wilson planned her whole life to become a sports reporter but turned out to be a Catholic musician and speaker at the hand of God. She lives out of her suitcase and travels across the world speaking to people of all ages. The heart of her ministry is offering encouragement to teen girls in search of their true identity, and she loves ever second of it. You can find out more about her here.