December 9, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14 Reflect on the Word //  It happened again. The very thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do, the habit I swore I had under control—I fell into it once more. Shame settled heavy in my chest almost immediately, a thought crept in: Maybe this is just who I am. Maybe I will never be free of this. I sat there, discouraged, wondering how many times was too many times for grace.  In today’s Gospel (see Matthew 18:12-14), Jesus tells a story about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for the one that has wandered. I’ve read it before, but lately it hits differently. Jesus doesn’t say the sheep wandered once and learned its lesson. Sheep are prone to wander—that’s what they do. And still, the shepherd searches. Still, he carries the sheep back. Still, he rejoices at finding it. That image tells me something I struggle to believe too often: My failure does not disqualify me from God’s love. My repeated weakness doesn’t cause Him to turn away in disgust. My inability to “get it right” doesn’t exhaust His patience. Instead, it stirs His compassion. His pursuit, like that of the shepherd, is not based on my ability to stay perfectly close, but on His unwavering commitment to seek me when I drift. I haven’t mastered discipline. I haven’t conquered every sin pattern. But maybe the point isn’t boasting in mastery—it’s learning to trust my Good Shepherd’s mercy and the help of His grace. Maybe holiness looks less like a flawless record and more like being willing to be carried home, again and again. We often think of discipleship as steady progress upward, but Jesus frames it as a relationship: a Shepherd Who notices, pursues, and delights in each of us. So when we wander—and we will—may we remember that we are never lost beyond His reach. The Father’s will is that not one of His little ones should perish (see Matthew 18:14). That includes you, sister, and me, even here, still learning, still struggling, still being found. Relate to the Lord // What would being held and carried by the Shepherd look like for you today?

December 8, 2025 // Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Holy Day of Obligation] Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 Reflect on the Word // I checked the last thing off of my extensive list and breathed an enormous sigh. Phew. Months of lining up campsites, choosing a rental pop-up camper, and planning educational (but fun) outings for each day of our two-week road trip had filled my every waking thought. We were finally at go time. I had poured so much effort and consideration into planning this trip traversing many states over thousands of miles. I just hoped my husband and each of my kids would feel how much love I’d poured in as we set off to adventure together. My plans felt huge and my brain capacity was at its max, but the love and excitement I felt made it all worth it.  Today as we celebrate our Blessed Mother Mary’s Immaculate Conception, I consider the perfect plan put into place by the God of the universe—the love story He carefully wrote into history, weaving the story of all stories. Before the Son was to become incarnate, all was precisely set and put in motion. Mary, being conceived without sin, set apart as a holy vessel in order to one day hold God made Man, was a crucial piece of it all.  Just a peek at today’s Readings shows the absolute perfection with which God orchestrated each moment of Salvation History, right down to the beginning of Mary’s life here on Earth. In Saint Paul’s words of exhortation to the Christians in Ephesus, he calls to mind how God the Father “chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before Him” (Ephesians 1:4). I pause and find comfort in being chosen, in being a beneficiary of God’s grand plan to redeem each of us. He thought I was worth pulling all the details together for.  Today as we celebrate our Lord’s mother and our mother, too, we can find absolute joy in knowing this grand gesture of planning and love was a gift for each of us. We are chosen in Him and have been for all eternity. Relate to the Lord // Remember that today is a holy day of obligation to attend Mass! How will you celebrate the Immaculate Conception today?

Saturday, December 6, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths” (Matthew 3:3), the baptist cries in his clothing of camel hair. Saint John preached the coming of Christ while in the desert. Our world is also a desert, one that is spiritually barren. On the Second Sunday of Advent, John’s words apply to our lives as well as the people in his time; we must use this holy time to prepare for Christ to come into our hearts more fully at Christmas, to water us in His grace. As we prepare, we can imitate John, living differently from others in the world, being witnesses to a life of repentance and love of God and others. We hear from the psalmist that “justice shall flower in his day and profound peace” (Psalm 72:7). In the First Reading, the prophet Isaiah gives us an image of the coming peaceful kingdom that will come at the end of time, when Christ, the incarnate Son, rules over all. His kingdom is also here now, for death has already been defeated. The same Spirit that rests upon Jesus, He has sent to us—with the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and fear of the Lord to help us live His kingdom now. Allow these gifts of the Holy Spirit to guide you this Advent as you navigate these weeks of preparation and waiting. It is not always easy to live our faith with the pressures of our culture ready to rush past Advent into Christmas, but we have a “God of endurance and encouragement” (Romans 15:5), Who will help us on our way. And we have each other in the Church and our Blessed is She community for love and support. In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent: First Reading // Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm // Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Second Reading // Romans 15:4-9 Gospel // Matthew 3:1-12 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, December  6 (today!) // Optional Memorial of Saint  Nicholas, Bishop Sunday, December  7 // Second Sunday of Advent Monday, December  8 // Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary  // Holy Day of Obligation in the USA Tuesday, December 9 // Optional Memorial of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin Wednesday, December  10 // Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto Thursday, December 11 // Optional Memorial of Saint Damasus I, Pope Friday, December 12 // Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

December 5, 2025 // Friday of the First Week of Advent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 29:17-24 Reflect on the Word //  I put my phone down, stunned and grieved. Another violent attack, more bloodshed, more devastation, more senseless violence. It seemed like the news lately brought an endless stream of pain.  I groaned in the depths of my being, feeling very much lost in the “valley of death” (see Psalm 23:4). How long would we have to grope around in darkness? How long would the long shadow hang over us, cold and dank?  I moved on with my chores, heavy-limbed and clammy. Not much got done that afternoon. That day, God didn’t take away my pain. He invited me into His own.  But in the evening, as I clutched my rosary, He also sent His Holy Spirit to remind me of the words of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in his eighth Rule for the Discernment of Spirits, encouraging those experiencing spiritual desolation: “Let him who is in desolation labor to be in patience [. . .] and let him think he will soon be consoled” (source). In other words, this too shall pass.  The sun will rise again, the Lord reminded me, and you will feel warmth on your arms and your face. You will laugh, and dance, and feel joy. The heaviness will lift. Life is a litany of rising and  falling, a sea of waves and seasons.  In the First Reading today, we see a similar promise: “Thus says the Lord GOD: But a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest!” (Isaiah 29:17, emphasis mine) We tend to forget, in times of suffering, that it won’t always be this way. It’s a fallen human tendency to feel that things will always be the same. Moreover, we have an enemy with a vested interest in keeping us forgetful of the “rising again” part of the story. It’s his way of tempting us to despair. But sister, God wants to remind us that this pain, in the grand scheme of things—and even in your life—is for “a very little while.” He, Who has given you a share in His suffering, will not give you a portion longer than you can bear.  And you will laugh again.  Relate to the Lord // Pick up and pray your Rosary today. As you meditate on the mysteries, remember that every detail of your story is held and revealed in His.

December 4, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint John of Damascus, Priest and Doctor of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm from the Memorial of Saint John of Damascus: Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11 Reflect on the Word //  Words. I am surrounded by words. And whose words they are matters more than I'd ever taken the time to notice. I wake up and groggily meander to our kitchen for my morning cup of coffee. The mug I grab reads "full of grace" and I smile as the Lord’s words greet me. I plop down in my prayer chair, open the daily Readings and His words meet me again in the present moment. I sense my body relax further into my chair as my mind lets go of the to-dos, worries, and distractions. His words really are “more precious than gold” and sweeter than syrup or honey (Psalm 19:11); all of me experiences this truth. Our day begins and we're on the go. A song plays on my playlist, and the lyrics echo within my car. I scroll social media and am surrounded by words. So many words.  I feel the tension in my body, heart, and mind rise from the day’s exposure to so many words. And the words keep coming as my day carries on. Words and more words—the stream is endless. "Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life” (John 6:63). I am reminded to turn to God's Word within my day-to-day, to check in with myself about what I am consuming and from where or whom. Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint John of Damascus, who was an avid proponent of iconography—an art form that serves as a window to heaven, making known the invisible by way of the visible. God calls each of us to be an "icon," to reflect God's Word, Spirit, and life into the world today.  He wants His Word to be our refuge, so that it may guide our words, accompanying us throughout the ebbs and flows of each day, anchoring us in and through all things regardless of what each day brings. He wants His Word to be our Spirit and life today—that we may breathe Him in in order to breathe Him out.  Relate to the Lord // What words from the Lord in the daily Readings will you cherish in your heart today?

December 3, 2025 // Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 23:1-6 Reflect on the Word //  Grief swelled through my heart, as the weight of another closed door came upon me. The plan fell through—the plan that I thought would bring about the healing that I’d been desperate for. In my woundedness, I had been grasping and reaching for my own healing, and was devastated when my plan failed, after I was convinced that it would work. The hopelessness that began to weigh on my heart gave me no other option than to go to Him. After I poured out my raw emotions upon Him, I gently received in my heart an inclination to ask: Where to now, Good Shepherd?  Psalm 23, which we pray today, describes Jesus as our Shepherd. I’m more than familiar with this Psalm and Jesus’ title  in the Gospels that He gives Himself of the “Good Shepherd." There's nothing wrong with wanting an answer or guidance, especially in these painful situations, and He will always provide and lead His sheep down “right paths.” However, in this moment of heartbreak and pain, I forgot the “good” in Good Shepherd. Do I believe He desires to lead me to “verdant pastures” and give me “repose”? That He leads me to “restful waters” and “refreshes my soul”? That His “goodness and kindness” are pursuing me endlessly? My desperation and sorrow were not an invitation to despair, but an invitation into deeper intimacy with Him, as I shared my disappointment and frustration. Intimacy is at the forefront of His Heart.  Friend, we should not think of Jesus as a solution to our problems, but rather as our God after our hearts. As our Good Shepherd, He desires to bring us to Himself, where we will experience the true rest, peace, and deep intimacy we seek. More than what we think an immediate path or solution could provide. We might not always have an instant answer, but we will always have Him, and His goodness and kindness that pursue us all the days of our lives (see Psalm 23:6). Relate to the Lord // Today, make this prayer your own: Where to now, Good Shepherd? 

December 2, 2025 // Tuesday of the First Week of Advent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10 As she awaited move-in day at college after high school graduation, my granddaughter lived in an already-but-not-yet space. Constrained by the responsibilities of living with parents and siblings, she ached with yearning for the not-yet. My life, too, is replete with such moments. The time between saying yes and the Sacrament of Matrimony, the time between another yes and our arrival in Guatemala as missionaries, the time between discovering Catholicism and our reception into the Church. In each already-but-not-yet space we rejoiced in gifts already received while longing for those yet to be given.  A similar ache rises up in me in light of today’s First Reading. The picture the prophet paints is one of a world without violence, injustice, or harm, a world where wolves, lambs, children, and venomous snakes live in harmony and peace. The artistic renderings I’ve seen of this passage are at the same time beautiful and disappointing. How, I wonder, can an artist possibly portray the “not-yet” of the promised kingdom when “justice shall flourish [. . .] and fullness of peace forever”( Psalm 72:7)? When I bring my heart to Jesus, He assures me that my longing is not misplaced, but rather it’s a holy desire.  Because Jesus has already come, we’ve received so many gifts, especially His Church’s Sacraments! Yet, all has not yet been set right in our world. Wars and famine, earthquakes and tsunamis, predators and prey have not yet diminished. Just as surely as Jesus’ birth brings the Light of Christ to us in darkness, at the end of time God will satisfy our desire for the full realization of peace and justice. Our part is to trust God to complete what He promised through the prophet in His time and to live in His peace and justice through obedience to His commands while awaiting that day. In this already-but-not-yet space we inhabit this Advent, we do well to joyfully plan a fitting celebration of the unfathomable mystery of God becoming Man. We also do well to cultivate an ever-deepening longing for the day when God will be all in all.  Relate to the Lord // What already-but-not-yet space are you inhabiting right now? What are you longing for that you don’t have yet? How can you rejoice in the already? 

December 1, 2025 // Monday of the First Week of Advent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9 Reflect on the Word //  The phone call had been a few days ago but the heaviness lingered. A vague restlessness unsettled me and I found myself unable to focus on daily tasks. I wasn’t depressed but someone I loved was, so  I carried her pain like it was my own.  Far from being a virtue, the Lord began to illuminate just how dysfunctional this was—and how much it cost me.  I often felt what other people were feeling, not because I was empathetic but because I lacked boundaries. I took responsibility for people and problems that were not mine to bear. I was enmeshed and this way of relating, I discovered, was a pattern.  In the Scriptures, Jerusalem refers not only to the city in Israel but also to God’s people. Our souls are like the city in today’s Psalm. We have walls and gates—boundaries—for the protection and flourishing of the land. Mine were in disrepair. Anyone could come and go, trample and take. I gave without reverence for my own sacred soul and the Lord began to show me that I deserved to be protected.  As disciples of Jesus, we are called to emulate the love of Jesus as self-gift. But we cannot give what we do not have. In order to have “peace within your walls” (Psalm 122:7), we have to have walls—to know where we end and others begin.  The Psalm declares that Jerusalem was “built as a city with compact unity” (Psalm 122:3), and  Jesus desires that we experience this unity within ourselves. Whether we’re fractured because of poor boundaries in relationships, our own sin, or traumas that have fragmented our minds and hearts, healing and wholeness are possible in Jesus Christ.  Ask Jesus to reveal the city of your soul: its walls and gates, fields and gardens, buildings and altars to the Lord. Give Him the keys to your inner kingdom and invite Him to rule and reign there, to erect walls as boundaries and to stand guard at the gates, to give you back to yourself so that you might give yourself as a gift to the world. Relate to the Lord // Imagine your soul as a city. Ask Jesus to show you around.

November 29, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, “Stay awake!” Jesus tells us on this First Sunday or Advent, “For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42). The first part  of Advent is a time of waiting for the Lord to come at the end of time. We keep our focus on Christ as our King, ruling all things, and coming again soon. The world will pressure us to jump right into the festivities of Christmas, but the Church asks us to hold back from the joys to come. When we follow the secular culture without preparing our hearts for the Lord’s coming, we are like people asleep. “It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). In the Second Reading, Saint Paul directs our focus to the ways in which we are not ready for the Lord to come, the ways we are complacent, doing the “works of darkness” (Romans 12:12)  Advent is a time to enter deeper into prayer, to go to Confession, to prepare seriously for the coming of Christ. As we reflected last week, Christ’s Kingdom is here and now, and we have the grace available to us to live in it. Sister, “Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain to the house of God” (Isaiah 2:3). Let us make Advent count this year, so that when the Lord comes, we will have allowed Him to make us holy with His grace and with joy enter into the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, our eternal home. In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the First Sunday of Advent:  First Reading // Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm // Psalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Second Reading // Romans 13:11-14 Gospel // Matthew 24:37-44 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Sunday, November 30 // First Sunday of Advent Wednesday, December 3 // Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest Thursday, December 4 // Optional Memorial of Saint John of Damascus, Priest and Doctor of the Church

November 28, 2025 // Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 21:29-33 Reflect on the Word //  The wind had stripped the trees overnight. I stepped outside into the crisp Minnesota air and crunched over a layer of amber and gold. Just last week, the maples blazed with color. Now their branches stretched bare against a pale sky.  Autumn always feels abrupt here, one moment a vibrant celebration, the next a quiet letting go. It looked like everything was ending. But I knew the truth: The trees weren’t dying. They were preparing. That image stayed with me as I read Jesus' words: “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near” (Luke 21:29–30). Jesus invites us to notice the signs. Not just the spectacular ones, but the slow, sacred rhythms of His Kingdom. The trees know how to wait. They know how to trust the process. “Know that the Kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21:31). Even when everything looks still, something holy is unfolding. The Kingdom is not far off. It is close, present, hidden in the quiet changes. We do not have to see full bloom to believe growth is happening. Then He says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33). What comfort to know that His Word is our constant. Seasons will shift. Leaves will fall. But the promises of God remain. We, too, experience these autumnal moments, times of letting go, quieting down, preparing for what we cannot yet see. But we are not forgotten. We are being formed. So we watch. We wait. We remain rooted. Because even in the letting go, the Kingdom is near. Relate to the Lord // Where is Jesus inviting you to let go?

November 27, 2025 // Thursday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time // Thanksgiving Day (USA) Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Daniel 6:12-28 Reflect on the Word //  “I can’t believe this,” I whispered to my husband. The darkness of the early morning hours was lit up by the glare of my phone as I scrolled through the news. The date of an important international event that our family had planned, prayed, and saved for a decade to attend was suddenly and without warning . . . changed. Flights, lodging, and tours were already booked. What would we do now? I turned to the Lord in my panic. He whispered to me: I moved it for you.  About six weeks later, I understood why. A solemn family need arose, and we needed to be here when we were previously scheduled to be there.  I’m not suggesting that God moved a massive event just for us. But this small, seemingly inconsequential moment is just an illustration of how the Lord often saves me before I even know I need saving. He delivers me even when it seems all hope is lost.  Daniel knew this well. He was actually thrown into the lion’s den. Counted as dead. Yet the Lord rescued him. King Darius called God “a deliverer and a savior” (Daniel 6:28).  Like then, the Lord is still working signs and wonders in heaven and on earth (see Daniel 6:27) . . .  and in my little life. I am not thrown into a lion’s den (although sometimes it feels like it). But the Lord tends to the needs of my heart and life nonetheless. He proves to little me that He is a deliverer and a savior.  What does this mean for us as we go about our ordinary days? King Darius speaks of that, too: “All peace to you!” (Daniel 6:26) Yes, we can have the utmost peace of heart because we know the Lord delivers us. Even when our backs are against the wall, it seems there is no way out or through, or we don’t understand why something isn’t working out for us, we can be at peace. The Lord is already saving us. He is already leading and redeeming us.  The same God Who saved Daniel is the One Who is saving us.  Relate to the Lord // How is the Lord already at work? How is He saving you in this season?

November 26, 2025 // Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 21:12-19  Reflect on the Word //  Walking through the aisle of the plane I fix my eyes on the nearest exit. It is just what I do. When staying in a hotel, I make note of the emergency exits. In a dark parking lot, I try to back into the space nearest the lights. I even check the state department website for advisories before traveling internationally. Threat levels are always being evaluated. My dad calls it situational awareness—being aware of the space, the people, the dangers in a situation. Maybe some people do it naturally or maybe it is a learned behavior; as a psychologist I feel like I should know but I don’t. If you are someone who is always looking for the exit, today’s Gospel may be difficult to take. Jesus tells His disciples that they will suffer, be arrested, have to testify, and they should not prepare their defense ahead of time. He tells them honestly what will come next, but then assures them that they should not be looking for the exit when they witness to His Gospel. Trouble is coming, but He won’t abandon them. They will be called to testify and He will give them wisdom in speaking. This is a real challenge for me. I want to trust in the Lord, in His goodness and guidance, and I want to be overprepared as well. But there is a beautiful balance that is required. There is work to do—but that work entails knowing the Lord, cooperating with God’s grace, regularly repenting of sin, and growing in relationship with Him. Preparation looks different. Let Him be the guide; let Him give us the words and wisdom. When we prepare this way, we enter into our call to witness Christ’s love to the world differently than if we were going through life without the Lord. In the midst of the difficulty, do we focus on listening to the Lord or do we strive to escape? We don’t need to employ our exit strategy; we need to surrender to the Lord’s will for our life, step out with courage, and testify to the truth.   Relate to the Lord // How have you been looking for an escape? Share it with the Lord and focus on listening to Him. What does He say?

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!

November 24, 2025 // Memorial of Saint Andrew Dŭng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20  Reflect on the Word //  I once had the blessing of working alongside a religious sister who received a call to live among the poor. Sister was different from the aid workers supplied by secular organizations. She gained the people’s trust and became like one of them. The people knew if they needed help or hope, they could call her. She was always ready to respond and give her very best because she was holding herself to God’s standards, not the world’s. When I imagine Daniel and the other three men of Judah taken into training in this foreign king’s palace in today’s First Reading, I think there must have been trepidation about being different. And yet, they were different. These men were committed to being faithful to the Jewish law and  loyal to no other God or king but the God of Israel. When they were presented with food and drink from the king’s table, I wonder why they did not just grab a bite, set their consciences aside, and “live a little.” Yet Daniel spoke with resolve and bravery, “Please test your servants [ . . . ] see how we look in comparison with the other young men” (Daniel 1:12-13). Daniel placed his confidence not in the power of food to change his appearance but in the power of his God. Being faithful to the Lord would be for him and his companions enough sustenance to get through the days of training and to far exceed expectations (see Daniel 1:20). When we think about our lives in this world, it can be easy to follow along with what others are doing so that we are not considered different. However, in our hearts we know the living Word and what He asks of us, how He challenges us to be better. To forgive when it would be easier to fester a grudge, to carry our crosses when it would be easier to walk away, to choose love when it would be easier and even understandable to perpetuate hate. In our here and now, Christ is calling us, sister, to be different, to stand bravely like Daniel and his companions and be faithful. Relate to the Lord // Consider how your life looks different from the world. In what ways is God setting you apart?

November 22, 2025 Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, This Sunday, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, begins the last week of the liturgical year. All month we have been oriented by the Church toward Heaven and our own end on this earth. We have been praying for the souls of those who are dead, and in the Northern Hemisphere we have been watching nature change from autumn into winter. We live in the tension of time. On the one hand our Lord Jesus Christ is King of the Universe and “all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). But on the other hand, we are still amidst our fight against sin and carrying our crosses. Jesus our King was enthroned on His Cross, and when we join our suffering to His suffering we enter into His Kingdom like the good thief on tomorrow’s Gospel. Sister, we must remember that the Kingdom of God is here and our King reigns from Heaven. Like David in the First Reading, He shepherds us his people, keeping us within His fold in this life. We will always have struggles and trials in our lifetime, and we will question whether God is really the King when there are so many terrible things going on in his world. This Sunday let us remember that it is already a reality that the Father has  “delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption” (Colossians 1:13). Let us let this reality enfold us in the love of our King and may we “go rejoicing to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1). In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Readings for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe:  First Reading // 2 Samuel 5:1-3 Psalm // Psalm 122:1-5 Second Reading // Colossians 1:12-20 Gospel // Luke 23:35-43 Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, November 22 (today!) // Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr  Sunday, November 23 // The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Monday // November 24 // Memorial of Saint Andrew Dŭng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs Tuesday, November 25 // Optional Memorial of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr Thursday, November 27 // Thanksgiving Day (USA)

November 21, 2025 // Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 19:45-48 Reflect on the Word // I stood in the fitting room, trying on new clothes. Item after item, they all fit a little snug. How did I get here . . . again? I felt embarrassed and ashamed. Returning home from that dreaded shopping trip, I went for a walk. As I made my way around the lake, I listened to a podcast of testimonials from women in Overeaters Anonymous. In their stories, I related to the lack of control, the obsession, the comfort seeking. They put words to my experience. I knew my struggle with food stemmed from woundedness and pain, but that day, I realized it was also a sin of intemperance. And I needed Jesus “to drive out” (Luke 19:45) what was defiling my body, as well as my mind, my spirit, and so many aspects of my daily life. In the gentlest way, Jesus called me out for my bad habits, and at the same time, He invited me into something new, something better. In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus driving out “those who were selling things” (Luke 19:45) in the temple. He disbands this activity, because it was distracting the pilgrims, defiling the holiness of the temple, and disrupting the purpose of that sacred place: union with God. Likewise, each of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and the deepest part of our soul is reserved for intimacy with God. However, when poor habits, such as overconsuming food or alcohol, excessive shopping, mindless scrolling, habitual gossip, or other forms of self-indulgence, settle into our temples, we tarnish the space that is meant for God alone. My dear sister, if something is tarnishing your soul, allow the Lord to drive it out, so your “house of prayer” (Luke 19:46) may be cleansed and restored to the cherished space for God it was created to be. Run to the Sacrament of Confession, where your sins or attachments can be relinquished. And hang on to His every word in prayer, for He wants nothing to interfere with your union with Him (see Luke 19:48). Relate to the Lord // Take a walk with the Lord today. Ask Him to help you make space for union with Him.

November 20, 2025 // Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 1 Maccabees 2:15-29  Reflect on the Word //  I’d arrived early to a doctor’s appointment. As I got situated in the waiting area, I discovered that they had recently installed multiple widescreens flashing advertising for fancy skin treatments, beauty products, and an assortment of other exorbitantly priced and apparently age-defying miracle potions. After my appointment, I stopped to get gas. There were more screens at the pump, more screaming advertisements I couldn’t escape. As I filled my tank I looked up to see a young mother with her toddler. She looked exhausted. Her boy was crying and cranky in his car seat until she handed him a tablet. He immediately quieted, mesmerized by the screen before him. Screens. They’re ubiquitous. And disturbing, an unending source of distractions and advertisement for the nonessential, constantly stoking the fire of discontent. Evil slithers through screens. We must be wise as serpents in our prudent use of them. Wisdom would have us flee to the desert, as in today’s First Reading: “Many who sought to live according to righteousness and religious custom went out into the desert to settle there” (1 Maccabees 2:29). I cannot retreat to the desert or to a hermitage in the mountains, as appealing as that sounds and as often as that kind of life calls to me. I know I need to be where I am now, in the thick of things, in the throes of battle against the evil that attacks our faith at every turn. But I can create a little desert in my life, and within it an oasis that will protect my heart, my faith, my hope in the Lord. My desert looks pretty much like my home, my prayer room, my back porch. It very often looks like the adoration chapel near my house, and it certainly looks like my husband and I cozied up on the couch every night at 7 p.m. to pray together, no matter what. If you don’t have any desert in your life, then make one. Create places and spaces where you and your family can rest in things that matter: faith and family, righteousness and peace.  Relate to the Lord // Do you need to retreat from screens? What desert spaces do you retreat to in order to find rest for your heart with the Lord?