It’s springtime in the Middle East and my 10-year-old recently planted seeds in our garden. He frequents the sun soaked ground for signs of life, but they are nowhere to be seen. We anticipate a bountiful harvest, but for now, the seeds are buried and there is "death."

The notion of “running on empty” is a common idea for many parents. We often feel like we are giving from a place of emptiness, and yet we alway seem to be able to give just a little more when it is required. As we enter into Lent, rather than fighting the emptiness, Blessed is She wants you to encourage you to cultivate the awareness of the emptiness, invite the Lord into those areas of poverty, and allow Him to fill you with His love and grace. This year, by focusing on various areas where we are invited to cultivate a poverty of spirit, we can grow closer to the Lord and help our children to do the same. It is hard to teach our children to do something that we ourselves can not yet do. Learning to do it together is the best and most authentic way to teach your children how to do anything. Revealed to the Little Children As one of the contributing authors for All She Had, I received the books included in the Lent bundle in mid-January. They were laid out on the table and my 10-year-old daughter was drawn immediately to the spiral bound version All You Have. “Can I have this, Mom?” she asked. I explained that this year, during Lent, I was going to focus on developing a greater poverty of spirit. This is a hard spiritual concept to explain even to adults, but children are able to understand these concepts when we explain them in simple ways. To be poor in spirit means that we have detached ourselves from wealth, comforts, and control in order to learn to entrust everything we have to God. We do this because the practice of doing so will help us grow in holiness and ultimately help us get to Heaven. Having a poverty of spirit means we know we can rely on God for everything. We surrender control of our days to Him, and learn to trust in Him. Childlike Trust Childhood gives us many opportunities to practice entrusting things to the Lord. Learning this skill not only helps us grow closer to the Lord as our trust deepens each time we entrust our worries to Him, but it also helps reduce anxiety and frustration. Learning how to live with a poverty of spirit takes time, and Lent is the perfect time to practice littles ways to surrender with intentionality. The Blessed is She Lent series takes both mother and child (and dads, get Born of Fire!) through five ways to grow in deeper trust related to: Promise Desire Security Hope Control For the Benefit of the Whole Family For instance, when we focus on poverty of control, that may mean that we learn to distinguish what is in our control, and what is not in our control. When we are angry about something we can’t always control the situation, but we can control our response to the situation and trust that the Lord will help us through. Growing in poverty of spirit means to learn to take care of the things we can control, and entrust everything else to the Lord. Cultivating Poverty of Spirit Together The children's book All You Have is written to parallel the adult book All She Had in themes and content. There are stories, memory Scriptures, reflection questions, journal sections, and areas for doodling and coloring as well. The concepts and ideas are both important and intense, but the artwork is light and engaging. Whether or not you journey through Lent with the All You Have/All She Had theme, consider taking some time to this Lent talk with your children about poverty of spirit, and what it means to trust deeply, live hopefully, and invite the Lord to live in greater intimacy every day.   [bctt tweet="For the Family Running on Empty #BISblog // " via="no"]

I couldn’t stop fidgeting from joint aches as I desperately searched for padded pews at Mass that day. My body needed Him. My body needed His Body.

What if he can’t fight this...? I wondered. My closest friend’s six-week-old baby boy was diagnosed with a rare terminal illness and dreams for their long awaited first child were tragically shattered. Our community rallied around them as this tender infant battled surgery, chemotherapy, and blood transfusions, including one week on the ventilator. But of all things that could have occupied her heart that evening, she was thinking of me.

"Hoping against hope, Abraham believed, and thus became the father of many nations." // Catechism of the Catholic Church 1819 No statement better summarizes Abraham, the "archetype of hope" unto whom God promised to make a great nation (see Genesis 12:1-4). But ninety-nine years passed and Abraham still had no heirs (see Genesis 17:1-2), yet he continued to "hope against hope" (Romans 4:18).

It was a busy day at work when the phone rang. The tone of my husband instantly spelled dreadful news. “I’ve been arrested,†he said.

We visited our new neighbors recently. Among other things that adorned their living room, a large card table filled with tiny puzzle pieces occupying a dainty corner as children beamed with ecstatic eagerness. Apparently assembling complicated jigsaw puzzles was winter tradition. As candid conversations waltzed their way through salty savories, a sudden sigh erupted. Three puzzle pieces had gone missing. Until those were found, the puzzle remained merely a puzzle, not the picture promised on the face of the box. Emphatically we joined in the search, traversing floors underneath tables and checking crowded corners—finally concluding that the puzzle company had produced a defective product. That evening, I remembered how accurately the Gospel describes our human condition. We are meant to be "complete," like a magnificent picture displaying God’s glory to the world; but something has happened, leaving us with missing pieces and lots of holes. Missing Pieces, Unmistakable Grace In the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, we are awakened to one of the most remarkable revelations Paul had: the razor-sharp recognition of his own missing pieces. For a long time, Paul was trained to live as if nothing was missing in his life—nothing, until he encountered the irresistible Risen Christ. “The Conversion on the Way to Damascus”, an extraordinary painting by Caravaggio, poignantly captures that moment. Paul, then Saul, is breathing murderous threats and is on his way to Damascus to carry out violent campaigns against Christians (see Acts 9). But he is interrupted, almost bedazzled by heavenly light, overtaking his steps, knocking him to the ground. Caravaggio emphasizes Saul’s helplessness. He has dropped his sword and is groping upwards, blind, vulnerable, defenseless. The horse’s body blocks our vision, protecting us from surrounding distractions, inviting us to the centre of the moment as it unfolds. The light falls on Saul and we see him fully: a man beyond picking, a man "beyond conversion." Who will deliver me? Paul would cry out recalling that apocalyptic moment. It was not a still small voice. It was a roar from the Hound of Heaven. In a single moment, all the missing pieces of his life were exposed. In a single moment, they were unmistakably held by Grace. The Language of Love It is interesting to know that Paul had no reason to hate Christians before he became one. No Christian had ever slandered him or seized his possessions. Paul’s loathing of Christianity was a war within, a stronghold of doctrine, a religious fortress he had to overcome through the school of love. Zeal is good, but zeal in the absence of love is fruitless. Think about how many wars have been waged for the glory of God, how many bloody crusades have been committed under the guise of religious reformation. How many people have left our churches because we have not labored in love? How often we forget that conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit (see CCC 1989). The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace, which are the very wealth we bring to our communities. In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis warned us of being less worried about the enemies “out there” than the enemies within—vices and vicarious habits that have turned into idols, thirst for knowledge and power that threaten our faith. He defines conversion as “openness to a constant self-renewal born of fidelity to Jesus Christ.” How we need His Spirit daily. How we need conversion again and again. Death and Life A couple of years ago, we lost a dear member of our team because we were quick to discipline with truth. While I do not condone what happened, I learned how easy it is to be gracious over our own missing pieces; but fail in charity towards others or those who meet our evangelical fervor with reluctance and resistance. The acid test of faith is love. And love is patient. Love forgives. Love endures. Unless I surrender all the pieces of my heart to this love, unless I die daily, pride will dominate my zeal and derail my witness. I am called to reach the lost, but only through the language of love. Saint Paul died in a love that nothing could break or exhaust. He forgave men their heinous deeds, speaking truth, loving them to the very end. He died in a victory, sealed and heralded by Christ’s Resurrection, this victory which offers us the glorious opportunity to rise to new life daily. Thorns, Thistles, + Triumph God moved powerfully in Paul’s life and, as C.S. Lewis said, surprised him with joy... and with suffering. Despite his qualifications, Saint Paul was self righteous and self-reliant. He had given his brilliant mind and persuasive talents to the blasphemy and persecution of Christians. But Paul met Christ in His post-Resurrection glory and was radically transformed. He would then recount all his credentials as complete garbage in exchange for knowing Christ. Saint Paul had a complete change of heart. He became utterly dependent on grace. He learnt to be content with weakness. In one of his autobiographical passages, after relaying great visions and revelations, including an experience of rapture to a third heaven, Paul speaks of a certain "thorn" in the flesh. He prayed three times for God to remove it but was answered with: My Grace is sufficient for you; my power is made perfect in weakness. // 1 Corinthians 12:8 Some theologians suggest that this thorn was some physical ailment or moral struggle. Others imply spiritual wounds or stigmata. Still others like Saint Chrysostom refers to it as a "personal" enemy, perhaps someone he trusted, who sought to slander and discredit him (see Timothy 4:14). The amazing claim Paul makes is that God gave him his thorn. And God gives us ours. Henri Nouwen says: Christ, the source of our peace, is found in our weakest places, when we feel most broken, most helpless and most vulnerable. Think about this: God loves us. Not some imaginary version of us. God loves us especially in our weakness. Purposeful Pruning God allows the weeds, thorns and thistles to persistently pop up and prick us, for His purposes, for our growth as disciples. Thorns are gateways for compassion and community. And these thorns remind us of His brow, sweat and blood mingled, falling to the earth for our salvation. On days when "thorns" bleed deep, and scars remind me of defeated moments, I remember the triumph of the Cross and turn to Jesus, who crucifies my shortcomings and replaces them with Himself. I learned to love the "thorns" God places; to embrace the redemptive pain they bring. I realize these are lessons I can learn only in the deep trenches of life. Complete in His Image Is there a piece missing in you today? Remember, nothing can separate you from His love, He who chose you before the world began. How kind is our redeeming God whose heavenly light exposes our missing pieces, whose mercy recovers and renews them, whose love intends nothing but to "re-complete" us so that one day we shall no longer be a puzzle but a splendid, perfected, glorious masterpiece reflecting His image. No missing pieces. Only grace. This is why we press on. This is how we overcome!   [bctt tweet="Saint Paul's Missing Pieces #BISblog //" via="no"]   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

Saint Francis de Sales' book The Introduction to the Devout Life made its way into my life early in my walk with the Lord. I found it on my brother’s book shelf when I was looking for something to read and hungering to grow in my faith. With the word "introduction" in the title, I figured it must be meant for me. For Those in the World, But Not Of It Saint Francis and his guidance became a guide for me in my initial days of navigating the Faith. During my college years, I read it over and over again with my household sisters, and we strived to live his wisdom. Many years later, we still send each other messages on his feast day. In many ways, Saint Francis de Sales was a spiritual director for me at a time when I thought spiritual direction was a thing of history long past that no one did anymore. Introduction to the Devout Life is far more than just an introduction. It is unique in that it is one of the earliest books written for those living in the world, but striving to not be part of it. Most of the works written before this had been for those in the cloister or priesthood. But in 1619, Saint Francis de Sales recognized the universal call to holiness and in his book he shares how to get there. The title is somewhat misleading, as it guides you along the way wherever you are in the devout life. Divided by topic into short reflections, the reader can read straight through or by topic. Favorite Quotes from The Introduction to the Devout Life Saint Francis de Sales addresses the words of his book to "Philothea"- which translates to “one who loves God” or “soul in love with God.” That’s you, dear reader. Saint Francis is tender and patient in his guidance, knowing that the reader is already trying to live a devout life. Saint Francis honors this effort with reverence. Often his writing is encouraging the reader to be gentle with oneself and to be at peace. Here are a few of my favorite quotes. Life of Union with the Lord // “Devotion, the spiritual life, must be exercised in different ways by the gentleman, the worker, the soldier, the servant, the prince, the married woman, the widow or widower and the young. Not only is this true, but the practice of devotion must also be adapted to the strength, temperament, activities and duties of each person.” “We must not be disturbed by our imperfections, since for us perfection consists in fighting against them.” Sacraments // On receiving the Eucharist: "You cannot imagine our Savior in an action more full of love, or more tender, than this." Prayer // "Two points are always used to prepare oneself for the meditation: place yourself in the presence of God, and ask for his help in praying." "God often sends us inspirations through his messengers, the angels, so it is fitting that we return our prayers to him in the same way. The holy souls of the deceased who live in Paradise with the angels also perform this pleasant duty of inspiring us and interceding for us by their prayers." Practice of Virtue // “The King of Glory does not reward us according to the dignity of the offices we have but according to the love and humility with which we fulfill offices." “When God gives us His gifts, graces and talents, he intends us to use them.” Friendship // I have gone back to his section on friendship over and over again. His advice is reasonable and manageable—not overly spiritualized or unattainable. “Love everyone with a strenuous love based on charity, but form friendships only with those who can share virtuous things with you. The greater the virtues you share and exchange with others, the more perfect your friendship will be.” “Friends love each other despite their faults and flaws. Just as a gold miner separates the precious metal from the earth or sand, so friends must sort for the best in each other and treasure it.” “A friend who would lead us into sin is an enemy.” Exercises to Grow Spiritually // “Lift up your heart again and again whenever you fall, but do so meekly humbling yourself before God because of your misery. Do not be surprised that human weakness is weak or human misery is wretched." "Think of the little children who with one hand hold fast to their father while with the other they gather berries. If you handle the goods of this world with one hand you must also always hold fast with the other to your heavenly Father’s hand and turn toward him from time to time to see if you are pleasing him. Above all, be sure that you never leave his hand and his protection, thinking that with your own two hands you can gather more or get some advantage." "How does your heart stand with regard to mortal sin? Be firmly resolved never to commit it for any reason. This resolution is the firm foundation of your spiritual life." Wisdom… and Wit // Saint Francis was not one to shy away from the reality of daily life, which makes The Introduction to the Devout Life very approachable. He also was not shy about helping the reader not to take themselves too seriously. "Sometimes an act of spiritual devotion may help you- kissing an image of the Lord, prostrating yourself on the ground, raising your arms in the form of a cross, etc. This presumes, of course, that you are in private." "Be patient with the big afflictions that may come, but also endure the things that accompany the trial and the accidental circumstance. Many people would be willing to accept trials if it didn’t inconvenience them!" Patron Saint of Little By Little If you haven’t read Introduction to the Devout Life, be ready to make a new friend in Saint Francis de Sales. He wants to encourage and lead you. “You may take my word, if you persevere it will not be long before you obtain consolations so great and pleasing you will acknowledge that the world is mere gall compared to such honey…Little by little your strength will grow and day by day you will make progress.” Saint Francis de Sales, pray for us!   [bctt tweet="Meet the Devout Life #BISblog //" via="no"]   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

I attended a retreat for women writers in 2008 and had the privilege to study under Kentucky’s poet laureate at the time, Jane Gentry Vance. She shared thoughts on poetry from William Butler Yeats (Harvard Magazine 2008) that made a lasting impression: Poems are not position papers. They are not votes, they are not uttered from a podium or pulpit, they are not essays. They are products of reverie. In the act of writing, one can feel removed from the work at times and even surprised at the finished product. It is frequently a mysterious process that reveals the writer to herself and others. Here’s a personal example. Dear So and So, If only there was a temple, a Solomon house. Lovely, but small and sparrow size. Instead they lie dismembered—feet in jars, with limbs hanging from trees you can’t see. They do a dance of the dead and ask you to listen. You (and sometimes me) dwell in a glass box car. Through the window it’s all a circus. But, I’m looking for the complaint box, to share my idea in the top narrow slot, to please save the babies. Poems are Places to Process Today’s modern climate is so contentious at times it can be scary to talk about controversial issues. Beyond that, faith compels us to take thoughts and feelings and process them with God as seekers of Truth. In this piece, I was processing the events of the National Right to Life March I attended for the first time, in January 2020, as a high school chaperone. In addition to the March, we also visited the Basilica of the National Shrine, National Archives Museum, and Arlington National Cemetery. We made a guided Monuments tour, spent an afternoon at the John Paul II Shrine, and finally toured the Naval Academy a short distance away. The density of these encounters with people and places was hidden to me until I began to write about them later. If poems are not position papers, what am I to do with this piece? If the end game is not social justice first, what is it? Refusing to Edit My Own Heart I’d like to submit to you that this poem is an invitation to reverie. Its job is to be an expression of my heart first, and hopefully an artful contraption of good poetry. Why did I address this to a generic So and So? Because it seemed the best way to honor unnamed babies who do not get the chance to be born. If there is any indictment, it’s on me. I can be prone to sit in my own glass box car, removed from problems right before my eyes. I am guilty, too, of being numb to injustices in our world. What’s more, I am in no position to judge someone’s intention, their understanding of revealed truth, or their degree of responsibility for wrongs committed. My logical mind also knows there’s a difference in a money-making abortion industry and a young, pregnant, unwed mother who is afraid and often convinced by others that abortion is the only answer. But, that’s not the first thing this is about. It’s about the unnamed, unborn, and aborted. It’s about me imagining a lovely and holy place where all these are honored, held, cherished, and remembered. It’s about me considering more deeply and in detail what goes on in an abortion. It’s about not editing my own heart and having the courage to write this and let the language do its work in me first. It’s about me feeling like one person in the back of a huge classroom of yelling, screaming people, while I raise my hand and ask to share my great idea to save all the babies. Social Wholeness Starts with Personal Repentance My experience at the March for Life can be summed up in a few words—a sea of happy, shiny, polite people standing in proxy for the unborn. The crowd was enormous. It was body-to-body for hours. The display of goodwill and manners was unlike any I had seen before in a group that large. Some of the posters were shocking. But still, the holders of those signs were quietly standing, causing no disruption. The veil was pulled back a little more as I encountered the nature of God here. Enveloped in peace, love, joy, kindness, and truth—surrounded by the tension of abortion and those advocating for life. I wondered about a world where courage looked more like humility and how that humility starts with me. Where do you find yourself with complex matters of social justice? Would that we all embrace repentance first as we seek to make our contribution in a world of so many needs.   [bctt tweet="The Relationship Between Personal Holiness and Social Wholeness #BISblog // " via="no"]   Jenny Richeson is a Catholic writer who is a lover of language and its mysteries. By day she provides speech pathology and cognitive intervention services to kids. Her main goal in life is to be a speaking stargazer caught up in wonder whenever possible. She makes her home in Kentucky with her husband, Matt. Together they find God in gardening and all manner of outdoor activities whenever they can. Stargazing is a favorite pastime too. You can find out more about her here.

Soon after Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army in 1975, thousands of civilians were imprisoned. One of these was Saigon’s newly appointed archbishop, Francis Xavier Nguyen van Thuan, seized on August 15th.

Until this year, I had never heard of the “Sunday of the Word of God.” I suppose I can give myself a bit of a break since it was only established a couple of years ago in 2020. But this year, I plan to be prepared for what we are celebrating. By papal decree, Pope Francis established the third Sunday in Ordinary Time as a day set aside especially for “the celebration, study, and dissemination of the Word of God.” His hope is that, as Christians, we take up our baptismal call to profess our Faith, and specifically do so by using the gift and tool of Holy Scripture. The Institution of the Sunday of the Word of God I don’t think it is a coincidence that Pope Francis issued his Apostolic Letter Aperuit Illis on the Memorial of Saint Jerome. This letter instituting the Sunday of the Word of God was given on the 1,600th anniversary of Jerome’s death. Jerome is a Saint known for translating the Old Testament from Hebrew into Latin, as well as for his quotation: Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. Opened Minds to Understanding Francis opened his letter by quoting Luke 24:25 when Jesus was with the disciples and “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” Jesus helped them to understand the Paschal Mystery and He did so with the promise that they would be accompanied by the help and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Francis wrote: Devoting a specific Sunday of the liturgical year to the word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world. Through relationship with God, through His word, we experience the words of love He speaks to his Bride, the Church. Sitting with Him in this way better equips us to bring His Truth out into the world. Church Unity Another goal of Pope Francis is that this Sunday will complement the Church’s desire to strengthen the bond with our Jewish brothers and sisters and move towards greater Christian unity. He writes, “The Bible is the book of the Lord’s people, who, in listening to it, move from dispersion and division towards unity.” Through the Holy Spirit, Scripture has the power to unite us. The Body of Christ In Pope Paul VI's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation titled Dei Verbum, he emphasized how the Church venerates the divine Scriptures and Jesus’ Body simultaneously, “since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body.” When we come together at the table of the Lord, we are reminded of the community we are journeying along with, that we are all part of the Body of Christ. How to Celebrate If you are hoping to dive deeper into putting the Word before the World this year, here are a few ideas! In Your Prayer Time Lectio Divina // Just ten minutes is enough time to soak in God’s Word through lectio divina. You can start with a Scripture passage of your choosing. The four steps include: reading meditation prayer contemplation Spend a few minutes paying attention to what stands out to you in your first reading of the passage. Read through the passage again, slower this time, meditating on what Jesus is speaking to you through Scripture. Then, spend a few minutes asking Jesus how He wants you to use what He has shown you, offer a prayer of thanksgiving, and finally, just bask in His love, perhaps journaling what Jesus shared with you. While Driving, Cleaning, or Cooking Bible In A Year Podcast // There isn’t a rule saying that you have to start the Bible In A Year Podcast on the first of the new year. These twenty to twenty-five minute episodes are led by Father Mike Schmitz. He provides commentary, a reflection, and prayer for each of the three hundred and sixty-five episodes. Sprinkled Throughout Your Day Decorate With Scripture // My mom was always taping up Scriptures she had written on index cards all around our house, whether it be right above the clock in our kitchen or on our bathroom mirror. Now I follow in her footsteps with my favorite words of encouragement stuck to my family’s refrigerator or our own bathroom mirror. Placing Scripture around your home is a great way to immerse yourself in God’s Word! Salvation and Tradition The Bible is not meant to be a large volume of books collecting dust on our bookshelves or in the nightstand of a hotel room. The primary goal of the Bible is our salvation. The Lord has provided the Holy Spirit to help keep the truths of His Word intact, and sacred Tradition has preserved it. Pope Francis wrote: ...before becoming a written text, the word of God was handed down orally and kept alive by the faith of a people who, in the midst of many others, acknowledged it as their own history and the source of their identity. Do you consider God’s Word to be the source of your identity?   [bctt tweet="Awakening Understanding // Word of God Sunday #BISblog // " via="no"]

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life. // Psalm 19:8 Love this from today's readings. Let His word dwell in us richly, sisters. Download your F R E E wallpapers right here --->>> Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

My mind froze trying to grapple how a friend—someone who knew me so intimately—could betray me. I often chide and say that if there ever were a binding contract for pastoral ministry, the fine print would warn the undersigned that ministry is hazardous, that it would subject them to expressions of animosity, slander, and betrayal. In my grief, I whispered, "Lord, I need hope again!"

Omnipotent. I remember learning this word while studying vocabulary, and the example used was that of an “all-powerful†God. I love this word! Partially because it brings back memories of one of my favorite school subjects, but also because it has such an authoritative tone.

The idea of “living in the moment†sounds blissful, right? Yet sometimes it can be so very hard to do.  I am self-admittedly impatient. This posed a challenge for me when it came to my husband and I planning to start our family.

It's the mark of the first Beatitude, and yet we are quick to breeze past it. It's why the rich young man walked away from Jesus sad, and yet we are slow to put ourselves in his shoes. It is the prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of Heaven, and yet we often twist the call to make it more comfortable. Poverty. I'm convinced that the reason it remains so mysterious a teaching today is because it is one of the keys to sanctity. Gospel Poverty Understand that my thesis does not imply that we neglect those steeped in material poverty. On the contrary, not only is the Gospel clear about our personal poverty—it demands that we work to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Like most things in Catholicism, this is a beautiful both/and. The poverty that Christ speaks to in the Gospels is a poverty of spirit. This can seem abstract and elusive. But we need only to look at the fruits of materialism, comparison, attachment, control, striving, and self-reliance in our own lives to discover the counter-seed to poverty that concupiscence plants in all of us. It is this poverty that we are to embrace; it's this attachment to "wealth" in all its forms that we are to leave behind in order to follow Him. The Call and the Command Of course, Christ doesn't command us to lay something down without filling us with much greater abundance. The call to and command of poverty is ultimately a promise of supernatural joy. Poverty produces in us great faith, hope, and love. And it is in this Christ-like poverty that we act most justly, most prudently, most courageously, and most temperately. Saint John the Baptist gives us perhaps the most concise explanation of what happens in this exchange of poverty with the Lord: He must increase, I must decrease. // John 3:30 Our poverty—our empty hands—allows us to hold onto the Lord rather than the fleeting things of this world. The Saints, as always, are our models in this response of love. In studying the lives of the Saints—in all their variety—I have found three things they hold in common: All-consuming love for Jesus and devotion to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. A steady and deep devotion to Mary. A radical interior poverty and a particular concern for the poor. For our purposes here, let's examine the third point. The Saints were poor. Regardless of worldly status, they chose the riches of Christ over the riches of the flesh. Yes, there were Saints who were royalty and Saints who slept on dirt floors. All were poor. There were Saints endowed with endless talents and gifts and Saints who couldn't pass high school. All were poor. There were Saints who enjoyed blissful vocations and Saints who lost everyone they loved. All were poor. Their poverty was an overflow of their detachment from the world and their attachment to God. They saw everything in their lives as an invitation into greater intimacy with Him. When blessings came, they received them and sought to serve Him with those blessings. When trials came, their hearts did not waver, and they received them and sought to serve Him in those trials. Thus, great fruits of interior poverty are steadiness of spirit, supernatural gratitude, and unshakeable joy. If We Want to Be Like Him, We Must Be Poor If we want to be more and more conformed to Christ, as is the call of every baptized Christian, then we must see Him as He is. There is no greater poverty than that our Godhead displayed by becoming one of us. The Incarnation is the path to poverty for every single one of us. And if we might fail to see the sublime humility of God in the Incarnation, He made sure to highlight it by being born poor, into a poor family, into a poor town. If we truly want to be like Him, then, we must be poor. He Will Help Us A great gift of the Lord's merciful love is that, if we are seeking Him with all our heart, we don't have to figure out how to be poor on our own. He will help us. He will show us how our crosses can produce an undeniable poverty of spirit. He will strip what needs stripped. He will topple the idols in our lives. If we allow Him, He will give us the grace to unclench our hands and let go of the control we so desperately cling to. Because He is the One we were made to cling to in all our desperation. Jesus does not call us to spiritual poverty and then neglect to show us the way. On the contrary, we can look to His poverty, His sacrifice, His obedience, and His humility to find the counter-cultural road to true freedom and happiness. This call is a difficult one to live, but the rewards are beyond our earthly imaginings. Ways to Cultivate Interior Poverty As you seek the Lord's Heart and ask Him to help you be poor, be on the lookout. He will respond, and He will show you. And while you walk with Him along your particular path to holiness, there are some ways you can consistently cultivate interior poverty. Here are just a few ideas: Examine your life and conscience // The first step is to take a regular look at your life and soul. Where are you naturally bent toward a holy poverty, and where do you cling tightly to things or people other than God? Identify those areas and explore why you are attached or afraid. Write it down if it helps. Get rid of it // Then, clean house. Are you attached to shopping or acquiring? Perhaps it's time for a spending freeze. Are you in habitual mortal sin? That has to go. Are you striving for praise from others? Time for some mortification. Of course, there are good and even holy things in our lives that we cannot "get rid of" nor should we. But if we find ourselves attached to them, it's time to admit it and ask Jesus to help us rightly order our loves. Additionally, it might be time to simplify our lives—our possessions, our schedules, our distractions, and so on. Be honest about what you're trying to control // Be brutally honest about what you're trying to control in life. We often mask a desire for certainty under the cover of stewardship or "common sense." We confuse clingy tightly to our security or relationships or money or health or fertility or position with putting our hand to the plow but we are prone to cross the line between cultivation and control. We are called to be good stewards but the very nature of being a steward means that we don't hold ultimate dictation. In what ways are we striving to? Be with the poor // If we want to most fully respond to the Gospel call to poverty then we must be poor and be with the poor. If we do not know the poor, then we cannot come to know Christ more fully. Wondering where to find the poor? Consider the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. The hungry and homeless and imprisoned and sick and doubtful and sinner and ignorant are the poor we are called to live among and serve. Ask the Lord to show you how to be with the poor to which He has called you. Rejoice in your weakness // Instead of being repulsed by our weaknesses and shortcomings, let's learn to expect, anticipate, and rejoice in them. In this way, we follow the lead of Saint Paul, who understood that this kind of interior poverty means that we will share in the abundance of God's grace. The weaker we are, the more His we can become. That is a cause for celebration. Learn about poverty // Finally, we can learn more about what the Church has taught about poverty through the centuries. Read Happy Are You Poor. Pray through All She Had. Teach your children what it means to live a life of spiritual poverty. Don't let poverty remain a nice thought that we never enact or set aside for those who are called to radical sainthood. That's us! Let's do our due diligence and seek the Lord's Heart for our interior poverty. Will you join me in praying through this idea of spiritual poverty? It's perfect for Lent; let's not delay.   [bctt tweet="What It Looks Like to Become Interiorly Poor #BISblog //" via="no"]   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

Years ago, shortly after my grandfather died, I asked my grandma how she was doing and what it was like to wake up everyday without him. She amazed me with a response I didn't expect, and she spoke so simply and matter-of-fact.