In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 10
We have spent this first week together diving more deeply into the mystery of the Heart of Jesus: so merciful, so gentle, and so personally loving to each one of us. What a gift to start 2020 with several weeks of reflection and prayer of the gift of the Heart of Jesus to us!
There are many different types of prayers of consecration to the Sacred Heart. Today we reflect on one from St. Margaret Mary Alacoque...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 9
Like many little girls growing up, I found joy and creativity in using my imagination to play dress-up or house or to write short stories based off the American Girls book series, which I dearly loved.
However, when it came to playing dress-up, I differed from most other girls my age...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 8
Over the history of the Church, there have been many strong intellectual minds that have left us with ideas and thoughts to reflect upon. In more recent times, one such theologian is our previous Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. In his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, he writes: “He has loved us first and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love." ...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 7
Art, music, and words are powerful tools for revealing the glory of God. Many of us have had profound experiences while observing the beauty of nature or a stunning cathedral. The language of beauty, truth, and goodness speaks to the deepest parts of the human heart.
Today, I offer you this image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for prayer and reflection...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 6
Have you ever read a verse of Scripture or listened to a particular story in the Gospels and wondered, "What is Jesus talking about?! This _____ cannot possibly be as simple as He explains it!"
The verse to guide our prayer today from the Gospel of St. Matthew is one such verse for me...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 5
The song we are reflecting today is one of my top three favorite worship songs. A few months ago, I was flying home from the Southern BIS Shine Retreat when I had a powerful encounter with God on the airplane as I was listening to this song...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 4
It was a hot summer day in August. I was standing outside cell block 11, where Saint Maximilian Kolbe was martyred, the starvation bunker where he survived for almost two weeks. A simple priest who gave his life for a man he did not even know.
Head bowed, tears streaming down my face, I just started talking to St. Max...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 3
Toward the end of last year, I was working through some goal-setting worksheets to help me cast a vision with the Lord for 2020. One of the worksheets was aimed at defining exactly what matters to me—at my core and in the long run. This worksheet was filled with fill-in-the-blanks, prompting us to define what is truly most important. Laughably, I got stuck at just the second fill-in-the-blank...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 2
The heart has been a poetic symbol across centuries and cultures. Phrases like, "I love you with my whole heart," "My heart is broken," and "I put my heart into this" are common expressions we use. When we speak of the "heart," we refer to the deepest part of someone. The core of who they are.
The human heart is capable of experiencing overwhelming happiness and crippling grief; unconditional love and bitter betrayal.Â
And when the Word was made flesh, He took on a human heart.
How to Set Spiritual Resolutions for the New Year
For many years, “grow in my relationship with God” was the first resolution I set after ringing in a new year. Want to hear a little confession? I don’t make...
In His Heart: The 2020 Prayer Pledge // Day 1
A new decade dawns with this new day. The Light of the World brings forth new light and new mercies as we pass from one year to the next.
Perhaps you're greeting 2020 with a heart full of hope—eager to embrace possibilities and strive to achieve fresh goals. Perhaps you're limping into 2020—the last year leaving you feeling defeated physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally, or mentally. Perhaps you're entering 2020 with trepidation, confusion, or apathy—uncertain about your direction for the next ten years.
Wherever you find yourself on this first day of the year, sister, you are in His Heart.
Starting Extended Family Sunday Dinners
“Just do it,” my friend said. “You’ll be glad you did.” We were talking about her family’s commitment to gathering on Sunday evenings for dinner. I told her my husband...
