As a nineteen-year-old college student, I first stumbled upon Saint Peregrine in a small chapel somewhere in Europe. Surrounded by hundreds of candles, this little chapel tucked away in the back of a larger church caught my eye. Why did this particular chapel have such a draw that so many left their candle offerings there? Who was this Saint who, although covered in candle smoke, prominently had his leg showing a large gash? As I figured out who he was, I too became one of the pilgrims to leave a candle.   Canonized in 1726, 381 years after his death, his feast day is May 2. In 1260, he was born the only son in a wealthy Italian family , which was tied very closely to politics at the time. As a result of this political involvement, his family was staunchly anti-papist in a time when the pope had great secular and spiritual power.  Peregrine went so far as to hit the papal representative that had been sent to calm down a local uprising. This papal representative, Philip Benzini—himself a canonized saint—turned and offered Peregrine the other cheek. Eighteen-year-old Peregrine, overcome by Saint Philip’s humility and concrete living of the Gospel, is said to have run three miles after Saint Philip, repented, and asked for his forgiveness. Thus began his conversion, and a few years later, he joined the Servite Order. His conversion led him to be a merciful priest.  A good priest, as well as a popular confessor and preacher, he went on to found a Servite monastery in Forli, Italy. It was in this monastery that there occurred the event which led to  his patronage as a saint. He developed a cancerous growth on his foot. It was not only painful, but also caused a stench, causing people to turn away from him. The doctors could not provide relief, except with amputation. Crawling to the chapel, he spent the night before the operation in prayer, begging the Lord to spare his leg. The following morning he was completely cured! News of this miracle became widespread and his popularity increased even more. He lived to be 80, and his popularity after his death spread throughout Europe. He is known as the patron saint of cancer and running sores.  {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Answered Prayers?  I began praying to him as a young 19-year-old for a dear friend of the family, my kindergarten teacher, who was suffering from breast cancer that had metastasized all over her body. She passed away three years later.  Five years later, I asked for his help for my uncle, dying of liver cancer. He passed away after a short battle with cancer.  About five years after that, I began praying to him again, this time for my dad, who had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Three years later, he also passed away .  Did those prayers go unseen, unheard by Saint Peregrine? Was he too busy with the countless souls suffering this horrible illness? Did it even matter? Why didn’t this wonder worker work wonders for me?  Even though I didn’t get the outcome I was hoping for in my prayers and Saint Peregrine’s intercession, those prayers were heard, seen, and answered.  My dear kindergarten teacher, who had introduced my parents, became a radical prayer warrior through the Rosary during her battle with cancer. My mom went to visit her every week, which witnessed to me the gift of friendship and intercession, through the corporal works of mercy she did without thinking, purely out of love.  My uncle was reconciled to the Church shortly before he passed away.   My dad gave the witness on how to bear suffering patiently to all of us, saying on occasion, “This is the cross I’ve been asked to bear.” Our family grew closer during this time, and again, my mom was heroic in her witness and care for him. He passed on Trinity Sunday, during the Divine Mercy hour, while we were praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced a moment more holy than when he passed from here to eternity.  “Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!”  “Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!” is one of the Servite mottos, and this is how Saint Peregrine interceded in my life. In the dear ones who have battled cancer—not just these I shared, but also friends and classmates from college—these words describe how they lived after their diagnosis: “Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!” For those suffering with cancer, the veil between heaven and earth becomes even thinner, and a strength, trust, and hope that is only from God gives them the grace to be there. For those of us entrusted to take care of those with cancer, being at their side is a privileged place to see God.  Saint Peregrine is always at work interceding for those with cancer. Ask his prayers and see the good he can bring about. It may look different than you imagined, but it will be good. God is always working about our good and for our good, and He listens to Saint Peregrine’s prayers that we become better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than today. He intercedes for us to become saints, and there is no better gift than that.

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Unaware of what I was going through, a friend sent me a picture of a kintsugi bowl with the message, “When I see you, I see gold.” Kintsugi is the Japanese art of bowl-mending. Artisans reassemble broken ceramic bowls and costly gold is set into the seams between the shards. The cracks are not concealed, they are accentuated—remaining a symbol of admiration, bestowing more value, emboldening strength. Today as we celebrate the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, I can’t help but think of how accurately her life resembled kintsugi. Set against the brutal Black Plague in Italy, her witness emanated a rare kind of beauty, reminding us that God doesn’t merely fix us in our suffering, He restores us to usefulness, and by virtue of gleaming Grace, transforms the world around us. Early Life of Catherine Catherine was born Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa in the spring of 1347. She and her twin sister, who died in infancy, were the twenty-third and twenty-fourth of twenty-five children. At the tender age of seven, Catherine was touched by extraordinary movements of the Holy Spirit and began to see visions of Jesus seated in glory with Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint John the Evangelist. The sense of affirmation that God was calling her to a life consecrated to Him was both powerful and permanent. As a child, Catherine was nicknamed Euphrosyne, which in Greek means “joy.” Though Catherine’s mother longed for a "normal" daughter, Catherine refused to be stereotypically feminine. At age fifteen, she frantically chopped off her hair to thwart pressures to marry and even dreamed of joining a monastery disguised as a boy. At sixteen, motivated by a vision of Saint Dominic, Catherine entered the Third Order of the Dominicans, the female branch known as the Mantellate.  Catherine spent many hermetic years in the confinement of her room, where she experienced spiritual union with God which she described as "mystical espousal" to Christ. It was in this encounter that she discovered true ‘joy’ in the face of plague and pain. It was in this solitude that she wrestled to gain dominion over her heart and fleshly impulses. It was in this intimacy that she experienced the all-consuming Divine fire that invades our hearts, transforms our lives, and turns the world upside down. Pursuing Truth with Love During Catherine’s era, the dark age of the Church was manifest. In a power struggle over dominance in northern Italy, the papacy had moved to Avignon.  In an age when women’s religious vocations were confined and apart from the world, it was Catherine who boldly informed Pope Gregory XI to leave Avignon and return to Rome. Often referring to Him as the "sweet Christ on earth,” she called him out in truth. “Respond to the Holy Spirit who is calling you,” she commanded. “Come! Come! Come! Don’t wait for time because time isn’t waiting for you.”  We don’t have to have a call like Saint Catherine’s to have experienced the sting of having to speak truth with people we care so deeply about. How desperately we want them to know Jesus, the only sure way to freedom. But because speaking truth in love can be so challenging (see Ephesians 4:15), we tend to either speak it with harshness or say nothing in so-called “love.” Catherine’s evangelical fervor overflowed not so much from what she spoke but rather from what God did in her interior life. She was completely docile to the Spirit. She understood that truth brings transformation, not by merely standing on podiums but by restoring from within. Truth penetrates to the degree all our faculties are surrendered in worship. Truth produces fruit when we seek reconciliation for the ways we fall short of Grace.  Catherine was unconcerned about making a mark as a woman in active service to the Church,  and was more consumed by Christ's love for her to be a woman who serves.  In the Church of the twenty-first century, in which one finds fractures of sexual abuse and financial corruption or manifestations of dishonesty and raw ambition, Catherine’s love for a sinful Church is not easy to embrace. Yet it was this love that brought clarity and conviction, rallied support for change, and unified Christians in service.  Are our words and actions seasoned with truth and love?   If we are criticizing the Church more than we are praying for her, we are not speaking truth, we are not serving in love, and we are not reflecting Christ.  {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} “I see Gold” It is hard to grasp the strain the “Black Death” put on the physical and spiritual fabric of Siena. The illness seemed to strike through breath and sight. People went to bed perfectly healthy and were found dead in the morning. Yet, despite it all, Catherine stayed and served. Her devotion to the sick was as contagious as the Plague itself. In the midst of poverty, terror, and stench, Catherine spread the aroma of Christ, often risking her own life. I have often pondered over Catherine’s witness, especially last year. It seemed like the pieces of my life were so destroyed that they weren’t just shattered: they were ground to dust. I found myself taking the familiar path of self-protection, retreating from pain, even glamorizing the gouges of my circumstances. But it is precisely here that Christ met me personally and profoundly and used my suffering to reveal more of Himself to me. He was the gold that bound my broken pieces, lovingly, painstakingly putting them back together. Where my heart was ground to dust, He created a new one, filling every crack with His light and life.  Interestingly, in kintsugi, before the artisans begin mending, they hold the broken pieces in their hands and honor them. This is what God was calling me to do: to honor the broken pieces of my heart, to entrust my sorrows to His Sacred Heart, to relinquish my pain to His wise plan and to trust that He was at work in the darkness.  Though all I saw were broken places, people saw gold.  At the heart of Catherine's service was the image of a bleeding Christ, the Redeemer—ablaze with fiery charity, eager sacrifice, and unqualified forgiveness. In The Dialogue Jesus told her, "Your love should be sincere: you should love your neighbors with the same love with which you love Me." Catherine had astounding spiritual manifestations, but she understood that being seated with Christ in the heavenly places did not mean lolling about in mystic ecstasies. It meant being brought down from ineffable glory into the valley to be crushed in service. It meant asking God to use her in whatever way possible to mend the brokenness she saw around her. Sisters, we each have our own private stories that have shattered us. Mankind is fallen and we are all broken. But in the slain Lamb of God, who now stands (Revelation 5), we can encounter both the beauty and power of One who died and yet is living. In Him, our broken pieces remain an important part of our history. In Him, their redemptive value is extended to those who do not know how to confront their pain and only see broken pieces.  God wants to heal your broken places with golden lines. Will you yield to His beautifying work so others can see gold . . . so people can encounter our gracious Redeemer?  Rebuild My Church  It is no coincidence that Saint Catherine was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970, on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis’s call from God to “Rebuild my Church” continues to echo through the generations. Today, on her feast day, Catherine urges us women to return to our spiritual boot camps and become houses of prayer. She urges us to return to intimacy, to pursue truth and become who God made us to be, so we can go forth and set this world on fire.

It was last year, while listening to The Bible In A Year Podcast, that the deep beauty of the Gospel of Mark was revealed to me. In the past, likely due to its brevity, I had not given his message the focus I had prescribed to the other Gospel writers. Yet its brevity is a mark of beauty, as it compelled Saint Mark to write succinctly.  There are many lessons we learn from Mark’s Gospel, and even with its shortness, innumerable unique aspects are found therein. It is only in his Gospel that we hear Jesus called, “Son of Mary” (Mark 6:3). He is also the only Gospel writer who identifies himself as the author.  Euthus, Immediately  Though I found, and continue to find, abundant wisdom in Saint Mark’s Gospel, one lesson—rather one word—stands out: immediately. Saint Mark uses the word euthus, translated immediately, over forty times in his Gospel. Averaging two times per chapter, this word allows Saint Mark to evoke in the reader a sense of urgency, a sense of the now..  {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} The Time For Grace Is Now Saint Mark teaches us the importance of action in the present moment. So often I fall into the temptation of indecision. As theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard taught, making no decision is a decision in itself. Too easily, I fall into the sin of sloth, which at its root, is lack of charity toward God and neighbor. We can combat both of these personal defects with Saint Mark’s call to immediacy—his invitation to live life fully present, fully alive, full of grace. Saint Mark reminds us that grace is found in the present moment, and the time for grace is now. When we do things immediately, when we glorify God, when we love Him and our neighbor right now, we are imitating our Lord. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus prays immediately, moves immediately, teaches immediately. He does not wait, rather, He entrusts His will to the Father and acts. Within those immediate actions, grace is outpoured. The Action We Can Take Now Is there a decision that you need to make that you have been putting off? Is there a conversation or a phone call that you feel called to initiate or a message which you are prompted to write that you just haven’t done? Do you feel moved to serve, but just haven’t started yet? Often a spirit of fear, timidity, and anxiety can paralyze us. Sloth enters in. It’s easier to scroll than it is to move. It’s easier to not decide than it is to use our heart, mind, wisdom, and will. It’s easier to live passively, taking life as it comes, rather than making a decision and living with its consequences—good or bad. However, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). God has placed us in this time in history, this very moment, this very now, to live a life of abundance—to glorify Him and spread His message of hope, joy, and Resurrection. He has called us to a life of discernment and decision, a life of both faith and action, a life of love and works. “Do not fear, only believe.” // Mark 5:36 The powerful reality in this all is that we need not fear. “What if I make the wrong decision?” is a question that often halts our resolutions. But even if we do, God will bless our goodwill and our trust, and will create beauty—sometimes even more beauty (O Happy Fault!)—from the decisions we make. Pray, discern, seek counsel, and then act. God blesses a decisive heart.  There are many fruits to living in the immediacy that Saint Mark proclaims. A slothful heart is won over by virtue, union with the Father is achieved, and good works abound. May we, on this Feast of Saint Mark, pray, hope, act, and receive—always uniting our will with the Father’s and trusting in His abundant goodness and grace.

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Have you been waiting for God to answer questions about your vocation or career? Have you applied for a big college scholarship and are trying hard to entrust the unknown outcome to the Lord? Are you waiting to meet your future husband? Are you waiting for clarity on a health issue—yours or a loved one’s? Throughout life, there are many seasons of waiting. These seasons are an invitation from the Lord to trust His will, His timing, and His promise of faithfulness to flourish in our lives. Settling Into a Season of Waiting Some years ago, already well into my vocation as wife and mother, I yearned for something God had planted in my heart years beforehand: the seeds of my heart’s desire. And I wondered if they would ever bloom. Then, an amazing opportunity came my way. It was a dream come true. I was so excited, and I couldn’t wait to dive in. But soon afterward, it became quite obvious that the project itself, as well as the timing of it, were not quite right. I had no peace about it, and anxiety overwhelmed me. At my very core, I knew God was asking me to wait. At first, I was very disappointed. Wait, Lord? Why? This is my heart’s desire! But in reality, some health issues had worn me down. And God knew I could not add one more thing to my plate. God’s prompting to wait gave me a profound amount of courage and grace to turn down the project. And while my heart’s desire remained, I settled into a season of waiting. Waiting: So Much More Than We Think Often when we think of waiting, we assume it is a waste of time. Like the type of waiting that happens in a long checkout line or in traffic. That type of waiting is filled with anxiety. We want to be anywhere but in the waiting. Waiting for God, however, is a completely different type of waiting, because it is not meaningless or idle. Rather, this waiting has purpose; it is active. It is a personal invitation from Jesus to come to Him and be attentive to what He is doing within us while we wait. When we wait for God, of course we are hopeful about what we are waiting for. But there is something good and desirable in the waiting itself. Yes, sometimes God has to do something within us before He can do something for us. For in the silence and stillness of our waiting, He comforts and consoles us. He brings us peace in the quiet of our hearts. He whispers what we need to hear. We Do Not Wait Alone If we can settle into the waiting, we realize that the waiting no longer seems unbearable. Because we are not waiting alone. We are waiting with. God’s invitation to wait gifts us with a closeness to—a “being with”—God that is truly worthwhile. In the waiting, we can pour our hearts out to Him. And we can listen to His message of love, mercy, peace, and hope—the message we may only hear while we wait. Scripture Verses to Pray During Times of Waiting The Bible is full of stories of God’s people enduring seasons of waiting. The Old Testament unfolds the narrative of their waiting for the Messiah to finally come. There is also the tale of waiting on the Lord while they were enslaved in Egypt, and of how God provided for them as they waited to enter the Promised Land. Sometimes, we need to remember how God fulfills His promises to help us through seasons of waiting, and the Psalms overflow with these reminders. Yes, the Bible abounds with verses that express what it’s like to entrust our waiting to the Lord. And they guide our own prayerful posture in the midst of waiting. Below is just a sampling of Scripture verses to pray during times of waiting. Wait Quietly Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. // Psalm 25:4-5 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. // Psalm 62:1 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. // Lamentations 3:25-26 Wait Courageously Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! // Psalm 27:14 But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. // Isaiah 40:31 But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. // Micah 7:7 Wait Patiently Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. // Romans 12:12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. // James 1:12 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. // 1 Peter 5:10 Wait Hopefully I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. // Psalm 130:5 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord . . . // Jeremiah 29:11-14 Be astonished! Be astounded! For a work is being done in your days that you would not believe if you were told. // Habakkuk 1:5 After the Waiting Reflecting back, that season of waiting I went through was hard but also blessed. While it did not result in what I had originally hoped for, God used that time to conform my heart to His. So that when a tiny bud blossomed from those seeds of my heart’s desire, I recognized His attentive handiwork. And I truly knew it was worth the wait.   HIS WORD CHANGES LIVES God is speaking to you through His Word. In this personal study, you will learn to hear God's voice by reading slowly and praying deeply. BEGIN THE JOURNEY

Even though suffering is such a big part of all of our lives on this side of heaven, no one necessarily likes talking about suffering. As if we don’t talk about it, then suffering will just disappear from our lives. And of course that’s furthest from the truth! My goal with this blog is to guide you and help you change the way you think about suffering. I don’t pretend to know what your personal struggles and wounds are, but as someone who knows a lot about suffering, I can sympathize. We live in a society that tells us we need to avoid suffering at all costs. Most of the time suffering is looked upon with resentment and the sentiment of “why me?” One of the many beautiful things about our Christian/Catholic faith is that it teaches us how, because of Christ’s sacrifice, suffering can be redemptive. Which means that despite the pain suffering brings, if we allow it by uniting it with Christ’s suffering, that same pain from our wounds can transform us and those around us.  God can use our experiences to draw us closer to Him. He can also make us into wounded healers for others.  Suffering is unavoidable  Once we get past the fact that suffering is unavoidable, then we can move on to praying that God will teach us how to suffer well. To suffer well is to understand that God can use our sufferings for the sanctification of our souls and that of others. Suffering can also transform us into better missionary disciples.Those who have suffered much are usually the ones who can love deeply and abundantly. With all the suffering and pain we are seeing all around us, it can be tempting to assume that God is no longer listening or that maybe He just doesn’t care. Of course that is not true. He does listen and He cares—1 John 5:14 says: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”  Sometimes, in our human nature and because we can only see parts of the puzzle which make up our lives here on earth, we find ourselves asking questions such as: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God allow so much suffering? And the list goes on.  One thing we can all agree on is that suffering is just part of our lives on this side of Heaven. We all go through it. What we do with our sufferings is what makes all the difference. {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} You are never alone in your suffering Friends, whatever struggles you are facing in this season of life, it’s good to remember that you are never alone. Psalm 34:18 reminds us that “God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit.'' This verse is one I cling to when I find myself in a dark place.  And remember this: Your sufferings and struggles are not a detour, but they are the most important part of your journey. It is from those struggles that the good Lord can make beautiful things. Our struggles also have the power to purify us—mostly from the illusion that we are in control of our lives. Simply put, we cannot become the best version of ourselves without going through those rough waters of our life journeys. We need to learn how to see God’s glory, even in the midst of our sufferings. Those struggles are unique to each one of us, and they might include pain from any of the following:  The sadness of losing a loved one  The devastation of being sexually, physically, or mentally abused  All types of addiction, including alcohol, drugs, and addiction to pornography  Depression and anxiety  Neglect and rejection  Chronic illness such as cancer  Going through a divorce or watching your parents go through a divorce And of course the list goes on…  In this fallen world we live in, it is difficult to find someone who doesn’t have some big wound that needs healing. If we allow it, those personal sufferings can become redemptive. We can get to a point in life where we are actually thankful for our scars, because we can clearly see that those same scars have brought us closer to Christ. After all I have been through in the aftermath of being raped and sexually abused at the tender age of eight years old while growing up in Brazil, I have come to believe that the worst part of suffering is not necessarily the suffering, but suffering alone. Our suffering, united with Jesus’ suffering, can bear immense fruit in this life and the next!  I love what Fr. Jacques Philippe says in one of his books, Interior Freedom: We need to stop dreaming of a life without suffering or conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously every day; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness.  Jesus was clear when He said in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have tribulations. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” In saying that in this world we would have tribulations I don’t think Jesus was trying to scare us. I think His goal was to prepare us. What Jesus is saying to you and me is this: “Yes, there will be suffering in this life, but remember that I have overcome suffering. Therefore, if you truly believe and trust in me, even though you will go through suffering, it will not destroy you.” And the reason why it will not destroy you is because with Jesus anything is possible. When we don’t see a way out of a situation, He’s there to show us the way. Jesus Himself will prepare us to go through all those trials and tribulations that are sure to come our way throughout our life journey. We need only do one thing: we need to welcome Jesus into our hearts and wounds and give Him permission to take over for us. When we have our foundation in Christ’s words to us we can stand any type of storm that comes our way. Friends, we all have a story, and our stories matter! You matter! The enemy will have you think that only other people’s stories matter. That’s another one of his lies. Healing happens not only internally, but also in communal sharing. That means when we share our stories, they have the power to inspire and give others hope. My story was never supposed to be told. You see, the enemy made me believe that I needed to keep my story hidden in his darkness. But then the Lord showed up and told me something completely different—He wanted me to tell my story so that other men and women like you would know that no matter what they have gone through, healing is available and possible to all God’s children. My story is the perfect example of how God can create amazing things with and from our broken pieces. Don’t be afraid of your broken pieces. Bring those broken pieces to the foot of the Cross. You will be amazed and in awe at what the Lord can do with those broken and hurting pieces of our hearts.  No matter what’s going on in your life right now, I pray that you can rest knowing that God sees your pain and that He desires to be your healer and comforter! Here are a few simple ways to unite your suffering to Christ as you are walking through your own dark valley. Place Christ at the center of everything in your life—that means your emotions, your struggles, your well-being.  Let the Divine Physician make you whole.  Shift from self-reliance to reliance on Christ.  Pray every day.  Read the Scriptures every day.  Cultivate awareness, consistency, patience, perseverance, compassion, and most importantly, trust.  Every night before going to sleep, surrender everything to the Father and sleep in His peace.

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“Worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” That’s what my mom would gently remind me of as I awaited the outcome of different events throughout my life. Would I pass my driver’s test, get a good ACT score, get into the college I wanted, etc.? Then, in the years beyond high school graduation, there came many more seasons of waiting. Will I land a job that I enjoy? Will I meet my future husband in college? How about in grad school? Still no…okay, what about later in my twenties or thirties? Am I called to religious life? Which order? Mission work? Where? Then even when some of these questions were  finally answered, I never seemed to find the peace that I assumed would come along with these answers. After I met my husband and got married, the questions continued: Will I have children? Will my unborn baby make it to full-term? Will I have another child?  Time and time again I have found my heart in another season of waiting, with great longing building up within me. In times like this I find that I resonate deeply with Psalm 130:5-6: “I wait with longing for the Lord, my soul waits for his word. My soul looks for the Lord, more than sentinels at daybreak. More than sentinels for daybreak.”  Learning from Longing Even as I write this, I find myself again in a season of struggling to “wait.” I am pregnant with our rainbow baby, and I am thrilled! But I keep thinking of all the things that could go wrong and of all the things that must go right. I want my waiting to result in what I hope for: a smooth pregnancy and a healthy child. In this season of being asked to wait, I notice myself hurrying about. I struggle to be still. To listen. I rush from thing to thing hoping that I will be distracted, and time will pass more quickly. I fear that if I stop to listen to His voice, He might say something I might not want to hear. I worry that His answer won’t align with the one I have in mind.  And then, when I do finally pause to listen, He gently calls me back into His arms, asking me to trust His goodness. He tells me that he wants more for me than my constant worrying about all the “what-ifs.”  Holy, Just, and Beautiful Saint Francis de Sales wrote: “While taking a walk by yourself, or when you are alone at some other time, turn your eye to God’s universal will . . . Then with profound humility, accept, praise, and then bless this sovereign will, which is entirely holy, just, and beautiful . . . Ponder this a while, as you consider not only the variety of his consolations, but above all the trials suffered by the good . . . Conclude with an act of great confidence in his will, believing that he will do everything for us and for our happiness.” Holy. Just. Beautiful. That is the will of our Father.  These three words are bringing me comfort in my time of waiting. I can rock in the rocking chair, keeping busy and going nowhere, or I can start walking in faith and in hope, confident that God wills my happiness.  {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Tested By Fire However, knowing that God wills our happiness doesn’t mean trials won’t come our way. In fact, scripture tells us just the opposite: we are basically promised suffering.  [A]lthough now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)  When gold is tested by fire, it burns all the impurities away leaving absolutely pure gold. This testing by fire reminds me of the lyrics in Blessing Offor’s song Believe.  What if you will something I won’t? If you don’t give me what I want But you give me what I need Is that enough to believe? So often I enter prayer with my intentions, hoping that God won’t will something that I don’t. I forget to praise God for who He is. To enter into prayer with the highest form there is: adoration. In this season of waiting, for me, and for you, we can remember that in this trial we are being purified. And through this time of being tested by fire, we can bring God praise, glory, and honor for his holy, just, and beautiful will. Despite our unknown. So turn up that praise and worship music. Don’t be afraid to praise Him. “Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8).  We have a good Father and we can trust that even when it’s hard to understand, our waiting will result in an indescribable and glorious joy.  And if we don’t get what we want? Keep waiting. “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to keep still” (Exodus 14:14).

Both my family and my husband’s family have long-depended upon the intercession of ‘the Theresas.’ My dad and his siblings all attended Saint Thérèse grade school. My husband’s family lineage may stem from the same line as the Little Flower, and my oldest chose Saint Teresa of Calcutta as her Confirmation saint a couple of years ago. My grandfather shared with me that he picked Thérèse as his intercessor while he was at war. When I asked him which one, he replied, “all of them.”  Which, it turns out, is a lot.  Perhaps a bit like being born a Kathryn in the ‘80’s—there are a lot of us too! It wasn’t until college that I stopped having to write my last initial behind my name to decipher myself from the sea of other Katies. I’ve since wondered if Saints ever experience that same anonymity when called only by their first names? Lesser-known stories Like many holy men and women, Saint Teresa of the Andes was introduced to me by way of Meg Hunter-Kilmer’s book Saints from Around the World. In her illustrated write-up, she describes Saint Teresa (whose given name was Juana Enriqueta Josephina de Los Sagrados Corazones Fernández Solar) as a pretty relatable young woman: someone who was playful, loved to be the life of the party, and sometimes got a little wild. On occasion she was even described as self-centered and hot-tempered. Influenced by another Thérèse Despite these tendencies, or because of them, Juanita gradually allowed Jesus to become more and more the center of her life. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (the Little Flower) died just three years before Juanita was born. Her writing had a lasting impact on the young Juana, as did receiving her First Communion. Upon reading Saint Thérèse’s autobiography, she realized that a life  most closely modeled on the Lord’s would call her from her selfish tendencies into loving others well. Those who have read her diary entries have noted a marked difference after this time in Juana’s spiritual writings. When she was 18, she entered a Carmelite monastery near her home and was given the name Teresa, though her time as a discalced Carmelite was short. She died nearly one year after she had entered, possibly having contracted the Spanish flu. She is remembered for the letters she wrote about God’s love. Larger impact Teresa of the Andes was the first saint canonized from the country of Chile. She is the patroness of Santiago, young people, and the sick. Saint Teresa was also chosen to be among the ‘young witnesses’ during the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment in 2018. These young, international men and women serve as inspiration to the wide variety of callings and gifts given to be used in the name of Jesus in the world. It is a happy coincidence and Providence that both Teresa of the Andes and Thérèse of Lisieux are represented on this list.  Thank heaven for the witnesses we have been given, and those who are determined not to let their stories be lost to history or region. We need to be reminded of the breadth of the Mystical Body, the abundance of our gifts, and the variety of those who have responded to the call to love God so that we are equipped to bring our love of God into the world in our own particular time and place.  {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Prayer for surrender to the heart of Jesus Only God can satisfy us. He is truth and unchangeable good. He is eternal love. Oh, my Jesus and my Mother, may I belong to Him forever. May nothing on earth claim my attention but the tabernacle. Preserve me pure for Yourself so that when I die I can say: how happy I am now that at last I can lose myself in the infinite Ocean of the Heart of Jesus, my adored Spouse. Saint Teresa of Jesus Fernández Solar of the Andes (source) St. Teresa of the Andes, pray for us! *For further information, FORMED has put out a six episode mini-series about the life of St. Teresa of the Andes.

There is no denying that the Liturgical Year of Saint Joseph shed a spotlight on the humble Nazarean carpenter, bringing into greater focus the monumental role this young, virtuous man played in Jesus’ life. Joseph was no accident. He was not some bystander that just happened to be a part of the Holy Family. Joseph, too, was chosen by God to fulfill a need for Jesus’ humanity. It was the just Joseph who modeled virtue, service, suffering, and surrender to the Child Jesus. And perhaps one of the greatest things Joseph ever had to surrender was the end of his life. Before Jesus’ public ministry could begin, Joseph’s earthly life had to end. Otherwise every ear that heard Jesus speak about His Father would wonder “the carpenter?” and completely disregard whatever He had to say. So, in a final act of surrender to the Divine Will, Joseph passed away peacefully before the crux of his foster Son’s life, surrounded by Mary and Jesus. Two Possibilities Unsurprisingly, the beauty of this death was not without its pain. Surely, the perfect hearts of Jesus and Mary missed and mourned the head of their home, both immediately and all throughout the years to follow. During joyful moments of Jesus’ ministry, they would have longed to have him share their exuberance. During painful moments, they likely longed for his presence and support—perhaps it was even a great comfort to Mary when Joseph of Arimathea, who shared the same name as her husband, stepped forward to make burial arrangements with Pontius Pilate and donated his own tomb to be used by Jesus.  There is no way that this small, tight-knit, perfect family did not feel the sting of Joseph’s absence over and over and over again. However, we also know that Jesus defeated death, and at some point, Joseph would have been reunited with his foster Son, the Savior of the world. Where would this joyous reunion have taken place? Logic allows us to deduce two possibilities. {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} 1. In Hell Between His death on Good Friday and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday, Jesus descended into hell to rescue all the righteous souls who had died before Him. This was a final blow to Satan, who was defeated definitively on his “home turf.” This is also the first possible location for Jesus’ reunion with His earthly father.  Can you imagine being Joseph at this moment? Having waited in the spiritual anguish of Sheol for years, knowing your Son will come, but also knowing He will pay a great price in order to make it there? Can you picture what he witnessed as Christ came down? Was it gradual light like the dawn, or something more instantaneous and drastic? The emotion and pride Saint Joseph must have felt! And Jesus too—what must it have felt like for Him to rescue the father who raised Him and taught Him all about sacrificial Love? 2. On Earth, On Easter A position long-held by many Saints is that the first thing Jesus did when He rose from the dead on Easter morning was go rejoice with His Mother. This not only explains why the tomb was empty (He could have just stayed sitting there and showed everyone immediately that He was alive), but it also explains why the Blessed Virgin never returned to the tomb herself. She had no need to go finish the burial process—she could see that Jesus was already alive! This is the second possible location for Jesus’ reunion with Saint Joseph as well. One of the lesser known events that occurred at the moment of Jesus’ death was a mass resurrection of the dead. Matthew 27:52-53 reads: “[T}he tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” Many top theologians take the position that Joseph was among the Saints who were raised, that he was with Mary as she kept vigil on Holy Saturday awaiting Jesus’ return, and the entire Holy Family celebrated the salvation of mankind together first thing on Easter morning. The triumph they must have felt at this moment! The gratitude for God’s mercy! Regardless which of these events transpired, imagining both can lead one to weep.

Retreats, sabbaticals, and sabbath rest are glorious things: time set apart to be with the Lord, in His presence, attentive to His work in a way we miss at times in the day-to-day busyness of life. Sometimes the hardest part of retreat is the end. After all, you “have competed well . . . have finished the race . . . have kept the faith”  (2 Timothy 4:7).  So what now?  To continue St. Paul’s analogy, after a long run or hard workout you need time to cool down. In fact, some argue that the cooling down process is the most important part of the workout. It improves circulation, prevents stiffness, and over time, improves overall performance. And, as is the case with so many things of the body, so it is for the soul. The “cool down” time after a retreat solidifies graces, promotes new fervor, and strengthens us spiritually.  How do we enter that time after a retreat? What does it concretely look like? I offer three ways: a gathering of graces, resolutions, and an entrustment to Mary. Gathering of Graces A gathering of graces, an Ignatian practice, is exactly what it sounds like. Where did God work during the time away with Him? What do you understand differently about Him and yourself now? What are you grateful for?  It’s important to have this to reflect on throughout the next few months, even years. We have all experienced the let down from a “retreat high”—but gathering the graces helps us to move past that to remember all the good the Lord has done (Psalm 126:3). Even if you are not someone who frequently journals—or even if you have never journaled—write these graces down. Scientific studies show that we remember things better when we write them by hand. And don’t just write it down and stuff it on a shelf. But for the next few weeks review the graces once a week, letting the Holy Spirit remind you of what He’s done and is still doing. (John 14:26) Resolutions At the end of your time, it is good to set resolutions. These resolutions will carry the graces received during your retreat into your everyday life.  We’ve all experienced setting resolutions and then not following through. What’s the difference with setting resolutions after a retreat experience? You have received many graces during your time away because “[g]race is a participation in the life of God” (CCC §1997). You may not see them, or even know them, but they are there! Have confidence that “the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:4).  The resolutions you make are simple reminders of the encounters you’ve had with the Lord and His work in you. It might be offering a decade of the Rosary in thanksgiving once a week for graces received. It could be looking over your gathering of graces once a week for the next month during your prayer time. It could be spiritual reading on a particular grace the Lord brought to light. It doesn’t have to be complex, and really shouldn’t be, as then it could distract from the real gift of the retreat: a deeper encounter with the Lord. I heard someone recently say, “What the devil can’t destroy he accelerates.” The evil one does this also with resolutions—both Lenten and retreat ones—by trying to get us to complicate the resolutions so that we will abandon them.    {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Entrustment to Our Lady  That’s why we need Our Lady! We can entrust the graces received during our time of rest and retreat to her. One of my friends has seasonal bins into which she gathers her children’s toys, and then brings them out again the next year or when the children need a refresh. There might be a little complaining or whining when the toy is first tucked away, but when she brings them out again, it’s like Christmas! Many had been forgotten about, and now are happy reminders and a refresher.  I see Our Lady doing much the same with us and the graces we entrust to her. As a good mother, she is happy to hold on to them until we need them. She also sees the bigger picture better than we do. She knows when we need the reminder and the refresher. It may hurt initially to entrust them over to her, but when she reminds us later of the gift it’s exactly when we need it. St. Bernardine said, “All the gifts, graces, virtues of the Holy Spirit are distributed by the hands of Mary, to whom she wills, when she wills, as she wills, and in the measure she wills.”  St Louis de Montfort says in True Devotion to Mary:  “Pour, pour into the bosom and the heart of Mary all your treasures, all your graces, all your virtues. She is a spiritual vessel, she is a vessel of honor, she is a marvelous vessel of devotion. Since God Himself has been shut up in person, with all His perfections, in that vessel, it has become altogether spiritual, and the spiritual abode of the most spiritual souls.”  Even after a time of sabbatical, our vessels are still fragile. We’ve grown, learned and formed new habits, but we’re still fragile. Our Lady’s vessel is not—she can weather any storm that comes along after our time of rest. She's the ironclad to our vulnerable wooden ship.  Storms will come. We will want to run back to the place of rest. We may be tempted to give up on the resolutions we have made or to doubt the graces we have been given. But Jesus assures us: “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you” (John 14:26).  So most of all, be at peace. “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

" repos" Ce mot a résonné dans mon estomac et l'a noué. J'étais arrivé à la fin d'une autre semaine, épuisé, une fois de plus. Le travail du ministère, les tâches ménagères et les horaires scolaires ont basculé en jonglant avec les problèmes de santé. Quelque part en cours de route, les frontières entre le ministère et le temps passé en famille ont été constamment franchies. En essayant d'être "vendue pour Jésus", j'étais devenue "épuisée pour Jésus". Ma force avait échoué et ma maturité spirituelle avait plafonné. Sans surprise, à cette époque, j'ai rencontré de nombreux dirigeants de l'Église qui se posaient la même question. Trop d'entre nous étaient tombés amoureux du Teach. Servir. Travail. Récompense. Répétez le cycle. Le résultat? Je me suis retrouvé à assimiler constamment le travail à ma valeur, mesurant ma vie de famille au nombre de dîners auxquels nous sommes allés et ma vie spirituelle au nombre de voyages missionnaires que j'ai animés. La seule fois où j'ai senti que j'en avais assez fait, c'était quand je tournais à vide. Pendant ces mois abrutissants, j'ai été confronté au gâchis de ma propre conception. De toute évidence, j'avais fait de l'épuisement une idole. De toute évidence, il était temps de récupérer le repos du sabbat. Le rythme du repos (du sabbat) "Que la lumière soit", Dieu a parlé au vide au début. Et, Dieu a créé des rythmes (Genèse 1:12) Quand Adam est entré dans l'Eden, il est entré dans le rythme du jour et de la nuit, des saisons et des marées. Entre ces rythmes, Dieu en a ajouté un de plus - un septième jour de la semaine (Genèse 2 :1-3), un modèle reflétant Son propre caractère, un rythme qu'Adam était appelé à imiter, à apprécier et à accomplir. Il est alarmant de constater à quel point nos vies sont devenues de moins en moins rythmées. Dans une culture qui considère l'immobilité comme de la paresse et le repos comme de la paresse, nos soirées et nos matins ont perdu leur sens et notre refus de nous reposer entraîne des problèmes de santé mentale, des relations brisées, des familles brisées et la toxicomanie. Est-il étonnant que Dieu nous ait donné le sabbat ?  Dans l'ancien Israël, le sabbat commençait du coucher du soleil le vendredi soir jusqu'au coucher du soleil le samedi soir. Contrairement à la plupart d'entre nous, où le jour commence avec nos réveils déchirant l'obscurité d'avant l'aube, pour les Hébreux, le jour a commencé dans la nuit…. avec Dieu. En cette nuit, depuis le commencement, Dieu a parlé, travaillé, créé et renouvelé, tandis que l'homme dormait. Lorsque l'homme s'est réveillé, il a participé à l'œuvre créatrice de Dieu. Il s'est réveillé dans un monde qu'il n'avait pas créé. Il a reçu un salut qu'il n'a pas mérité. L'homme ne se repose pas du travail. L'homme, travaille du repos. En d'autres termes, le sabbat émerge de la vie et de l'être même de Dieu. C'est un témoignage de l'amour de l'alliance de Dieu. C'est un rappel que nous appartenons parce que nous sommes déjà acceptés. C'est la liberté face aux exigences incessantes de la technologie et de la productivité. Et c'est une invitation à élargir nos cœurs pour la présence inépuisable de Dieu afin que sa vie divine puisse inonder nos âmes, revigorer nos esprits et nous permettre de témoigner du monde perdu d'Eden. {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Laissez mon peuple partir  J'avais travaillé plus de 80 heures par semaine durant cette saison. Pas de frontières. Pas de rythmes. Pas de repos. Dans mon rôle de leader du ministère, je me sentais obligé d'être disponible pour tout le monde. Chaque crise était ma crise. Chaque plainte, mon problème. De plus, j'ai été bombardé par la tendance toujours croissante et omniprésente des soins personnels, m'offrant une myriade de solutions allant des publicités thérapeutiques aux lattes, thés et huiles. Mais, en dehors de la présence de Dieu, mes faibles tentatives de « repos » - qu'il s'agisse de faire la grasse matinée, de jours de congé ou de divertissements, ressemblaient à des graines plantées dans le granit. J'ai semé, creusé et arrosé mais le sol de mon âme n'a pas pu retenir les graines. Je cherchais le repos mais récoltais l'agitation à la place. Quand les Hébreux reçurent l'ordre "d'observer" le jour du Sabbat (Deutéronome 5:12), ils savaient ce que cela signifiait. Esclaves depuis 400 ans, ils ne savaient pas ce que c'était que de se reposer. Par conséquent, la commande de prendre un jour chaque semaine était un appel clair pour vivre libre, vivre plus haut et laisser derrière soi des amours moindres. Mark Buchanan, dans son livre Le Reste de Dieu écrit : « D'une certaine manière, le but de l'Exode était le Sabbat. Laisse aller mon peuple, est devenu le cri de ralliement de Dieu, afin qu'il puisse m'adorer. Au cœur de la liberté - d'être abandonné - se trouve le culte. Mais au cœur du culte se trouve le repos. Seul un adorateur peut transformer le travail de ses mains en offrande. Après des rencontres régulières avec mon directeur spirituel, fréquentant le confessionnal et retournant au cœur du culte, j'ai pu prendre du recul et pousser un soupir de soulagement. En réduisant les tâches du ministère, en cultivant l'adoration et en introduisant le silence, j'ai pu faire l'expérience du repos revigorant de Dieu. Le repos a un nom À la fin de l'année dernière, j'ai réfléchi à Matthieu 11 :28 : « Venez à moi, vous tous qui êtes chargés et chargés, et je vous donnerai du repos. » Le mot « repos » était révélateur. Je m'y suis accroché comme mon mot pour 2023. J'ai compris que pour entrer dans ce repos, je devais laisser derrière moi l'orgueil et l'autonomie - cette tendance féroce à contrôler mes fardeaux et à répondre aux besoins de chacun. Je dois reconnaître que je n'ai pas besoin de l'étiquette de « bonne mère, épouse, dirigeante » pour gagner la faveur de Dieu. Mon agitation ne peut pas être résolue par une journée au spa ou un café au lait sucré ou un éventail d'activités spirituelles. Cela commence au niveau de l'âme, là où mon mal et ma fatigue les plus profonds demeurent…. cet endroit où Jésus désire le plus entrer. Le vrai repos ne découle pas d'une pause hebdomadaire, mais d'une personne - Jésus, qui est notre repos. Il est notre vie, notre salut, le septième jour. Le rafraîchissement qu'il fournit ne dépend pas de nos circonstances ou de notre emploi du temps, mais simplement de notre obéissance à « venir » à lui. Ma sœur, es-tu fatiguée ? Épuisé? « Viens » , dit Jésus. Personne n'est exclu. Il promet de ne rien mettre de lourd ou de mal ajusté sur vous ; simplement une occasion de se rafraîchir et d'être attaché à lui. Le repos favorise des relations fructueuses Très souvent, nous croyons inconsciemment qu'il est saint de servir les autres au détriment de notre bien-être. Mais ce n'est pas l'Evangile. Jésus lui-même est allé dans les montagnes et a prié seul. Il n'a jamais agi hors du rythme, n'a jamais été contrôlé par des horaires chargés et n'a jamais vécu pour répondre aux attentes des gens. Comment puis-je aimer les autres sans reconnaître l'amour de Dieu pour moi ? Comment puis-je voir les besoins de ma communauté sans admettre mes propres besoins ? Avant de pouvoir contribuer au réveil, nous devons d'abord être rafraîchis. Nos horaires chargés créent des relations satellites. Mais lorsque nous nous reposons vraiment, nous faisons intentionnellement de la place aux autres. En observant le sabbat, nous nous voyons tels que nous sommes et nous nous considérons comme faisant partie intégrante d'une communauté. Dans notre repos, nous permettons aux autres de se reposer. Dans notre repos, nous favorisons des relations fructueuses. Dans notre repos, nous permettons aux mariages de s'épanouir. Dans notre repos, nous enseignons à nos enfants que la grâce est réelle. Dans notre repos, nous nous souvenons que nous ne faisons pas pousser le grain et que notre plus grand accomplissement ne vient pas par l'acquisition de choses matérielles, mais seulement par le fait de demeurer en Christ. Au cours de toutes ces années de ministère, je n'ai pas encore rencontré une personne spirituellement prospère qui observe accidentellement un sabbat. Le sabbat est intentionnel. C'est un engagement. C'est un rythme de Grâce. Ma sœur, j'ai besoin d'une histoire qui se déroule différemment du travail, de la récompense, de la répétition. J'ai besoin d'une histoire qui parle - Blessed. Fécondité. Repos. Et toi? Alors que nous commençons le carême demain, ma prière pour vous est que le repos du sabbat devienne une réalité indéniable cette année, un cadeau rafraîchissant qui attend d'être déballé, une confirmation que vous n'êtes jamais seul et un témoignage du repos permanent de Dieu, en particulier pendant les saisons de lassitude. .

Dans la chambre que je partageais avec ma sœur pendant notre enfance, nous avions une petite statue phosphorescente de Notre-Dame de Fatima avec trois petits enfants agenouillés devant elle. Je n'ai jamais vraiment remarqué Notre-Dame et je n'ai pas beaucoup pensé aux petits enfants. Une fois, après avoir visité le sanctuaire national de Notre-Dame de Fatima , qui se trouve dans mon état natal du New Jersey, ma mère est rentrée à la maison avec un livre pour moi en cadeau. Il racontait l'histoire de Fatima et avait un accent particulier sur les enfants de Fatima et ce que notre Seigneur leur a révélé, ainsi que sur la façon dont ils ont réagi. Je me suis laissé emporter par la dévotion de ces petits enfants. Quel amour ils avaient pour Notre-Seigneur et pour les âmes ! Qui étaient-ils? Francisco et Jacinta sont nés de Manuel Marto et d'Olimpia de Jesus, portant leur total d'enfants à neuf. Francisco est né le 11 juin 1908 et Jacinta est née le 11 mars, deux ans plus tard. Bien qu'ils soient frères et sœurs, Lucia, leur cousine et la troisième visionnaire de Fatima, a noté que les deux étaient tout à fait opposés. Francisco était un type plus calme et docile, heureux de contempler la nature et de se promener en silence ou de jouer de la flûte. Jacinta était vive et énergique, ainsi qu'une âme sensible. Lucia admet que sa cousine Jacinta était un peu gâtée, en tant que benjamine d'une grande famille, et que Francisco n'a pas toujours aimé prier ( source ). Et pourtant, nous voyons que les cœurs de ces deux jeunes ont été transformés lorsqu'ils ont reçu le message de Notre-Dame et l'appel à prier et à faire pénitence pour le monde. Francisco est décédé à l'âge de onze ans et Jacinta, un an plus tard, peu avant son dixième anniversaire. Ils ont été canonisés par le Pape François en 2017. Au cours de leur vie, vécue comme une offrande d'amour pour consoler le Cœur de Jésus et le Cœur Immaculé de Marie, Jacinta et Francisco sont devenus un exemple de 1 Timothée 4 :12 : « Que personne ne méprise ta jeunesse, mais donne aux croyants un exemple de parole et de conduite, d'amour, de foi, de pureté. » Message de Notre-Dame Avant que Notre-Dame ne commence à apparaître aux trois en 1917, Jacinta, Francisco et leur cousine aînée Lucia ont d'abord été approchés par un ange. Cet ange leur a enseigné de belles prières d'affection à Notre-Seigneur, pour consoler son Cœur et les a préparés aux visions et aux messages qu'ils recevraient plus tard de Mère Marie. Au cours de ces occasions de visite divine, l'ange récitait les prières avec les enfants en se prosternant, une position que les enfants adopteraient plus tard en priant en privé, adorant le Seigneur et implorant des grâces pour ceux qui en avaient besoin. Les visites de Notre-Dame aux enfants ont commencé en mai 1917 et ont culminé le 13 octobre de la même année avec le célèbre Miracle du Soleil, où les foules présentes ont vu le soleil comme s'il dansait puis descendait vers eux comme s'il tombait du ciel. . Pendant ce temps, le sol et les gens, une fois trempés par la pluie, sont devenus immédiatement secs et beaucoup d'entre eux ont reçu une guérison physique de leurs maux. Tout au long de ces apparitions aux trois enfants, les messages qui ont prévalu de Notre-Dame étaient un appel à la conversion, à prier le Rosaire, à faire des sacrifices et des prières pour les pécheurs, et à consoler le Cœur de Notre-Seigneur, si profondément offensé. Notre-Dame a prophétisé la mort prématurée de Francisco et de Jacinta, tout en promettant au cœur anxieux de Lucia : « Ne te décourage pas, je ne t'abandonnerai jamais ! Mon Cœur Immaculé sera votre refuge et le chemin qui vous conduira à Dieu. ( source ). {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Répondre à l'appel L'un des moments les plus puissants des apparitions a peut-être été la vision de l'Enfer accordée aux jeunes enfants. Ce moment qui donne à réfléchir a profondément marqué les enfants, et leur résolution, leur ferveur et leur dévouement ont grandi immensément à partir de ce moment-là. Pour Francisco, l'objectif principal de sa mission était de consoler le Cœur de Notre-Seigneur, qu'il voyait si attristé dans cette vision par la perte des âmes et leurs nombreuses offenses. Lucia a demandé un jour à Francisco s'il préférait sauver des âmes ou consoler Notre-Seigneur. Francisco répondit : « Je préfère consoler Notre-Seigneur. . . Je veux d'abord consoler Notre-Seigneur et ensuite convertir les pécheurs afin qu'ils n'offensent plus. Au cours de ses derniers jours, il a rassuré Lucie, qui l'avait interrogée sur ses souffrances, qu'il offrait tout « pour l'amour de Notre-Dame et de Notre-Seigneur » ( source ). Quelle dévotion et quel amour d'un cœur si jeune ! La mission de Jacinta avait un double accent : la dévotion au Cœur Immaculé de Marie et l'offrande de sacrifices pour la conversion des pécheurs. Jacinta a dit à Lucia alors qu'elle était emmenée à l'hôpital de Lisbonne : « Dis à tout le monde que Dieu nous accorde des grâces par le Cœur Immaculé de Marie, que les gens doivent aller vers elle. . . ... O, si seulement je pouvais mettre dans le cœur de chacun le feu qui brûle ici à l'intérieur du mien, me faisant tant aimer le Sacré-Cœur de Jésus et le Cœur de Marie ! Bien qu'ils aient reçu la grâce extraordinaire d'être choisis par Notre-Seigneur pour voir Notre-Dame et recevoir ses messages, Jacinta et Francisco avaient le choix de répondre ou non à cette invitation. Ils ont répondu par un oui de tout cœur , permettant aux nombreuses grâces qui leur étaient accordées de faire fructifier la sainteté à laquelle nous aspirons tous en tant que chrétiens : l'union avec Dieu. Inspiration pour nous Une des leçons enseignées aux petits enfants par l'ange était de tout offrir au Seigneur, y compris de petits sacrifices, car ceux-ci pouvaient être offerts pour consoler le Cœur du Christ et réparer les offenses faites contre Lui (source ) . Dans la maladie qui a coûté la vie à Francisco et à Jacinta, respectivement en 1919 et 1920, les jeunes saints ont complété l'offrande de leur petite vie. Ils souffraient de la douleur de la grippe et de l'inconfort des traitements, en plus d'avoir à offrir le désir profond de prier prostrés et de continuer les mortifications corporelles qui n'étaient plus possibles dans leur état. Notre-Dame a demandé à Jacinta si elle serait disposée à rester plus longtemps sur terre pour souffrir au nom des pécheurs, ce à quoi elle a donné son consentement ( source ). Elle a été enlevée à sa famille à Fatima et amenée à Lisbonne, où elle a également subi la douleur de la solitude dans sa souffrance. À un si jeune âge, Francisco et Jacinta étaient dociles aux grâces qu'ils avaient reçues lors du baptême, qui s'est encore épanoui sous la direction de l'ange et de Notre-Dame. Ils étaient déterminés à aimer Notre-Seigneur, à consoler son cœur si affligé, et à sauver ne serait-ce qu'une seule personne, à ramener un pécheur dans les bras miséricordieux du Père. La vision de l'Enfer qui leur était accordée aux trois est restée si profondément ancrée dans leurs mémoires qu'offrir des pénitences et des mortifications physiques ne semblait rien comparé à la douleur qu'ils voyaient subir aux âmes. On leur a donné un zèle pour les âmes, pour les amener à Jésus, pour offrir leur propre vie et les inconvénients et souffrances quotidiens afin que d'autres puissent connaître et aimer le Seigneur et changer leur vie. Sœur, combien vous et moi sommes-nous conscients de la nécessité de sauver les âmes, non pas par nos propres mérites, bien sûr, mais par l'unification de nos souffrances avec celle du Christ, sans rien retenir de l'autel du sacrifice ? Sommes-nous prêts à regarder ces deux jeunes agneaux de sainteté et à y voir une icône pour nous, une invitation, un défi ? Placer tout ce que nous sommes chaque jour entre les mains d'un Seigneur aimant qui prend ce que nous donnons et le rend puissant - une source de rédemption et de restauration pour les autres ? Sœur, comment allez-vous prier et qu'allez-vous offrir cette semaine à l'intention du salut des âmes et pour consoler les Cœurs de Jésus et de Marie ?

Soyez donc parfaits, tout comme votre Père céleste est parfait. // Matthieu 5:48 Fond d'écran de téléphone Fond d'écran du bureau

Il y a quelque chose à propos du chiffre sept. Tout au long des mythes et du folklore, ce nombre a été donné en précédent, considéré comme chanceux ou présenté comme possédant des qualités magiques innées. Une analyse rapide des cultures et des générations confirmera que les phénomènes entourant ce nombre sont présents d'une manière ou d'une autre. Il n'est pas surprenant que ce nombre soit populaire parmi les athlètes, qu'ils soient amateurs ou professionnels, et soit l'un des premiers à être raflé par les membres d'une équipe. Certains mathématiciens diront que cela est dû aux propriétés mathématiques innées que possède le nombre , et peut-être qu'il y a des qualités innées du nombre qui le rendent si attrayant pour les masses. Mais se pourrait-il que ces propriétés aient été placées là parce qu'elles sont destinées à nous diriger vers Celui qui est le plus attirant ? Sept dans l'Ecriture Il est de notoriété publique que le premier récit de la création dans la Genèse s'étend sur sept jours. Le Créateur commence par les habitats (lumière et ténèbres, ciel et mer, terre et plantes) ; puis Il remplit chacun (soleil et lune, oiseaux et poissons, animaux et hommes). Tout cela se déroule en six jours. Le septième jour, Dieu se repose et invite sa création à participer à ce repos. Cet événement montre très clairement quel est le but de la création. Tout comme nous savons que le but des muffins est d'être mangé, car c'est ce qui se produit une fois leur temps dans le four terminé, l'intention de la création de Dieu est d'être en relation avec Lui, car c'est la première chose qui se produit une fois que Son projet est terminé. En ce septième jour, nous voyons ce pour quoi nous sommes créés : l'union avec Dieu. En Hébreu, le mot sept est שבע, ou « shba ». Il est facile de voir le lien entre les mots «sept» et «sabbat», le jour de la semaine qui est spécifiquement réservé aux relations avec Dieu et les uns avec les autres. Ce qui est plus difficile à voir, c'est le lien entre ce mot et l'alliance. Je me souviens d'avoir été émerveillé d' apprendre de mon professeur préféré que, lors de la conclusion d'une alliance, la formulation utilisée en hébreu est la même. Ainsi, lorsque vous jurez ou faites le vœu d'appartenir l'un à l'autre, la formulation pourrait également être traduite par « Je m'appartiens à toi ». Tout cela remonte au commencement, au but de l'humanité : être un avec Dieu. Donc, en fin de compte, il n'y a rien de chanceux dans le chiffre sept. Le monde trouve cela si satisfaisant parce qu'il indique qui et pourquoi nous sommes ici ! {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Sept et sabbatique En apprenant un peu de linguistique, le lien entre le nombre sept et un repos sabbatique devient évident. On peut aussi alors le rattacher relativement facilement à la raison pour laquelle on a été fait. Notre incroyable équipe Blessed is She a passé sept ans à créer un beau ministère et une communauté pour que les femmes chrétiennes se rassemblent dans la fraternité et suivent le Christ. Pour eux, nous sommes incroyablement reconnaissants, car ce ministère a eu un tel impact sur tant de cœurs. Alors qu'ils se préparent à prendre leur congé sabbatique et à se reposer pendant la saison du Carême, nous élevons leur vie avec gratitude et demandons que ce temps de repos soit édénique pour eux. Puissions-nous tous être plus pleinement unis au cœur de notre Créateur ! La prochaine fois que vous verrez le chiffre sept, dites une petite prière pour une plus grande union avec Dieu.