In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 31
Honoring the Sacred Heart in the world is a practice of both/and. We have interior work to do, which naturally permeates to the external, and back again.
Already this week we have examined the ways that we might conform our hearts to the Sacred Heart through imitation and prayer, animated and nurtured by God’s deep love for us.
The other half of this devotion is active...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 30
Recently, I was listening to a homily by Fr. Mike Schmitz in which he recounts a comment he heard by a choir member one morning at Mass. She leaned over and, looking out at the gathered community, whispered to her neighbor: “I see dead people.â€
You know what she means...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 29
There are two striking touch points that Pope St. John Paul II includes in this excerpt which I find comforting: encounter and the heart. Pope Francis has been describing a "culture of encounter" since the beginning of his papacy in 2013—the idea that we are changed by engaging our Faith in the world and the people in it. He says, “Whenever we encounter another person in love, we discover something new about God.â€
We know this to be true in our own experience, whether we can relate to these discoveries in terms of our best friends, or those whose opinions and perspectives challenge us most deeply.
If we’re lucky, these attributes can be true of the same people...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 28
“The world will be saved by beauty,†we hear. These words consoled Dorothy Day, which tell us a great deal about the needs of the human spirit. In her houses of hospitality in New York City during the Great Depression and beyond, she witnessed the ugliness of poverty and addiction on a daily basis. She knew what it meant to long for and to be filled by beauty...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 27
There is a park I love and hate to take my kids to when it gets really hot. It is half awesome slides, half splash pad. As you can imagine, this is wildly popular among the families in our community, so it is always packed. I love it because my kids have a blast. I hate it because it is mentally exhausting to watch little ones up, down, and around all of the play equipment. Because, ultimately, I am afraid of them being separated and the accompanying feeling of fear that quickly follows until I can find them again...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 26
Two things washed over me as I listened to the lyrics of Matt Maher’s song, Garden...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 25
Upon becoming a new dad, a friend of mine described the experience of bringing a new baby into a room as inviting all occupants to a "baby campfire."
I instantly knew what he meant.
Instinctively, we know to gather, to see with new eyes, and allow ourselves to become transfixed on the thing of beauty before us...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 24
In the year 1675, the pocket watch was patented, integral calculus was introduced and, most relevant for us and our Faith, Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to share His love for souls and His desire for a Feast of the Sacred Heart. He also asked specifically for a devotion of the Nine First Fridays in reparation for all the offenses against His Sacred Heart...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 23
One year on my birthday, my husband had to work. He works the night shift, so there was not going to be any birthday dinner or fancy dessert. I was on the hook for the kids’ dinner, bath, and bedtime, like usual.
I tried to keep my chin up, but I was pretty disappointed. I know it’s just a day, but I love my birthday...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 22
My personality type lends toward often feeling misunderstood. I can’t even tell you the number of times I’ve said in frustration or sadness, “You just don’t understand!†Sometimes, I feel like the only person on Planet Earth who feels the way I feel.
And then I’m reminded of the One who has felt every emotion and feeling. The One who intimately knows every pain we could ever experience, as well as every joy...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 21
In college, I majored in Visual Art. It was through the Journalism Department, but my entire major was devoted to learning how to present information in a visual way. “Visual storytelling†was the name of the game for my four years of undergrad, and although I’m not currently using my degree professionally, the things I learned from all that studying are still relevant to my life...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 20
When I’m having a hard day and it feels like everything is spinning, I often stop and put my hands over my heart. Taking a few deep breaths and listening to that pulse beneath my ribs is often enough to center me.
After my kids fall asleep, I love to tiptoe into their rooms and check on them. I’ll gently rest my hand on their little chests, watching the rise and fall of their breath, feeling the thump-thump of their tiny heartbeats, as familiar to me as my own...
