January 8, 2025 // Wednesday after Epiphany Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 6: 45-52 Reflect on the Word//  It was one of those nights where I just couldn’t turn off the mental noise. I wasn’t tossing and turning but mostly aware that I wasn’t fully asleep either.  My mind felt like a food processor chopping, crumbling, and kneading through a day’s worth of unpleasant conversations. Suddenly it felt as though someone had cranked the machine to the high setting as I pictured the unsettling social media post, the results of my blood work confirming the anemia that had left me depleted for the last several months, and all of my broken relationships which were mixed in there too.  I had been proud of myself for limiting my screen time, but even my well intentioned efforts weren’t able to shield me. It probably didn’t help that the baby had just woken up at 1 a.m. Further, I had been consistent in prayer, following through on my spiritual disciplines.  Yet there was something I was missing: God’s command to take courage. Jesus wanted me to insert His words—“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” (Mark 6:51)—in everything that was plaguing me. The tossing of waves and gusts of wind in our lives can only be remedied through Him. Take courage with severed friendships. Take courage with broken relationships. Take courage with ailments. Take courage in all of the worry. I may not have ever experienced literally being tossed around in a boat like the disciples, but I have felt the wind gusts pushing me, impairing my ability to see, and their force uprooting what I perceived to be unshakable.  The disciples who had just seen Jesus perform the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand perceived Jesus as a ghost when they saw Him walking in the sea. Jesus not only commands them to take courage, but He goes further by telling them to not be afraid. There is no trust without courage. Our relationship with Jesus is only strengthened by the courage we exercise as we trust Him. The tossing will come, and when it does, may we accept His grace to heed His command to take courage and not be afraid.  Relate to the Lord // Where do you need to take courage? Write your own litany today and allow Jesus to speak into your storms.

January 7, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Raymond of Penyafort, Priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 1 John 4:7-10 Reflect on the Word //  It was January 1. Enthusiasm bubbled up within me as I began my New Year’s resolutions. I had carefully discerned my goals and how I was going to execute them. I couldn’t wait for a “new me” to emerge. After only three weeks, “life” interfered with my best-laid plans. My children got sick. Projects and activities arose that required my attention. Feeling tired and frazzled, I chose sleep over my new early-morning prayer time. My plans fell apart. Once the busyness subsided, I contemplated what went wrong, and I realized that I failed to integrate my new plans into real life. I also recognized why I was so easily derailed. I relied solely on myself to succeed, not leaving room for God’s will or His grace. Even more so, I was so focused on striving, accomplishing, and checking boxes off a list that when I did not achieve my goals, I felt defeated. I didn’t even consider that what I was doing over those few weeks genuinely mattered—maybe even more than my resolutions—because in those moments, I was being called to love. And “everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). I was reminded that what I do (or don’t do) does not define my worth; God defines it. My worth is found in Him. I am beloved. Loved by a God Who is love. He loves me for who I am, not what I do. And so, what matters most is how I respond to His call to love. As women, however, we often measure our worth by our contributions and accomplishments: our GPA in school, the raise at work, the healthy meals we prepare for our families. Even our consistent prayer routine is tracked. And when we don’t get the promotion, when we find ourselves in the drive-thru line ordering dinner, or when we miss our morning prayer for the third day in a row, we feel like failures. But none of these externally measurable things define us. However, our response to the call to love can transform us. We are beloved. God loves us whether we do certain things or not. He “sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him” (1 John 4:10), and all He asks of us in return is to love and be loved by Him. Relate to the Lord // How will you live in your beloved identity today?

January 6, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint André Bessette, Religious (in USA) Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 1 John 3:22–4:6 Reflect on the Word //  That morning, I felt like I woke up and faceplanted into a gooey, sticky web of spiritual warfare. It was the kind of spiritual desolation that enveloped all of reality and made me feel like I had spiritual amnesia. Even though the Lord and our Most Blessed Mother had assured me innumerable times that they had my vocation in hand and had given confirmations and consolations galore, I was distraught and felt abandoned.  But the miracle started happening immediately when I walked into church and genuflected to greet Jesus a few minutes before morning Mass. Everything changed when Father invoked the Saint of the day in the opening prayer. I felt like a friend came near me to remind me of who I am in Jesus. I had been quietly nurturing a fear and buying the menacing lie that Jesus is untrustworthy and certainly could not be faithful beyond what I could tangibly experience or imagine.  But thanks be to God for saintly friends who call us forward into Christ! The Beloved Disciple is so magnanimous as to call you and me “beloved” (1 John 4:1), and he leans into this profound encouragement. He tells you and me to test all spirits to see whether they are of God and then boldly gives the most fitting tool for discernment: “Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3). Sister, I realize it can sound overly dramatic to hear the title “antichrist.” But I am so grateful our beloved friend, Saint John, has his finger right on the pulse of God’s Heart. He repeatedly calls us “beloved” because we need it. And then warns us of the spirit of the world. God calls us to be bold, and our saintly friends call us to boldly live as true believers and conquerors through Him, with Him, and in Him. Relate to the Lord // Ask for the Saints intercession to help you discern your thoughts today.

January 5, 2025 // Solemnity of Epiphany of the Lord  Dear Sister, A new year is upon us, and everything in us wants to turn the page, start a new chapter, live a new, fabulous version of our mundane, tired lives. And there is something so good about this pursuit. It is good to have goals. It is beautiful to have dreams and pursue them. But I want to propose to you and to me: What if our goal for this year, nay, this moment, this day, this week, was to actually live our one beautiful, marvelous life?  What if instead of looking for new goals and new endeavors and new heights, we soared the heights of the day we’re living right here, right now? But what does that look like? It means looking up while you’re surrounded by a pile of laundry and thanking God for the clothes He provided, offering one fold at a time for each family member’s salvation. It means reading a child a book for the hundredth time but this time listening to the story like it was the very first time. It means driving to work and looking at the sunrise with hope and joy about the coming day simply because God is in it and He will surprise you with His extravagant love. I propose that this is where our goals are reached—here in this place of living our one magnificently ordinary and beautiful life.  What if we found ourselves here? What if we found God?  What if we woke up to our very lives? If we looked up at the sky and saw the birds who are cared for by God, looked into our spouse’s eyes and made the choice to love him, looked at our friend and chose to let our hearts be softened toward her, looked at ordinary bread on an extraordinary altar be transformed into the Son of the Living God? What if we looked? What if we noticed? What if we really lived?  I’m not saying for tomorrow or next week or for an entire year, because that can feel incredibly overwhelming. (Just me?) I just mean for today. What if we closed our phones and took a walk, read a book, looked at the snowfall, folded the laundry, paid the bills, did an art project, painted our dining room chairs, just lived—really lived—our lives fully awake to God’s presence? A turn of the page. A new chapter. A new lease on an ordinary life made extraordinary by the transforming love of God.  To living our lives, Jenna

Saturday, January 4, 2025  Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, January 4 (today!) // Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious Sunday, January 5 // The Epiphany of the Lord Monday, January 6 // Optional Memorial of Saint André Bessette, Religious (in USA) Tuesday, January 7 // Optional Memorial of Saint Raymond of Penyafort, Priest Letter from the Editor //  Dear Sister,  We celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord tomorrow, as we do every year on the Sunday closest to January 6. Epiphany is the word the Church uses to talk about Jesus manifesting Himself as the Messiah to the world. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote about “[c]aravans of camels” coming and “bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD” (Isaiah 60:6). These and other words of the prophets were like a guiding star for Israel, giving them signs to look for to know the Messiah had come. In the Gospel of Matthew, the “magi from the east” (Matthew 2:1) when following a physical star, sought guidance in Jerusalem from the priests and scribes. The magi went on to Bethlehem and were overjoyed to see the child with His mother. “Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts” (Matthew 2:11). Sounds familiar, right? When the magi came to do homage to Jesus, did the scribes and priests believe the signs they saw? Did their hearts “throb and overflow” (Isaiah 60:5)? If they had raised their eyes and looked about, they would have seen that the Messiah was at hand, and through Israel shining God’s light on all nations. Saint Paul tells us that we are now all “co-heirs” and “members of the same body” (Ephesians 3:6). The magi were the first gentiles to worship the Savior of the world, and now we still pray, “May all kings bow before him, all nations serve him” (Psalm 72:11). We, as inheritors of this promise, can kneel beside the magi opening the treasure of our hearts and offering the gift of our lives. I am praying for you this week, dear sister. Your partner in the promise, Susanna Read the Readings for The Epiphany of the Lord:  First Reading // Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm // Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 Second Reading // Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 Gospel // Matthew 2:1-12 Prayer Practice // Light a candle today to celebrate the Light Who came into the world this Epiphany.

January 3, 2025 // Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 1 John 2:29-3:6 Reflect on the Word //  I hope you’ve experienced watching a small child at play. Maybe captivated in their own imaginary world, or running at top speed, or dismantling the contents of an entire kitchen cabinet in the span of four minutes, a child at play seems to have an intensity and focus we adults can only dream of mustering. Whatever activity they may be occupied with, children also have the ability to stop whatever they are doing and ask you a question out of the blue that you can’t believe they would ever think of,  let alone how they ever thought of such a thing while playing with such gusto.  “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God” (1 John 3:1). I wonder if God sees us like we see small children at play; focused and intent on our daily lives, unaware of anything outside of our immediate purview.  “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). We are like little children unaware of the larger, more complex, yet rich world when it comes to understanding what a life with God in Heaven will be. Just as so much of the wider world has not been shown to or understood by little children, so eternal life has not yet been revealed to us. We need to ponder what that life will look like, and we need to ask God to show us what an eternity of being in His presence truly means. With His grace, we can approach God the Father with the same innocent boldness of little children. We can ask Him to help us understand how glorious life will be with Him in Heaven. Because just as we teach and guide our children in their wonder and desire to understand the world, so the Lord desires to lead us into His love, to remain with Him in the ways of faith, and to hope for and understand Heavenly life as His children.  Relate to the Lord // Let yourself dream about union with God and the Communion of Saints in Heaven today. Recall experiences of God’s love in your prayer and in your friendships. 

January 2, 2025 // Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 1:19-28 Reflect on the Word//  I impatiently tapped on the steering wheel and stared at the numerous red tail lights ahead of me. As I sat in traffic, my mind was going over the list of numerous things I had to get done that day. As traffic started to clear, I was nearing the offramp for one of our local churches and I felt a small voice say, Will you come visit Me?  I responded, Lord, You know I love You, but I just don’t have time. I’m already stressed out and adding another item to my list will only make it worse. But I could feel His Sacred Heart still tugging at me. I sighed. Fine. I’ll stop. As I sat in the church before the tabernacle, guilty tears started falling down my cheeks. The Lord is here just loving me, but I was so wrapped up in my world, I didn’t recognize my need to spend time with Him first.  In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist is dealing with the skeptical Pharisees and church leaders. They continually question him, doubting his ministry, and John answers their questions one by one. Finally, John tells them, “There is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:26-27). His words cause me to pause and ask myself where I fail to recognize God. John declares the glory of the Messiah, yet the Pharisees are too blinded by their self-interest to recognize Him or sincerely seek Him. I want to live in the glory and follow His call, rather than get caught up in my own worries. Too often, we have been like the Pharisees and not seen the presence of Jesus in our midst. We can get caught up in our own little worlds and the circumstances we are dealing with, and we miss His whispers to our hearts. Our circumstances may not change, but when Jesus draws us to Himself, we’re no longer doing it all alone. Instead, He is there with us and loving us.  Relate to the Lord // Today, make a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, either at daily Mass, before the tabernacle, or in Eucharistic Adoration.

January 1, 2025 //  Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and the Octave Day of Christmas (Holy Day of Obligation) Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 2:16-21 Reflect on the Word // “Those teens!!” I groaned, exasperated about their ability to misunderstand details of a story to the point of getting the facts wrong, which then resulted in several people upset for no reason. In hindsight, it was an insignificant situation. Yet this Story That Teens Got Wrong Again illustrates something important about listening to and sharing stories: I either get the story right, or I don’t.  The Christmas narrative is so familiar to me that my eyes glide right over the words, too fast to let my heart soak in a deeper message. It’s so familiar after forty-plus years of hearing the story that I nearly have the words to Luke’s infancy narrative memorized. Or do I? I wonder if I would get the details just right if I was in a position to proclaim the Good News to someone who’d never heard it.  Am I able to listen and tell as the shepherds did? They “made known the message that had been told them” (Luke 2:17) and “returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them” (Luke 2:20, emphasis mine). Just as it had been told to them. No more, no less.  I want to listen to Your Word, Lord, as carefully as the shepherds did—with ears of faith and a heart filled with joy, and fully attentive down to the smallest detail. When You call on me to act, I want to pay attention and do what You ask, just as the Mother of God heeded the angel when naming Jesus, eight days after His birth.  The Holy Spirit will guide us to witness as the shepherds, to listen with attentive ears and to share with truth-filled words. We, too, can give glory to God when we share all we’ve heard and seen of God’s love and goodness, just as it has been told to us. Relate to the Lord // Revisit the Nativity story in today’s Gospel. Allow the Lord to highlight something new and meditate on it today.

December 31, 2024 // Optional Memorial of Saint Sylvester I, Pope Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 1:1-18  Reflect on the Word //  The folding chairs creaked as the group of freshmen turned around to the sound of the altar cloths shuffling. The monstrance was lifted by the priest who began processing down the makeshift aisle. His way was lit by the vigil candle and a headlamp adhered to the pillar, spotlighting the place that was prepared for Jesus in the Eucharist to be exposed. We sang the hymn “O Salutaris Hostia” as knees young and old alike fell to the ground in adoration of the One Who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).  We knelt before Him, each hoping that He would break through the reality of life. In this late evening Holy Hour on freshman retreat, students and chaperones alike beheld His glory, begging to be enlightened by He Who is the True Light. Heads were bowed down and the confession line grew. We lived in the hope that He would conquer the darkness and dispel the recently identified lies within our hearts with the truth of His love.  During that time of Eucharistic Adoration, Christ proved again that He does, in fact, desire to dwell among us. Amid the lies and walls each of us had acquired to protect ourselves against the growing darkness, the Word broke through and made a new world that could only come “to be through Him” (John 1:3).  Jesus extends the same invitation to each one of us. He dwells with us in this moment today, the Word Made Flesh, present to you in the Words of the Gospel. As we pray with the Word, we can offer Him the lies that have built up around our hearts and look for the Light that desires to consume the darkness.  All that He asks of us is to receive Him, to let Him.  In the darkness, He reminds us that He is always with us. If we come before Him in Adoration and in His Word, surrendering to the light of His love, He gives each of us the power to know ourselves as He knows us—beloved children of the God Who makes all things new. Relate to the Lord // Ponder the Gospel passage again; consider the way the Lord looks upon you with love.

December 30, 2024 // The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 2:36-40 Reflect on the Word //  I plopped down next to my husband with resolve. I was determined not to allow myself to cry over this . . . again. But as the words found their way to my lips, the tears found their way to my eyes.  “It was negative,” I said to him as I felt the hope escape on my breath.  In that moment, I felt silly. Silly for allowing myself to dream of adding to our family. Silly for believing that it could happen after so many years of infertility. But perhaps the most intense emotion I felt that day was anger.  I suppose that’s why my husband’s advice fell on deaf ears. “Bring it to God,” he said. And I frowned at the thought.  Nearly a decade of negative pregnancy tests had passed, and I started to believe that God wasn’t with us in our suffering, that He didn’t hear our pleas. It became a wedge in my prayer life because I had been allowing the emotion of the pain to lie to me about the truth we know of God—that He is with us, always. As I consider the long and lonely years that Anna spent in the temple, I draw strength from her faith in the midst of deep suffering. Anna, a widow, in today’s Gospel knew the steadfast love of God and lived according to that concrete belief. In her immense suffering, she met God in the temple and “worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer” (Luke 2:37). She allowed her pain and loss to draw her closer to the Lord. In her weakness, she sought out Christ’s enduring strength.  Suffering has a way of testing us. In these most vulnerable moments, it can be hard to believe that He is listening, but the truth about His nature is unwavering: He is with you.  Always. Even in this.  Relate to the Lord // Where do you need a fresh infusion of hope? Tell God about it and ask Him for more.

Dear Sister, Every year when the calendar comes to a close, I am shocked. I truly can’t believe that another year has come and gone. I feel like I was just the same person on January 1, 2024, as I am today. And that slightly terrifies me.  “Never change!” the signatures on my high school yearbook called out in Sharpie and scribbled writing.  But . . . I want to change. I want to be purified by the God of the universe Who is the Holy One above all else. I want to be completely free from all my vices, my attachments, my fears, and the strongholds in my life. I want to live a life free. And freedom, to me, looks like a life without fear. It looks like a life without doubt. It looks like a life without attachments to social media and to Youtube and to food and drinking and to work and to all the things that confine me. Freedom looks like a bird soaring above it all, liberated from the weight of the world to fly into the arms of her Savior, to fall into the arms of her Redeemer, to dance with the Lover of her soul. Freedom looks like living. And I want to live.  How about you? So Lord, for all the times that You’ve asked us to change and we’ve been hesitant, afraid, or outright disobedient, we repent. And we ask You, Lord, to come into our hearts and to light up all the dark places, so that we can live (and fly) into Your marvelous light. To flying, Jenna

Saturday, December 28, 2024 //  Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord. Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days Saturday, December 28  (today!) // Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs Sunday, December 29 // Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Monday, December 30  // Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord Tuesday, December 31 // Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord Wednesday, January 1, 2025  //  SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD and Octave of the Nativity of the Lord (Holy Day of Obligation!) Thursday, January 2  // Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church Friday, January 3  // Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Letter from the Editor // Dear Sister, The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—which falls on this Sunday—is an invitation for us to join them in their home. We will pray at Mass, “Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord” (Psalm 84:5a). In their home we can learn how to live as children of God, as Saint John tells us we are in the Second Reading—how to “love one another just as he commanded us” so that we will “be like him” and “see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, 23). We can invite them into our own homes to transform our families to imitate them.The First Reading tells us about the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to Hannah, a woman who longed for a child (see 1 Samuel 1:20). She saw that her son, Samuel, was a gift from God and in gratitude she offered her child back to Him. She shows us that all who are given to our care through biological or spiritual motherhood first of all belong to God. We see this same realization in the Gospel account of Mary and Joseph losing the child Jesus on their way home from Jerusalem. There is that moment of offering, when Mary realizes that her Son was only given to her to do His Father’s work, to be in His house (see Luke 2:49). All of our children are meant to dwell in the home of the Lord forever. Let us look to the Holy Family and their hidden years in Nazareth as a guide to how to prepare ourselves for Heaven. I am praying for you this week, dear sister. In Christ’s Love, Susanna Read the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Year C option below):  First Reading // 1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28  Responsorial Psalm // Psalm 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10  Second Reading // 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24 Gospel // Luke 2:41-52 Prayer Practice // Entrust your family to the Holy Family at Mass tomorrow. Share your heart with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. 

December 27, 2024 // Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 20:1a and 2-8 Sometimes, my prayer has been to see and believe the Word. The Word that my loved ones speak over my life. The Word that He is faithful, that He is near—and not far off—and that He has a plan for good. When I cannot see it myself, my loved ones hold its light and remind me of its truth.  In today’s Gospel, when Mary Magdalene approaches Simon Peter and the other disciple,“whom Jesus loved” (John 20:2), and shares the news with them that Jesus is gone from the tomb, their response is not unreasonable. I can imagine what it’s like to hear something unbelievable and to want to see it for yourself. So they rush looking for it—looking for Him. And soon, they see what Mary Magdalene saw, and something particular about the state of the burial cloth causes the beloved disciple to believe: “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8). Sometimes, this happens in my prayer too.  My loved ones speak a word to me, I look for what they’re saying, and I find a detail that maybe I had overlooked before—something that speaks to my experience, to my specific prayer intention. And it’s a moment of consolation, to see God’s hand in my life. I’m so grateful for those moments and for my loved ones who share the Word with me in my life, inviting me to seek Him. If you don’t have a loved one who does this for you, consider Saint Mary Magdalene as a spiritual friend. Her faithfulness and sight of the Lord can inspire us to see Him better for ourselves, like she did for Saint John the Evangelist, whose feast we celebrate today.  You, too, are a beloved disciple with whom she wishes to share the Word. Relate to the Lord // Who are your heavenly friends? Consider adopting a Saint as your patron for the new year.

December 26, 2024 // Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 10:17-22 Reflect on the Word// One of our family’s most beloved Christmas traditions is the at-home Nativity play we put on after Christmas dinner. The script is from Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-12. The costumes are dad’s t-shirts; the props are household items. The actors are members of the family plus our unsuspecting dinner guests. It’s been a source of great family memories over the years: of toddler innkeepers enthusiastically bellowing “NO ROOM,” of the various interpretations of the facial expressions required to convey that Herod was “troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:3), and exactly how exceedingly we’re talking when the kings “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2:10). No memorization is required. I hand the adults a script to read from, and for the younger kids, I just feed them their lines as they need them. No preparation needed. We all know just what to say.  Just like Saint Stephen.  For today, the second day of Christmas, is  the feast of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr. And we are reminded by Saint Stephen’s Day just what our faith requires of us—God gave His whole self to us, and we are to give ourselves entirely to Him. In the Gospel today, Jesus reminds His disciples—and us—that our faith requires our witness, but we are never going it alone. “Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say” (Matthew 10:19). We can trust the Holy Spirit to speak through us, to say what hearts need to hear. And while they may hate us for it, the God Who became a little Baby is worth it all. Whether the Holy Spirit is inspiring our last words before martyrdom, or just giving us that little nudge to invite a friend to Mass (or over for dinner and a Nativity play), when we are docile to where the Holy Spirit is leading us, memorable things are sure to happen. Relate to the Lord // Invite the Holy Spirit to guide you today, whether in conversation or action.

December 25, 2024  // The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) (Holy Day of Obligation) Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel from the Mass at Dawn: Luke 2:15-20 Reflect on the Word//  Swish, swish, swish proclaimed my snowpants as I entered my church for Midnight Mass one Christmas Eve many years ago. I parked my cross-country skis in the narthex and did my best to quietly enter the darkened church, my abundance of winter gear covered in equal parts of sweat and snow. Never before had I cross-country skied to Mass (and never since, mind you), but a blizzard that particular Christmas Eve kept the city sidewalks unshoveled, giving me the snow I needed to make the journey. “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem To see this thing that has taken place,  Which the Lord has made known to us.” (Luke 2:15) That story of the shepherds from the Gospel of Luke enlivened my heart that Christmas Eve as I made the multi-hour round trip in the dark of night. Many years later the story of the shepherds still speaks to my heart. They didn’t respond to the angels’ greeting with apathy or doubt or resentment that the Lord hadn’t come sooner (What took You so long, God?). No, they went in haste to Bethlehem to see “this thing that [had] taken place,” and they returned to their fields glorifying and praising God.  Do I respond “in haste,” I wonder? As I rediscover the manger with the Christ Child yet again today, do I live with the same anticipation, the same joy, and the same gratitude as those shepherds? I pray that the Lord will dispose our hearts this Christmas to approach Him like the shepherds did that first Christmas morning. Sister, pause with me before the Christ Child; look at Him in your prayerful imagination. And then let us return home glorifying and praising God for the miracle He has done again in our hearts this Christmas. This holy season we are asked to see with the eyes and hearts of those dear shepherds. We are here with them, in this sacred scene of Bethlehem. Relate to the Lord // Spend a few minutes in your holy imagination at the manger in Bethlehem. On this day of His birth, give Him your heart as a gift. 

December 24, 2024 // Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 1:67-79 Reflect on the Word //  Every weekday before school, my husband and I gather our seven children around the table for breakfast, tea, and Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. We light candles and open God’s word before the sun peeks over the horizon. We invite light into our hearts before we are swept in so many different directions by the obligations and tasks of the day. This moment of calm and connection is a stake in the ground as we establish a new family born from the ashes of intense loss. All of us have suffered the loss of a spouse or a parent. Some suffered the loss suddenly, some lived in the shadow of death for years, waiting for cancer to claim their beloved. Now we knit our broken hearts together in love, and every morning we pray these words of Zechariah. Bold words, words that recall God’s promises, both fulfilled and awaiting fulfillment. “[. . .] he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us” (Luke 1:71-72).  In this season of light, many of our hearts ache with the darkness and pain of lost or broken relationships. Lord, help us to forgive. Help us to trust that You are fighting for us when we feel surrounded by enemies. Help us to choose the path of love. “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79). Sweet infant Jesus, we imagine holding Your little body in our arms. Your tiny body, which contains all we are, all we need, all we’ll ever need. Let Your powerful light shine on all those who dwell in the shadow of death: those who have lost parents, spouses, and children, who suffer miscarriage, infertility, loneliness, slavery to sin, grudge-hardened hearts. Guide our feet into the way of peace. Relate to the Lord // Where do you need the light of Christ to shine? Invite Him in.

December 23, 2024 // Optional Memorial of Saint John of Kanty, Priest Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24 Reflect on the Word // As we began to settle into our  home, I decided what to keep and what to donate or discard. My desire to create a refuge for family, friends, and whomever God might bring to our door influenced my reasoning as I tackled another box of household items, which I’d not seen for the past year and a half. The sight of a bedraggled stuffed animal my husband had long ago given me for Valentine’s Day elicited mixed emotions. The bear would be refused as a donation. Considering I’d not once thought of him while he’d been packed away, it was clear that “Sir Valentine” was destined for the dumpster.  There is an urgency in the prophet Micah’s message today which is not unlike my compelling desire to prepare my home for family and guests. As Advent concludes, the Lord’s coming is at hand. We’re called to examine our hearts once again. “But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye?” (Malachi 3:2) This isn’t a threat (although we cannot withstand purification without God’s mercy). It’s a promise. When we submit to His purifying grace, the Lord burns away the impurities in our souls. Even the little things. Our hearts are meant to shine like gold or silver. The Lord makes white again our sin-stained baptismal garment. The cleansing He brings results in the beauty of pure gold, shining silver, and shimmering white cloth.  Sister, if we feel unprepared for Christmas, we can take heart. The liturgical season of Advent serves, like Saint John the Baptist, to prepare our hearts to receive God Incarnate! Let’s trust the Church’s preparation at work in us. Trust resolutely that whatever purifying grace is available in the Sacraments and through our private prayer during these final hours of Advent enables us to welcome Christ more fully into our hearts and to shine brightly in the unique mission He has given us. Relate to the Lord // How is the Lord purifying your heart this Advent? O Antiphon: O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!