August 5, 2026 // Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Jeremiah 31:1-7 Reflect on the Word //  The joyful voices rang out amid joyful splashing in Grandma and Papa’s pool. I’d made the rookie mistake of tossing one of my younger cousins across the pool to his great delight. Now, not only was he lining up to “do it again” but so were his siblings and our other cousins. It was getting old, fast! But, at the same time, I just couldn’t say no to those squinty-eyed smiles and the angelic sing-song refrain of “pleeeeeease?” every single time!  So, on it went to the great delight of my cousins and the immense fatigue of my arms! I sometimes forget that the cry of “again” from the heart of a child can have such a heart-softening impact on one who loves him. I especially forget that when it comes to my relationship with the Father. How many times have I asked Him to do something and He comes through with shocking generosity only for me to forget, the next time things get difficult, to ask Him for help. I’m like the Israelites, who need to be reminded that the Lord continues His faithfulness to me (see Jeremiah 31:3). How often have I found myself torn down by mistakes, regrets, or sins, forgetting that His desire is to build me back up, to lead me back to grace in the wilderness, to belong, once again, to Him? (see Jeremiah 31:1-2, 4) He sees me and says, Again you will bear fruit in my vineyard when I have restored you, again shall you go forth rejoicing, when I have saved you, again, you will sing My praise, when I bring you back to Myself (see Jeremiah 31:4-7). We need not be afraid to ask the Lord to work again in our lives. As we don’t tire of heeding the cries of little children in our lives who ask us for more, the Lord delights in responding to our cry of “again” over and over. May we never tire of calling out to Him and awaiting His “I will” in joyful expectation.  Relate to the Lord // Is there an intention or desire you’ve already prayed for but still need? Ask again in faith.

July 9, 2026 // Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Hosea 11:1-4, 8e-9 Reflect on the Word //  I left the confessional and dropped to my knees in my choir stall. Gazing at the monstrance, my heart was pouring out gratitude for the beautiful mercy flowing from the Sacrament I had just received. Then the question surfaced in my heart: Lord, how can You be so patient with me? Time after time I have gone to Him with the same sins, the same weaknesses, the same failures, and again and again His grace has flooded my soul. His forgiveness brings peace as the words of absolution wash over me. Sure, I’m not sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols as we read in today’s First Reading. Or am I? How often has the Lord called to me, and I have responded by running farther from Him? There are so many areas of my heart where I run from Him and reject my identity as His daughter, though He “[draws me] with human cords, with bands of love”(Hosea 11:4). I  have known His love—I know His love even now—and I have heard His call, not out of Egypt, but out of the world, to belong to Him. And yet, like Israel I sometimes still rebel. He has fed me, He has healed me, and still my heart desires to direct itself and fails to surrender. But His love is patient, it is unending, “[His] heart is overwhelmed, [His] pity is stirred” (Hosea 11:8). It is His heart that is so patient, His Divine Love that draws us, fosters us, and raises us to His cheeks again and again (see Hosea 11:3). Daughter, no matter how far we wander, no matter how often we fall or turn our hearts from Him, He welcomes us back. He is a patient Father, a Divine Lover, for “[He] is God and not man . . . [He] will not let the flames consume you” (Hosea 11:8).  Relate to the Lord // Make a plan to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week. Receive His patient love. 

June 18, 2026 // Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15 Reflect on the Word //  Arms thrust heavenward he boldly declared, “Lord you are good, great, and almighty; and I am nothing, weak, and pitiful.” Father was being a little overly dramatic in his preaching this particular day. He even threw in a fake British accent for effect.  We Sisters weren’t quite sure how to react, but the drama certainly drove his point home: “Sisters, that’s not how the Saints prayed. The Saints got real with God.” We were in the midst of our immediate preparation for final vows, being exhorted to give God our authentic selves—who we truly are and not who we thought He wanted us to be. I can be tempted in prayer to ensure I’m saying, doing, asking, or sharing the correct things with the Lord. Sometimes, it looks like I am trying to make my journal entries sound like something out of Saint Thérèse’s Story of a Soul or Saint Catherine of Siena’s Dialogue. Then I realize, that’s not me. The Lord doesn’t want to hear my best imitation of the Saints, He wants to hear from me. He wants to hear my heart from me, even, if I’m being honest, “me” sounds a little raw, unpolished, confused, and vulnerable. “Do not babble like the pagans, who think they will be heard because of their many words. [. . .] Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8). The Lord doesn’t need me to come to Him with the perfect words of praise or expression of my needs. He just wants my heart as it is, with all its needs, imperfections, desires, love, and gratitude. As it is. Period. Prayer isn’t about our crafting the perfect formula so that God will hear and answer. Prayer is about an honest expression of the heart. Bring the good, the bad, and the ugly. When we pray, let us be simple. We call upon a God Who looks, not for the right phrases, but for the purity of our hearts seeking, above all, to love Him, and to be loved by Him, Who is our Heavenly Father. Let’s be real with God!  Relate to the Lord // Speak to Jesus from your heart today with honesty and vulnerability because He is a Living Person Who wants a relationship with the real you.

May 27, 2026 // Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 1 Peter 1:18-25 Reflect on the Word //  I can still smell VoVo’s Old Spice aftershave, see his face, and hear his distinctive Portuguese accent: “Hello, Beautiful!” To his dying day that is how my paternal grandfather greeted me whenever I saw him. Isn’t that what every girl wants to hear? “You are beautiful. You are lovely, worthy, precious, beloved.” I didn’t know it for the thirty-two years I had my grandfather in my life, but he formed my identity, reminding me of my beauty and my belovedness whenever he saw me. I hear the echo of that truth when I encounter the Scriptures, even today. In every line there is a proclamation to us from our Savior reminding us that we are loved and even worth fighting for to the ultimate price—His Blood (see 1 Peter 1:19). Some people talk about Scripture as a love letter from God. His every word pouring out upon us the truth of our identity, the reality that in Him alone we can firmly anchor our faith and our hope (see 1 Peter 1:21). Beloved, you were ransomed with the Precious Blood of Christ (see 1 Peter 1:18). A precious ransom is not offered for something that is not precious. One is not ransomed with something precious if she is not precious. That we are bought and freed with His Blood reveals that we are worth the most perfect offering. We are worth the Blood of the spotless, unblemished lamb (see 1 Peter 1:19). You have been washed and born anew in that sweet tide flowing from the Heart of the Word, which neither withers nor fades. You have been brought into an imperishable life, proclaimed to you by the mouth of the Lord, the Word Who remains forever (see 1 Peter 1:25). How often we lose sight of the beauty given us by God, of our belovedness that flows from a rebirth in Christ. The Lord’s Word covers us today, reminding us of our worth, our identity, our beauty, our belovedness. May you remember again that you are one who has been made pure through love and born anew: ransomed, redeemed, and restored.  Relate to the Lord // Read and pray with today’s First Reading: 1 Peter 1:18-25. Reflect on His personal love for you.

April 29, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 12:44-50 Reflect on the Word //  The familiar chords reached my ears as we sat in the dimly lit church, a spotlight illuminating Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament upon the altar. The music was familiar because the D-F-G chord progression preceded just about every late 90s worship song I knew, so I was still in the dark about what we were about to sing. Then, the words came: “I want to know You, I want to see Your face, I want to know You, Lord . . . ” It’s the cry of every heart that seeks the Lord—to know Him, to see Him, to touch Him, to hear Him. Lord, let me understand what You are doing, where You are at work, what this means. So often, surrounded by darkness in the world, in relationships, in our own sin, all we desire is the plan, the purpose, to know the end and purpose of it all. “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). Yes, there is darkness in the world and in our lives, but He did not come to leave us searching and fumbling, looking for an anchor of hope. He came as the answer to every longing and question of our hearts. Pope Saint John Paul II wrote that “Jesus Christ is the answer to the question posed by every human life” (source). Jesus came to show us His face, the face of our Savior and the face of our Father. We do not have a God that stays hidden or leaves us in the shadows. We have a God Who made Himself visible to us, and brings clarity to our obscurity. When we seek Him we see His light and the light of the One Who sent Him, our Father (see John 12:44). In secret, in the quiet places, He is there so we can be in the light and live not as souls condemned but as children of our Heavenly Father, believing and hoping in His Word, trusting and embracing His commandment, which is everlasting life (see John 12:50).  Relate to the Lord // Spend at least ten minutes in silence today seeking His face in prayer.

March 18, 2026 // Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent // Optional Memorial of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 49:8-15  Reflect on the Word //  The shivers ran up and down my spine. My jaw clenched. Every muscle in my body tensed. I froze. Even with my eyes squeezed shut I knew the distinct sound of the plate sliding off the ledge, hitting the tile floor, and the scattering of glass shards skipping about the sanctuary. This wasn’t the first time my haste and efficiency ended this way. I’ve been called “Sister Save-a-Trip,” carrying as much as possible to achieve efficiency. Often making life harder for myself in the process—and sometimes leaving shattered pieces in my stubborn wake. The Lord, though, doesn’t want that for me. He wants me to rely on Him, to receive all He desires to give. He longs to provide pastures when I encounter barren heights, springs of water when I trudge through deserts, easy paths while I scale steep heights (see Isaiah 49:9-11). Seeking my own path, how often do I echo the words of Daughter Zion, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14). As I look back on my Lent, so far, I have to ask myself: Am I trying to make my own way through this desert? Have I asked the Lord to guide me? Have I heeded His voice to come out of darkness into light, out of the prison of my stubbornness into His freedom? (see Isaiah 49:9) If we’ve been living Lent on our own terms, it’s not too late to make a change. If we’ve forgotten the Lord (see Isaiah 49:15), He hasn’t forgotten us. If we’ve been carrying the burdens of life on our own, leaving the shards of our anger, frustration, impatience, and pride scattered across the sanctuaries of our lives, it’s not too late. “The Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted” (Isaiah 49:13), even if it’s our fault. We’re not alone, our Lord does not forget us or leave us forsaken (see Isaiah 49:15). Turn to Him. He answers, He helps, He restores (see Isaiah 49:8). Relate to the Lord // Look back on your Lent with Sister’s questions. Ask yourself: Am I trying to make my own way through this desert? Have I asked the Lord to guide me? Have I heeded His voice to come out of darkness into light, out of the prison of my stubbornness into His freedom?

February 2, 2026 // Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4  Reflect on the Word //  The sky was crystal clear, and the stars were the brightest I’d ever seen. The full moon illuminated our path through the field. I was among a hundred young women gazing up at the heavens, asking, seeking— some even begging—to know the Lord’s will. Raising my eyes toward “Our Lady’s Window,” as the vocation director called the moon, I prayed deep within, Blessed Mother, what does your Son want for me?  Suddenly, I was on the ground, flat on my back, looking up at the stars; and I knew. The Lord does not always answer prayers in such a disorienting—and in my case, literal—way, but He often comes suddenly (see Malachi 3:1). He prepares the way, leads us, guides us, and before we know it, there He is, revealing the answer to our deepest questions and fulfilling the deepest desires of our hearts. It can seem sudden, jarring even. For centuries the Lord slowly, deliberately, prepared the way for His Son to enter the story of humanity. He refined, purified, perfected, and molded His chosen people (see Malachi 3:3). Throughout the covenant promises to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, He readied the world to receive the ultimate promise, His Son, “the messenger of the covenant whom [they desired]” (Malachi 3:1). Today the Church celebrates the fulfilment of those covenant promises; Jesus is presented in the temple, and due sacrifice is offered to the Lord as Mary hands her infant to the prophet Simeon. A greater sacrifice is foretold, and Mary’s fiat is renewed. Yes, He comes suddenly, but the Lord does not leave us unprepared for His coming. In our seeking we recognize He is coming to us. It may seem sudden in the moment, but since then He has sought us and drawn us to Himself, purifying, refining, and preparing us to offer the due sacrifice of ourselves to Him, wherever He may call us. I will caution you, though, if you ask for a sign, it may come suddenly, and you might just find yourself on your back, with a shockingly certain knowledge of your vocation!* *To learn more about Sister’s vocation story and her love for Confession, take a listen to The Gathering Place bonus episode. Relate to the Lord // Make Sister’s prayer your own today: Blessed Mother, what does your Son want for me? 

January 8, 2026 // Thursday After Epiphany Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 4:14-22 Reflect on the Word //  “I hope you feel better!” “I hope you have a great day!” “I hope I pass my exam!” “I hope I don’t get stuck in traffic!” “I hope  ______ works!” Hope. What do we really mean when we say we “hope”? Do we just want everything to work out, go our way, end well? I often think that’s what I’m saying; then I have to remind myself that’s not Christian hope. True hope, in the end, isn’t a reliance on ourselves, on luck or fortune. Christian hope is the heart’s desire for God to grant us what we need to reach our end, eternal life in heaven. Christian hope is not ours naturally speaking. It is a gift we receive, a theological virtue that enables us to trust that God is Who He says He is, and will fulfill His every promise, trusting Jesus accomplished our salvation and provides strength for the journey here and now. This hope, this promise, this call to trust, is what Christ proclaims in today’s Gospel. Do you want freedom from captivity, from slavery to sin? Christ is your hope. He was sent to proclaim liberty to captive hearts (see Luke 4:18). Do you want to see? Do you long to recognize His providence in your trials? Do you desire to see what He sees when He looks at you? Have you become blind to the true good that is within and around us? He has come to restore sight to the blind (see Luke 4:18)! Christ proclaims hope that this new year can be a year of favor, a year acceptable to the Lord (see Luke 4:19). The Jubilee of Hope ended on the feast of the Epiphany, but Hope reigns forever in the hearts of those who believe. Sister, the Lord invites us to hope in the One Who was sent to bring us freedom, to restore our sight that we might see and hope for the good things of Heaven, to obtain for us every grace, blessing, and healing we need to obtain the best end of all, eternal life in Heaven.  Relate to the Lord // How can you practice Christian hope today?

November 25, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm Response: Daniel 3:57-61 Reflect on the Word // Darkness was all around me. I had gotten through the previous days with forced smiles but I was exhausted. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, didn’t want to see anyone. I was perfectly content to stay curled up in my bed shut off from the world. That is what grief can do. Losing my maternal grandmother was my first experience of real loss; the fact that it occurred just two months into my freshman year of college didn’t help. The last thing I wanted to do was “give glory and eternal praise to him” (Daniel 3:59). Despite my best efforts at ignoring her, my older sister pulled me out of myself, taking me to Mass, trying to talk, encouraging me to pray. Though I didn’t want to admit it, she helped me realize I wasn’t alone. Even in the struggle to glorify God in the midst of grief, the invisible realm of creation was there, praising God in my stead. And, what’s more, lifting me up to join in their praise when I wasn’t able to muster my own. When pain, confusion, doubt, grief, or worry try to steal our heart’s praise of God we can feel alone. Sometimes, even the beauty of the created world around us seems dull and silent. In those moments we are reminded by today’s Responsorial Psalm that the angels, the heavens, all the hosts of the Lord, are blessing God. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we’re not alone, and among those hosts blessing the Lord are the Saints in Heaven and the souls awaiting their eternal rest. During this month of the Holy Souls, let us join our praise of God with the eternal praise being offered by those souls that have gone before us. May our grief be turned to rejoicing when we remember that God created not only the visible, but also the invisible world, and our praise is taken up with all the hosts of the Lord to give glory and eternal praise to the one Creator and Lord of the universe.  Relate to the Lord // Take five minutes to thank and praise God today. Enter into Heaven’s song!

October 14, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Callistus I, Pope and Martyr Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Romans 1:16-25 Reflect on the Word // The shirt said “110% Catholic,” but the girl wearing it didn’t always live it. I wasn’t afraid to be known as Catholic, and obviously walking around with a shirt proclaiming my superior status as one meant that my faith was no secret, but actually living that faith, giving witness to the person of Jesus? Nope! Why? Because I didn’t know the power of the Gospel, I was afraid of what I didn’t know. I was happy to wear the merch, but to live fully the holiness I knew I was called to, that was a challenge I felt ill equipped to handle. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). How blind I was to the true intensity of God’s Word, the effective truth He proclaims in Scripture. I read Scripture, but I didn’t pray with it. I knew Scripture, but I didn’t let it penetrate my heart to transform me and change my heart. I was ignorant of the capacity of the Scriptures, the living Word of God, to reveal to me not only Who He is, but who I am, to make known the awesomeness of His saving power. God has made Himself known to us, “able to be understood and perceived in what He has made, and  “[a]s a result [we] have no excuse” (Romans 1:20). We have been given the gift of Sacred Scripture, revealing to us the love God has for us, His plan for our salvation, and the glory of the eternal life for which He created us. When we encounter the beauty of creation, we encounter God. When we encounter the goodness of another person, we encounter the goodness of God. When we immerse ourselves in Sacred Scripture we are fed with the very truth of Who and what God is. May we always live our lives with eyes wide open to all that God has revealed and seek Him, neither exchanging “the truth of God for a lie” nor worshiping “the creature rather than the creator” (Romans 1:25).  Relate to the Lord // How will you be a witness to the Gospel of Jesus today?

September 18, 2025 // Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 7:36-50 Reflect on the Word //  I’m always amazed when I’m reminded that Jesus receives us as we are and accepts all that we are willing to offer Him as it is—the good, the bad, even the darkness of our shame. There is nothing too little or too much for us to hand over to His Heart. I think of this truth in light of today’s Gospel. Jesus does not seek the woman who comes to Him, but He receives her. He’s in the middle of a meal and, as she weeps at His feet, He doesn’t push her away. He turns His attention to her. I imagine He looks intently at her, past the outward demonstration of her love. He sees her in a way that likely she’s never been seen before, a way she may not even be aware of as she pours out her love through her tears, her hair as a towel, and costly ointment. Jesus doesn’t stop her. He doesn’t stop her because of the “show” that others all too willingly comment on. He doesn’t stop her saying that her outpouring of love, repentance, homage, and her sacrifice of costly gifts is too much. He simply sees her and receives her. He receives all that she gives. How often do we calculate what we are willing to offer the Lord? We want it to be in the best, most perfect way. We try to package our offering in a way we think He will receive it most readily. We scour the recesses of our hearts and pick out the best things to bring to Him, leaving the things and places we are afraid or ashamed of. The reality is, He wants our hearts. He wants every bit, every corner of shame, every nook, cranny, and dark place where we hide our sin—and He wants those more than our merits, prayers, and sacrifices. He wants us to follow the example of this woman who loves, and pour out our hearts to the Lord through our prayer, our charity, our repentance. Give all to Him, hold nothing back. He will receive it, and will never push you away.  Relate to the Lord // What will you offer to Jesus today? Ask Him what He wants from you.

August 4, 2025 // Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21 Reflect on the Word //  I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and prayed, Lord, I’m done. I can’t keep going. You’ve got to do something here. I’m running on empty! I opened my eyes. The March for Life pilgrimage group I was leading gazed back at me waiting for some direction. We were cold, tired, hungry, and in a sea of tens of thousands of other pro-lifers all making our way to the same metro station. It had been a long, numbingly cold three days, and we were ready to go home! In today’s Gospel the disciples looked at the crowd, then at their empty hands, and went into panic mode. Lord, send these people away. We can’t feed them. We can’t fix this problem. Let’s just ignore it and let the people fend for themselves. If the disciples were hoping for a dinner break themselves, they didn’t get it. The Lord called them to provide for the people from their poverty. In their exhaustion and panic the Lord called them to give more, even as He knew exactly how He was going to provide for their lack. So often in our own lives we look at our empty hands and think it is all up to us. Or we try to ignore what the Lord is asking of us because of our perceived poverty. On that cold day in Washington, D.C., the Lord didn’t give me the grace of a miraculous surge of energy. He gave me the gift of knowing it was okay to ask for help—which I did, from my indefatigable co-chaperone—and we all made it home safe and sound.  The Lord always knows what He’s going to do. He knows each of us individually and how He plans to bring about His will in our lives and the lives of those we are called to love. When it feels like we’ve been abandoned or left to our own devices, He’s just waiting for us to come to Him and express our need. Even if we just come with a few fish and a loaf of bread, He knows just what to do!  Relate to the Lord // Are you running on empty? Offer the Lord your poverty and ask Him to provide for you today.  

July 1, 2025 // Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Junipero Serra, Priest [In the Dioceses of the United States] Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Genesis 19:15-29 Reflect on the Word // “Always forward, never back!” I hear it whispered in my ear whenever I begin to second guess a past decision that went awry, long past and forgotten by seemingly everyone else involved. The words resonate in my heart when I’m tempted to self-condemnation over a mistake or past sin. I imagine the phrase—the motto of today’s Saint, Junipero Serra—reverberating up the Pacific coast. A Franciscan Friar, Junipero Serra evangelized California, establishing a trail of now historic missions: Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, San Miguel, San Francisco.   In Junipero Serra we see the victory that comes from moving forward in freedom, not wallowing in mistakes or failures. The joy that comes from looking to God’s will, not looking to the past and longing to return to some comfort we once enjoyed.   Serra’s motto echoes the angels’ words spoken to Lot: “Flee for your life! Do not look back or stop anywhere on the Plain” (Genesis 19:17).   God looks upon Lot and his family and provides a place of refuge; they have only to flee to the appointed spot. Why does Lot resist? What does he fear? Yet even in his fear, the Lord provides. He consents, allowing Lot and his family to flee to a closer town promising to preserve it (see Genesis 19:20-21). Sadly, while Lot is saved, his wife turns back and is swept away, turned into a pillar of salt. Lot’s story, or really his wife’s, is a cautionary tale of what comes from turning back, looking to what once was, rather than persevering in faith, hope, and trust in the God Who loves us and knows our needs.  Our heavenly Father is good and loving. He seeks us out and provides a path for our freedom and salvation. He even deigns, at times, to allow us to direct the course, as He did for Lot. What more could we ask?   How often we look back! What will it take for us to remain firm in our resolve, living the motto of today’s Saint of “Always forward, never back!” each day of our lives, no matter what it is that the Lord asks of us?  Relate to the Lord // Have you been looking back in regret or self-condemnation? Make Saint Junipero Serra’s motto your own today. 

May 23, 2025 // Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 15:12-17 Reflect on the Word //  A classroom full of confused eighth-grade faces stare at me as I smile back with an expression of joyful delight. They are confused as to why an answer one student had confidently given was wrong. I am excited to disabuse yet another class of Confirmation Candidates of the notion that Confirmation is an opportunity for the candidate to choose God and confirm one’s own choice of being Catholic. It takes a moment but once the truth sinks in—that Confirmation isn’t about our choosing God but of His confirming His choice of us, His love for us—as my students would say, “minds are blown.” These almost yearly encounters with my students move me to wonder if the Apostles reacted similarly to Jesus when He declared over them, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you” (John 15:16). After all, these were men who had been choosing to follow Jesus for three years in and around Galilee, Capernaum, and, finally, Jerusalem. They listened to Him, learned from Him, stayed with Him. They were His followers, His closest collaborators; surely, they were His friends. What must they have been asking themselves as Jesus said, “I no longer call you slaves . . . ” (John 15:15)?  When were they slaves? These were all free men, with careers, families, well established in society. He called each of them and they freely chose to leave everything behind to follow him. A slave cannot choose to leave his work with one master to follow another. Only one who is free can choose to follow; one can only follow what or whom they have first encountered and desired. They are His friends for the very reason that they left their former lives behind to follow Him. Their following Him was, indeed, their free choice, but a choice made possible only by His call, His choice of them. We belong to God; we are His friends not because we chose Him, but because He chooses us and gives us the grace we need to be free from the slavery of sin and to grow in our friendship with Him. Relate to the Lord // Reflect on the gift of your Confirmation and ask for the intercession of your patron Saint today!

March 28, 2025 // Friday of the Third Week of Lent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Hosea 14:2-10 Reflect on the Word // The bells barely finished their tolling for Mass as I slipped into the far corner of the last pew in the small white wooden church. Seconds before the opening hymn I dropped to my knees and my head fell into my hands. I didn’t want to be seen, noticed, spoken to, or acknowledged. I didn’t really want to be at Mass that Sunday morning,  but I also didn’t want to compound the weight of the guilt I was already feeling by skipping Mass too. Besides, I was the “good girl” on my heavily secular college campus. I always went to Mass on Sunday. If I didn’t go, surely someone would suspect. So, there I was, the “good girl” college sophomore, feeling anything but good. Lord, You don’t suspect. You know. You know every inward thought and movement of the heart. You look on me with love and call me back to You when I feel far away, stumbling in my iniquity, just like You never ceased to call Israel to return to You (see Hosea 14:2). You see us collapsed in our guilt, yet You urge us on to return to You, our Lord and God, You Who forgive every iniquity, in Whom the orphan and the sinner find compassion (see Hosea 14:3-4). Lord, Your words wash over me like a cleansing flood. Your words of healing and the gaze of Your heart, given freely in love, call me back to the path You have set before me, away from the gods in whom I once chose to put my trust, whom I  fashioned by the work of my hands (see Hosea 14:4). You heal our defection, love us freely and turn away Your wrath from us (see Hosea 14:5). We have no need to hide from You, the One Who bids us to rise from our guilt and return to You. May the healing dew (see Hosea 14:6) of Your mercy soften our hearts, that forgiven, restored, healed by Your grace we might walk the straight paths You set before those who are just (see Hosea 14:10).  Relate to the Lord // Pray with the First Reading today. What does it reveal to you personally about the Lord’s saving love?  

February 13, 2025 // Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Genesis 2:18-25  Reflect on the Word //  Where do I fit in? What is my place? Do I belong? Lonely, isolated, longing for authentic friendship. I wandered the halls of my high school asking these questions. Everywhere I looked there were groups, cliques, teams—there was community—but I just didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere. I tried so hard to be “one of them,” but how could I be one of them if I didn’t know who I was? Lord, You have always seen me, just like You saw the first man and woman in the garden. You know me more deeply and fully than I could ever know myself. No matter how hard I try to discover who I am and where I belong, I will always come up empty if I leave You out of the picture. I must ask You who You created me to be and turn to You and receive from You the gift of my identity. You, Lord, created me not to exist in conformity with the world, to be just like all the others, but to be myself in You. You did not create me for isolation, loneliness, and longing. You created me to belong first to You and then to all those You place before me day in and day out. You did not form my eyes to see as the world sees, but to gaze upon Your children with Your look of love, to recognize Your presence in them. You did not make my mind to know and understand as the world knows, but to know You, and the truth of Who You are. When we wonder where we belong and what we are made for, the Father looks upon us and declares, “it is not good for [her] to be alone” and He gives us helpers (Genesis 2:18). At every stage in life, He places us in the presence of those who mirror our dignity, our identity, in their gaze of love and confidence in their own identity. We must unashamedly receive that gaze of love and, in return, mediate the Father’s love to all those we meet.  Relate to the Lord // Get in His gaze today and receive your belovedness, whether in quiet prayer or Eucharistic Adoration.

December 19, 2024 // Thursday of the Third Week of Advent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17  Reflect on the Word // Anyone: “Here, let me help you with that!” Me: “No thanks, I’m good!” Anyone: “Oh, Sister, let me get that for you.” Me: “I can do it, thanks!” Anyone: “Let me know if you need anything.” Me: “Thanks, but I’m all set . . .” God: “Let Me take care of it for you, let Me help you, let Me . . .” Me: “Nope, I’ve got this, God . . . but thanks anyway.”  Today’s Psalm hits me like a brick: “You are my rock and my fortress [. . .] my hope, O Lord; my trust [. . .] from my youth” (Psalm 71: 3,5). I sometimes have to stop myself. Do I believe these words? Do I live them? Are my daily actions, my efforts, my strivings, those of a person who hopes in the Lord, and sings His glory, or does my life look more like an ad for Burger King—having it “my way”? It is easy for these words to roll off the tongue in response to the wonderful works God has, is, and will work, and in the next breath echo the words of Zechariah in the Gospel: “How shall I know this” (Luke 1:18)? When we make the space in our hearts and take the time to listen to Him, the Lord speaks to us in His Word. We will hear His gentle “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:13), reassuring us in our supplications and dependence on Him: “your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13). These reassurances invite a response. That response ought to be a mouth filled with praise, singing his glory. A song of entrustment to the One Who is my strength from my mother’s womb. The Lord knows it is not easy for us to surrender, to entrust ourselves to His will, but that doesn’t change Who He is. He continues to be the One Who is a “rock of refuge, a stronghold to give safety,” our “rescuer from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 71:3-4). No matter how much we may resist, He remains faithful and true. For that, my mouth shall be filled with His praise and I will sing His glory!  Relate to the Lord // How can you ask for (or accept) help today? Ask Jesus for the grace. O Antiphon: O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!