August 29, 2026 // Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 6:17-29 Reflect on the Word //  My sister called to share that the date was set for her and my brother-in-law’s wedding, August 29th. Rolodexing through the Church’s liturgical calendar, I realized that their wedding would be on the Memorial of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Strange, I thought.  Weeks later, our family was joking at the irony of this Memorial being a romantic day to get married. Suddenly, something came over my sister, and she stopped joking. Instead she stated, “Actually, it’s kind of perfect. It’s the day when we remember that someone was killed defending the dignity of marriage.” We all were rendered speechless. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, was martyred for the sake of defending the sanctity of marriage (see Mark 6:18). He died as “a voice crying out in the wilderness’” (John 1:23) that this Sacrament truly matters, that it really is an outward sign of the inward grace of God’s everlasting covenant with mankind. Marriage points to the nuptial reality proposed to each one of us by Christ, the Bridegroom of our souls. This reality is charged with fidelity, intimacy, and fruitfulness.  In my family’s living room, I was moved to have witnessed a glimpse of the Lord forming my sister’s heart as she and her fiancé prepared for this Sacrament. I am grateful for Him forming my own heart: convinced that that reality awaits each one of us in the eternal communion of Heaven with the Triune God and convicted that it was being offered to me even at that moment as well.  Today’s Memorial reminds us that the truth offered to us by Christ is our duty and privilege to proclaim to all those we encounter. This truth was worth John the Baptist risking punishment for speaking against Herod and Herodius’ infidelity. This truth is worth each one of us upholding and promoting today—whether it be by the witness of our lives or the witness of our deaths.  Relate to the Lord // Whose marriage needs your prayers? Intercede for them today through the intercession of Saint John the Baptist, defender of the Sacrament of Matrimony.

August 28, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 33:1-2,4-5, 10-11 Reflect on the Word //  I notice my thoughts criticizing my recent harp playing: It didn’t sound so good. The triplets were so messy. I don’t practice enough. I don’t know enough tunes. I messed up so many times in that session in front of all those people. I’ll never be as good as those other musicians. One negative thought leads to another until I’m criticizing myself even personally. I pause, checking myself. I remember that the intent behind choosing to learn this instrument was to thank God for His healing in my life. I remember the Psalms that literally command me to praise God through my harp music: “Give thanks to the Lord on the harp” (Psalm 33:4). There is more I need to learn than just the skill of playing this instrument well. My life needs to be an instrument of praise to the Lord. How do I learn the skill of praising the Lord for His goodness and His kindness? How do I offer praise throughout my life, whether playing music or any other kind of work or activity? This is what I really need to practice. This is the real “music” to express. This is the “song” of praise I need to live—that whatever I do may be offered as thanks and praise to God. Regardless of whether we play or sing, our lives can be instruments for the Lord. He can make music through us and our lives can be songs of praise for His glory. He calls us to practice offering our thanks to God through the actions of our work of this day. Let us shift from negativity, complaints, and judgments and turn our hearts to practice praise, because truly “the world is full of the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 33:5). Relate to the Lord // How has the Lord healed you? Give thanks and praise to Him today!

August 27, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Monica Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51 Reflect on the Word //  As I entered the retreat chapel, the priest’s words echoed in my mind: “And if there is a particular Saint whom you have an aversion to, I encourage you to ask that Saint to intercede for you.” But, I objected inwardly, I like all the Saints. After a moment of silence, I recalled my resistance to the story of Saint Monica’s copious tears for her son and his subsequent conversion and Sainthood. Am I jealous? Tentatively, I asked Jesus to introduce me to Saint Monica. Clarity came immediately. I was never meant to compare my seemingly ineffectual prayers for my wayward sons with Saint Monica’s answered prayers. Instead, I was invited to friendship with her. It turns out she’s eager to intercede for me and she understands the heart of a mother who longs for the conversion of all her family. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel bring the same startling clarity I experienced that day in the chapel. “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42). When I examine my own heart, I see how often I succumb to drowsiness and lethargy, downplaying the mission God has given me. I am sometimes listless, barely willing to do my part so that others may partake of the Bread of Life. Other times, I doubt whether the Lord will show up. I don’t physically beat His other servants, but I am sometimes prone to criticize the work they do rather than collaborate with them to make it better. Every Sunday we pray in the Creed that He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. What would He find us doing if He came for us today? Will we, like Saint Monica, be ready to share in His glory when He comes? Let’s hear and obey Jesus’ words, “Stay awake!” (Matthew 24:42) Relate to the Lord // Is there a Saint you feel an aversion toward? Ask Jesus to introduce you to him/her. 

August 26, 2026 // Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 23:27-32  Reflect on the Word //  I stand on the hill overlooking the man-made lake. From this distance the surface shimmers with the sunlight. It is sparkling and beautiful. But as I edge closer, I can see beneath the surface. The weird blueish tint and numerous dead fish. I sigh and think of my own soul. How I shimmer on the outside. How I look prayerful and holy, but interiorly I often feel like this lake. Filled with dead and decaying fish, wrong, artificial, and man-made. I look out to the horizon at a weathered boat. The boat moves slowly as the gentleman inside methodically and gracefully removes the debris. Then he notices me, smiles kindly, and waves. And as he does, I notice the Lord speaking to my heart: “You are made by Me.” I bristle at the words of our Lord in Matthew 23:27: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.” His words ring in my ears and I chastise myself. I am like those men. I want to appear better than others. I want my holiness to be seen. I am prideful. And I do indeed struggle with all those things. But I don’t stay in that place of discomfort and shame.  Christ’s love always floods in, a torrent of mercy and truth, and claims me as His. When I allow Him in, when I surrender, when I remember that I am not man-made and therefore I cannot heal myself, our Lord steps into my filth and removes the debris. Slowly and gently because I am weak and He is tender with me. And as He does, His light penetrates the surface and shines deeper and deeper.  We are often much like the Pharisees. Pretending that sin doesn’t affect us, hardening our hearts, stiffening against the embrace of the Lord because we would rather run and hide. But when we surrender to Him and allow Him to tend to everything within us that is dead, He brings life.  Relate to the Lord // Where is the Lord bringing life lately? Think about these things today.

August 25, 2026 // Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Louis of France // Optional Memorial of Saint Joseph Calasanz, priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 23:23-26 Reflect on the Word //  “You always seem so put together . . . so composed.” I smiled gratefully as the bank teller paid me this genuine compliment in her accented English. She often assisted me when I dropped by to deposit my paychecks but I had no clue I had made an impression on her. As I left the bank, my thoughts dwelt on how even our way of entering a room can effectively evangelize.   While I certainly have a long way to go in truly letting peace and purpose inform all that I do, I valued this small encouragement. Too often, perfectionism makes me overthink whether or not my conversations and interactions successfully manifest the composure I desire. That’s why praying with today’s Gospel becomes a little uncomfortable.  Although I prefer to distance myself from Christ’s reprimand to the Scribes and Pharisees, its theme hits home. I might not stand in the disconnect between paying tithes and practicing virtue, but in prayer, Christ addresses the same point to me: my exterior presentation must align with my interior. Being put together is more than appearances, more than simply saying the right thing. It starts with our spiritual lives, and what is noticeable when we walk into a room flows from that. It requires knowing our purpose, unlike the Scribes and Pharisees who miss the point of their tithes and rituals.  They have mastered the simple things, the payments of “mint and dill and cumin” that more easily roll out of their material resources (Matthew 23:23). Yet, growing in “judgment and mercy and fidelity” (Matthew 23:23) is a more intricate matter, requiring deep prayer that purifies our souls. Today, sister, I invite you to pray with some “uncomfy” questions from today’s Gospel. What dwells within you and me? Christ convicts the Scribes and Pharisees of being “full of plunder and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25). What is my plunder and what is my self-indulgence? Let’s invite Christ to cleanse what should not be stored in our hearts and to then increase our discernment, compassion, faithfulness, and all the other virtues that root us in His purpose.  Relate to the Lord // Do you struggle with perfectionism? Ask Jesus to show you the little ways you please Him simply by being who you are.

August 24, 2026 // Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 1:45-51 Reflect on the Word //  There are plenty of days that go by where I feel particularly out of the mind of God. Having a large family, the needs of the children (and the challenges) can sometimes feel like a steady stream. Taxing, trying, tearful. I’ve been there a million times and I’ll be there again. It’s not always easy to see a clear path to the heart of the Father, or His love and care for me.  Before I saw you under the fig tree, I knew you.  What consolation. What intimacy.  I need to remember these words that our Lord spoke to Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew (see John 1:48). He sees me. He knows me. And He is reminding me that even before the struggle, even before I could cry out, He was there—knowing me. Knowing my needs, knowing my weakness, and knowing just how to reach me.  We are little Bartholomews too. Brooding, sulking, lost, and alone. Sometimes for good reason, and sometimes not. But Jesus is just as close to us, and He desires for us to hear those words, too—before this current state, before whatever it is that we are facing.  I see you. I know you. And I cannot abandon you.  Our Lord is good to us. He is keenly aware of who we are, and He is present here in whatever the current struggle is, looking with love upon our lack of understanding and even upon our lack of hope. He knew us and He knows us. When we find ourselves under the next fig tree, seemingly fruitless and without purpose, let’s remember these three words—I saw you.  Relate to the Lord // Imagine yourself in the Gospel today and hear Jesus’ words to Saint Bartholomew directed to you: “I saw you.”

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

August 21, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14 Reflect on the Word //  Growing up in the Church as a “cradle Catholic,” I was exposed to a variety of prayer nights, styles of worship, devotions, etc. What I remember as I was growing in my faith was the distance I put between myself and the presence of the Holy Spirit. There were opportunities to invite the Holy Spirit into my life in prayer but I wanted no part. I believed the Holy Spirit was for those people—the crazy Christians. In today’s First Reading, the Lord sends out the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy over the dry bones. I can’t help but to think of the “dry bones” in my life that I’ve left for dead. Hopes, dreams, relationships, shortcomings that I’ve piled on to this graveyard—succumbing to the fact that there once was life, and now there is not. But I do not have the final say. The Lord invites me to revisit and speak life into these areas. I may not always have the answer and sometimes I accept defeat. But how I wish for the courage to speak life over those areas. The words in today’s Scripture bring me comfort: “I will [ . . .] put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:6). What a relief to come to the realization that it is not going to be by my efforts or my striving that life will come to these dead places. It is by the Spirit Himself, the One I was once afraid of getting to know, the One Who has befriended me and given me such hope in desolation, courage in difficult times, and a profound love for the God Who created me.  Sister, we don’t have to be afraid because we don’t have the last word. Even the graveyard we have occupied with our own disappointments over the years can begin to rattle with the new life the Lord has promised you and me.  Relate to the Lord // Today, invite the Spirit into your heart and explore those places where you need to prophecy over. May the Lord direct you and empower you with His Spirit.

August 20, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Ezekiel 36:23-28  Reflect on the Word //  I smiled politely, said, “No worries at all,” and then replayed the conversation in my head for the next six hours. While folding laundry, answering emails, and brushing my teeth, I kept thinking about that conversation. The more I replayed it, the more irritated I became. I imagined better responses and cleverer comebacks. By bedtime, my chest felt tight and heavy. This situation was really hard. It amazed me how quickly this small wound could harden into resentment. In Ezekiel 36, the Lord says, “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts” (Ezekiel 36:26). The phrase “stony hearts” feels painfully specific. Some stones form after heartbreak or betrayal. Others grow quietly through daily disappointments. A woman can build an entire wall from tiny bricks of comparison, resentment, control, or exhaustion. We sometimes use these stones to hide our vulnerabilities. The frightening part is that hardened hearts can begin to feel normal. Yet, the Lord does not shame His people in the book of Ezekiel. He does not command them to fix themselves first. He promises to act. “I will sprinkle clean water upon you” (Ezekiel 36:25). “I will give you a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). We all carry hidden stones in our hearts. Some are obvious. Others have rested there so long that we barely notice their weight anymore. Yet, the Lord sees every hidden stone we carry, even the ones we cling to.  He comes close enough to remove them gently because He desires soft hearts within us. He still draws near to us weary women, transforms what has hardened, and teaches us how to live freely again. Relate to the Lord // Where has your heart become hardened? Share that stony place with Him honestly. 

August 19, 2026 // Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint John Eudes, priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16 Reflect on the Word //  I opened up my mailbox and excitedly pulled out the envelope addressed to me. My joy deflated a little as I realized it was a wedding invitation from my friend who was getting married to the guy I secretly had a crush on. I was happy for her and knew they made a great couple, but I was sad for me. I couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with me. Why was I left on the sidelines and not a chosen one? Eventually, I found the man who would choose me, and I thanked God for His abundant blessings.  In today’s Gospel passage, we read about the laborers who worked in the vineyard for different lengths of time. In the past, I automatically sympathized with the day laborer and his perceived injustice for receiving the same wages as those who worked very little in comparison. But today, my heart related to the evening laborers who experienced Jesus’ words, “The last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16).  I pictured the unemployed laborers loitering in the marketplace and others standing around waiting to be hired, hope draining as the daylight diminished. Were they worried because they really needed the pay? Did they question why they weren’t chosen as a laborer? When they finally heard the call to go work in the vineyard, they must have been relieved that they’d at least have a little pay to bring home. Imagine their surprise upon receiving a full day's wages. Gratitude must have filled their hearts at the landowner’s generosity. How often have we felt like others have been chosen, while we’re left on the sidelines? When in reality, we each have our own unique mission that only we can do. Or how often has God been generous with us, not giving us what we deserve, but abundantly blessing us with His love and mercy? Let’s turn our hearts to Him in gratitude for the blessings we take for granted and, without comparing ourselves to others, go where He leads us with humility and courage.  Relate to the Lord // Ponder your chosenness. How have you been especially loved, chosen, and blessed by God? 

August 18, 2026 // Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 19:23-30 Reflect on the Word //  I was talking with a friend recently about all the things that haven't gone according to plan. Somewhere in the conversation, I found myself listing the things I felt I had surrendered to God over the years—relationships that didn't work out, opportunities I walked away from, expectations I had to release. I wasn't angry, exactly. Just tired. And beneath the surface was a question I was almost afraid to ask: Was it worth it? Not because I doubted God, but because I couldn't yet see what He was doing with all that I had placed in His hands. In today's Gospel , Peter asks a question that feels surprisingly human: "We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?" (Matthew 19:27) I love that he says it out loud. After all the teachings, miracles, and acts of faith, Peter still wonders what all this surrender is leading toward. Jesus doesn't rebuke him. Instead, He promises that whatever has been given up for His sake will be returned a hundredfold. The Lord promises him abundance even in the place of apparent loss.  Jesus doesn't deny the cost. The disciples really did leave things behind. Following Christ requires sacrifice. But Jesus invites them to see their losses through a different lens—not as things taken away, but as things entrusted to God. That's the part I'm still learning. Sometimes, surrender feels less like a single decision and more like a daily choice to release my grip on what I cannot control. My plans. My timelines. My expectations for how God should work. We all know what it feels like to count the cost of discipleship. May we also remember the promise that accompanies it: nothing surrendered to God is ever wasted. Even when we cannot yet see the fruit, we can trust that He is doing more than we know, and giving more than we can imagine. Relate to the Lord // Make “Jesus, I trust in you” your prayer today.

August 17, 2026 // Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 19:16-22 Reflect on the Word //  I stared at the checklist on my phone, mentally calculating what still needed to get done before the day was over. School drop off? Check. Workout? Check. Grocery pick up order? Check. As I scrolled through the list, a thought of awareness surfaced: I've been so busy doing things for God that I haven't actually been with Him today. The rich young man in today's Gospel approaches Jesus with a sincere question: "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16) He wants to know what task remains unfinished, what box is left unchecked, what achievement will finally secure the life he longs for. Jesus' response reveals something deeper. Eternal life is not something we earn through perfect performance. It is received through a relationship with God. The young man's riches are measured by his earthly possessions, not by his love for God. His priorities are disordered. He assumes there is one more thing he can do to attain what only God can give. When Jesus tells him to sell what he has, give to the poor, and follow Him, He requests more than a change in behavior. He invites the man to be sincerely transformed in mind and heart. The tragedy of the story is not that the man had many possessions. It is that he walked away from the One thing he truly needed. I recognize myself in him. I can treat holiness like a project to manage rather than a Person to follow. Yet, Jesus continually invites me to loosen my grip on achievement, control, and self-reliance so that He can reorder my loves and make me new. Eternal life begins not in doing, but in following. The Lord extends the same invitation to us. As we surrender whatever competes for first place in our hearts, He teaches us what true riches are. In following Him, we discover that eternal life is not earned by what we do, but received from the One Who calls us to become His own. Relate to the Lord // Be with Jesus today. When, where, and how will you prioritize prayer today?

August 15, 2026 // Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16 Reflect on the Word // My longtime-favorite statue sits in a lovely stone chapel in West Point, NY.  It’s of our Lady, draped head to toe in glorious gold, an intricate golden crown resting regally atop her head. She cradles a delicate gold scepter in her right hand and the Child Jesus in her left, dainty gold slippers on her feet. Lavish as it may sound, this statue is not ostentatious or overdone. It’s elegant and graceful enough to make the heart ache with both longing and satisfaction.  Perhaps this is why today’s Psalm is one of my favorites: “The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold” (Psalm 45:10). I distinctly know and love this Queen in all her beauty, tenderness, and purity. Perhaps it’s also why I’ve long been drawn to gold: gold jewelry, gold accents throughout my home, the stunning golden tabernacle at my parish. I’ve spent hours gazing upon it, and I’m deeply struck whenever I reflect on the truth that traditionally, tabernacles are created to be even more beautiful inside than out.  This began with the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant—covered in pure hammered gold—to house the presence of God, and was powerfully fulfilled in the New Testament through our Lady, the New Ark of the Covenant, created to carry the incarnate presence of Jesus to us. Her outward beauty, reflected in my favorite statue and Psalm, is but the dimmest glimpse of her infinite inner beauty and purity as the most glorious living tabernacle to ever exist. This purity, the sole purpose of which was to honor our Savior, made her too beautiful to ever see corruption; at the end of her earthly life God assumed (brought) her, body and soul, into heaven.  We, too, are temples of the Lord; living tabernacles for His Majesty.  We, too, are invited to embrace this transcendent beauty of our Lady. One that understands external beauty as a gift to honor our Creator, and one that strives to become more beautiful inside than out: through the help of grace, adorning ourselves with ever greater virtue and love, allowing ourselves to become eternally stunning, everlasting tabernacles for Almighty God.  Relate to the Lord // Look upon a favorite image or statue of our Lady today. Contemplate her beauty.

August 14, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63 Reflect on the Word //  My friend’s words that day were like a vanguard ushering in grace and goodness into the arid and frightened parts of my heart. Although I felt relief during our brief conversation as I listened to  the truth he was offering, it wasn’t until I brought it to prayer that I could truly see how I had been liberated from a lie. As I considered the great gift of freedom, I thought of the harrowing stories of the Saints of Poland, and how Saint Maximillian Kolbe is perhaps one of the clearest testimonies to the power of freedom in Christ.  Saint Maximilian famously chose both the crown of heroic purity and the crown of martyrdom that our Lady offered him as a young boy (source), and he perseveringly received them throughout his life. Meditating on the First Reading, I contemplated how his many trials and misunderstandings in beginning his missions paled in comparison to his final trials at Auschwitz. My heart felt that steadying yet overwhelming joy only the Lord gives when He speaks to our deepest places: "Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you,  [. . .] when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD" (Ezekiel 16:60, 63).  I was moved to the prayer of Saint Faustina, another Polish Saint: "Today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy— to Your compassion, O God" (Diary, 1570). Saint Maximilian felt his own misery, knew the crushing weight of sinful humanity's misery, and stood steady amid some of the most horrific trials ever inflicted by man. In my own small trial, the Lord helped me to emerge victorious as He reestablished the authority of His love to conquer death and the enemy's lies. We are each held in that same mercy—the mercy that frees us, restores us, and brings us to covenanted love in Him. Whatever weight we carry today, He is ready to set to work reestablishing. This is our joy: He came to bring us home to Him. Relate to the Lord // Ask the Holy Spirit what lie you’ve been believing. Ask for Him to set you free.

August 13, 2026 // Memorial of Saint Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and Saint Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 124:2-3, 4-5, 7-8 Reflect on the Word //  On a recent afternoon, a visiting priest from the Archdiocese of Chicago was incredibly generous to me with his time in the cry-room confessional. He was very gentle, asked probing questions, and even shared a story with me. It was part Confession and part spiritual direction. I had a sense that time was going by, but because I was completely engrossed with what this man of God was sharing, I hadn't paid attention to the fact that the blinds to the windows of the cry room were pulled all the way up. Since father wasn’t hurried, I released my anxiety over the long line that I had just waited in and was fully present.  Once my Confession concluded, I felt light and renewed in God’s merciful love. As I turned the door knob to exit, a woman standing in front of the line frustratedly said, “That took a very long time.” I took a deep breath and walked into the church hall to pray with my penance. As I walked towards where my kids were sitting, both looked extremely deflated. Since my fellow parishioners could see me in the confessional, they had complained about the length of time I took to my children.  How could it be that within seconds of receiving absolution I had stepped into the fowler’s snare?   Today’s Psalm reminds us that God delivers us from moments that could damage us and destroy the good within us especially when we are trying to grow closer to Him. Although I was feeling swallowed alive by all of these judgments and was greatly troubled that these judgments were imposed upon my children, I prayed to not dwell on them but instead offer forgiveness as I was just forgiven (see Psalm 124:2-3, 4-5, 7-8). Sister, the things we say and do to each other can catapult us into the fowler’s snare, but God is there ready to safeguard our freedom and release us from harm. We lean into His mercy. Relate to the Lord // Whom do you need to forgive? Bring that person and situation to Jesus and ask for the grace of His mercy.

August 12, 2026 // Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 Reflect on the Word //  “18:19!” The text message—and others like it—lit up my phone.  Our staff had adopted this shorthand as an agreement in prayer inspired by today’s Gospel reading from Matthew chapter 18: “Amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.”  We held a weekly 18:19 virtual prayer meeting to share intentions and agree for whatever was needed, from Catholic school tuition (covered by a scholarship that very day) to a sibling trying to conceive (she had twins) to friends in need of a car (they were gifted one for free).  But after months of intercession and subsequent miracles, I found that my prayers often went unanswered. Despite everyone’s agreement, I was still empty handed. How do we make sense of disappointment? Admittedly, I’m still learning. But as I examined my heart over those weeks, the Lord began to show me that, actually, I didn’t agree—with Him.  You see, prayer isn’t magic. It’s not about saying the right words or finishing the right novena or doing literally anything “right” to earn your desired outcome. Jesus tells us the true end of our agreement just one verse later when He promises that, “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). He promises us Himself. He is what we most need. Matthew 18:19 isn’t about getting what we want; it’s about coming into agreement with Who He is. To believe in His Heart for the deepest desires of ours, His provision in our most pressing needs, and His presence to fill every moment of our lives, even as we wait.  And as we wait for His most loving response to our own tuition/baby/car petition, let us confidently agree that the Father always hears our prayers and Jesus is always with us.  You can count on it. Relate to the Lord // Who can you agree with in prayer today? Call or text her to pray together.

August 11, 2026  // Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14  Reflect on the Word //  When I was in college, I met up with my middle-school-principal dad and some of his students who were at a theme park in the city where I was a student. We spent the day riding rollercoasters and walking around the park. Then at one point, early in the afternoon, I realized I was missing one of my earrings. I was wearing a pair of pearls my parents had gifted me for high school graduation and I was devastated to think one was lost. My dad and I retraced our countless steps and then he had the idea to check the seat of a particularly intense ride, one that earlier in the day had banged my head from side to side so hard that I remembered the pounding. Sure enough, there, in one of the seats, was my pearl, nestled in the outline of the padding. My dad and I screamed and laughed and hugged each other in disbelief.  The story of the lost sheep is always an important reminder that Jesus loves us so much. He loves each of us as if it were only us. We are not just some number in the crowd, a cog in the machine. We are each seen and known and cherished uniquely and individually by the Lord.  This is a beautiful truth for us to accept personally and also to remember for our loved ones. Our children, our siblings, our parents—the Lord is searching for and cares for them deeply. Even when circumstances feel impossible, God can make a way.  To Jesus, we are the lost sheep, the lost pearl. The Lord tells us that it is not His will for any of us to be lost. “In the first place,” writes St. John of the Cross, “it should be known that if a person is seeking God, his Beloved is seeking him much more” (The Living Flame of Love, Stanza 3, Para. 28). Relate to the Lord // Reread the quote from Saint John of the Cross. Take a few moments to consider how much the Lord is seeking you.