When the Blessed is She study guide came out, I was overjoyed and excited to start this journey of diving deeper into my faith.
As I read over the guide, I realized that I would enjoy it so much more if I could find a way to incorporate a sense of community into the guide and not just work on it alone… so after emailing a few of my Catholic sisters we decided to have a virtual call weekly and spend time discussing the readings and questions of the study guide as a community instead of individually.
Quickly this evolved into something that was so much more than reading a passage and answering questions on the text.
It was really important to us to make the time for this call so we all scheduled it at a time where we could be alone and not have life distractions going on around us. This may have been the biggest challenge!
Each call was started with a briefing up of what was going on in each person’s lives and then moved into an opening prayer of some kind. If one of us was feeling inspired that day, she would lead, otherwise we would read the gospel and say a Hail Mary.
Then we dove right in.
We discussed what stood out in the passages, and we all individually took turns answering and discussing each question.
We dove really deep, tears were shed, we spoke about our struggles and how hard we were working to overcome them with what sometimes felt like little reward.
Other times we laughed a lot, and talked about the joys and blessings God has given us. We listened to each other's perspectives and realized that sometimes things we thought were faults or failures others viewed as blessings and it helped us to view our challenges in a different light. We built each other up through prayer, we gave each other advice, and we really listened to what one another had to say.
After we finished the discussion for that week, about an hour later, we would end in prayer. We each shared something that our other sisters could pray for us for during the week ahead.
I’m so glad we decided to participate in the study guide together.
Not only did it strengthen my relationship with Christ, but it helped me to love and appreciate my sisters even more!
[gravityform id="381" title="true" description="true"]
written by Brittany-Marie Evans
Jenna Guizar is a wife and mama in sunny AZ. She pretends to love football for her husband, reads lots of books to her seven lovely babes, and tries not to burn mac n cheese on the daily. In between football games, reading books, and [not] burning mac n cheese, she is the Founder + Creative Director of Blessed is She women’s ministry + community. Find out more about her here.
Walk with Us this Advent
Get Your Prayerful Planner
