Light in the Darkness

It’s easy to see the darkness in our world today; it is pretty apparent with one click to turn on the news. I’ve heard many people say they don’t watch the news because it’s always bad news and they’d rather watch a station that only shares good news, why doesn’t that exist yet? Well, in the Gospel today, we are reminded that there is a light in our dark world. He is the one who came and is ever-present still today.

After hearing that His cousin, John the Baptist, was arrested, Jesus left for Capernaum by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. He fulfilled the prophet Isaiah, “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”

Following this fulfillment, Jesus begins Galilean ministry, He proclaims. “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” and he shows that He is this Kingdom of God here on earth. He shows that He is the light through his public ministry. He travels throughout Galilee teaching, preaching, and healing many. People witnessed these miracles and encountered Him. He began to have a following, “His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.” Those who witnessed miracles and encountered Him followed Him.

As Catholics, we believe that Christ is still our light in the darkness, but do you believe that He can still perform these miracles today? He is still present to us and illuminates our lives now, even in this dark world. He is present and capable of doing all the things He did in the Gospel in or lives today as well. Where in your life today do you need His light? What parts of your heart are darkened? Do you believe that He can heal what is broken and make you well? May we remember to “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

Contact the author


Briana is the Pastoral Minister at St. Mark Church in Cleveland, OH. She is also a district manager at Arbonne. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to serve the Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese

Journeys and Gifts

“They saw the child with Mary, his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts…”

There are many aspects of this wonderful Solemnity that we can reflect on, but these few words from today’s Gospel give us a glimpse into how this celebration can focus our own search for Christ. The magi – foreigners, non-Jews – have seen a great sign in the heavens, and have come to acknowledge and honor a new king at his birth. They are searching; they are inquiring, they are following a light; this searching and traveling require effort, perseverance, sacrifice, and time, but it is important to them that they reach their destination. And they do: they find the house where this new king is dwelling, and they see him “with Mary, his mother.” The first thing they do is bow before him. Then they offer him the gifts they have carried with them.

We can find a parallel in our own spiritual journey. Our search for Christ happens in prayer and in the circumstances of our daily lives. Our searching also requires effort, perseverance, sacrifice, and time. We must prioritize our prayer time and our desire to follow the light of Christ over other activities and motivations. And like the magi, we can find Jesus “with Mary, his mother”; the woman through whom God came to dwell with us will always lead us to dwell with Him, as her role is always to bring Christ to the world and the world to Christ. Our prayer must always begin, like the magi’s, with humility: we must acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of all, as the king of our hearts and our lives, and adore Him. Then, the rest of our prayer will flow properly, including the offerings of our lives and ourselves that we make to him.

The magi offered gifts that expressed the truth about this small child in poor surroundings: this child is king (gold – a sign of royalty), this child is God (frankincense – a sign of our worship), this child came to offer his life for us (myrrh – for burial). What can we offer to this God-Man who set aside His glory to dwell with us and save us? How can our offerings acknowledge Who God is and our place in the Body of Christ? How can we help others see the profound gift that has been given to all the nations, making us all “co-heirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel” (Eph. 3:6)?
Today, let us rejoice in the revelation of the one true God to all the nations. Come, let us adore Him!

Contact the author


Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

Taking Risks

“Faith lifts the soul, Hope supports it, Experience says it must and Love says…let it be!” – Elizabeth Ann Seton

Elizabeth Ann Seton is the saint that we remember today. She is the first American to be canonized, she converted to the Catholic faith 16 years before her death, and she opened Catholic schools in America. She lived a life of abandon to God’s will, something of which she lived by on a daily basis. When I think of her story, which has an abundance of content beyond what I am able to write about today, I see a woman that was filled with a charism of faith. She had a radical trust in God’s will for her life, and she followed Him to the ends of the earth.

How do we live this life of radical trust in God’s providence so that we are able to take risks? First we must remember who God is – He is constant and will never change. His love endures, His promises hold true, and His goodness reigns above all no matter what. The next step in trusting in God’s providence, is looking back on all God has provided up to this point. While we have faced hardships, He has and will bring us out on the other side of the tunnel. Finally, prayer as a means of conversing with God will allow us to trust Him more because we will get to know Him more, and clinging to the sacraments will help us to see God for who He truly is (and not what we try to make Him in our own heads).

I encourage you to read the story of Elizabeth Ann Seton – it is remarkable and a true inspiration for our times. Don’t be afraid to go against the grain and listen to God and His desires for your life.

Contact the author


Nathalie Shultz is a joyful convert to the Catholic faith and a competitive swimmer with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  She loves to share her passion for Catholicism with others, including her conversion story and how God continues to work miracles in her life through her OCD. She is the Director of Religious Education for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative of parishes. Nathalie is married to her best friend, Tommy Shultz. Her favorite saints include St. Peter the Apostle, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II.  She is also a huge fan of C.S. Lewis. If you have any questions for Nathalie, or just want her to pray for you, you can email her at rodzinkaministry@gmail.com.

Intimate Communion

Recently, I was at a Marriages of Grace Cana Night, a nonprofit organization in my diocese that hosts a talk for married couples. There were couples of all ages, newlyweds, and those who have been together for a lifetime. The Bishop spoke at this event, and he shared some advice with all the spouses.

He said how important communication is, the simple and vital need to talk to one another. He shared that in his experience, he’s seen that once spouses stop talking to each other, marriages fall apart. He said that this is true in the vocation of priesthood as well; once a priest stops praying, stops talking to God, his vocation can fall apart. I believe what Bishop said that night was true, but I would add that once spouses stop praying, that is a problem too.

Why does prayer weigh so heavily on all vocations? We hear today in the First Reading from the Gospel of John that “No one who remains in Him sins.” This is where we are to live and breathe is in Christ alone; apart from Him, we cannot live as His children. John shares at the beginning of this passage by speaking to our identity as God’s children and how that truth changes us to be more Christ-like. He starts off by saying, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.” We are not God’s children because he created us; we are God’s children because of the immense love the Father has bestowed on us.

He goes on to tell us that the world does not know because it does not know God, but because we are “God’s children now,” we shall be like him in the future. This is the hope of our Christianity, though we do not know the time or the hour, we know that when it is revealed, we shall be like him. This is the hope we must anchor our hearts to the truth that here on earth, we must live as He lived. He goes on to tell us that “everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.” The journey of holiness requires the desire and will. The desire to make yourself pure as Christ is pure is not enough. It’s the starting point, but it requires an act of the will to choose a life of purity. He goes on to say, “Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him, there is no sin. No one who remains in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or known him.” No one who remains in him sins.

When we are in intimate communion with the Lord, we will not fall into the temptation of sin. When we are apart from Him, it’s much more challenging to face temptation. When we are apart from Him for a long period of time, we may forget that we even seen Him or knew Him at all. Today, let us reflect on where we are in our relationship with Christ, our Lord, are you remaining in Him? Or do you need to come back to Him? Let us remember our true identity today that we are His children because He loves us.

Contact the author


Briana is the Pastoral Minister at St. Mark Church in Cleveland, OH. She is also a district manager at Arbonne. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to serve the Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese 

Pointing the Way

“John answered them, I baptize with water, but 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.”

Each of the four gospels emphasizes John’s assertion that he is not the Messiah. It is helpful to look back historically and understand the Jewish context. While some of the more zealous of the Jews were looking for a political Messiah who would lead a military overthrow of the Roman leaders, the majority of the Jewish people were looking for a restoration of Israel in a new exodus. They were looking for a new Moses who would intercede for them in the making of a new covenant with God and lead them to a new promised land where the temple would be restored.

It was important both while John was alive and for those who followed his teachings even after his execution, that the Jewish people understood that John was not the Messiah. John’s importance was in pointing the way to Jesus. John’s role is just as important today.

Who pointed the way to Jesus for you? What was it about them that helped you to fall in love with Jesus? How did your relationship with them lead you to build a relationship with the one who created you and loves you beyond all understanding?

Just as God, who is love, created us because love desires to pour itself out to another so too, as we grow in love with Jesus Christ, our love desires to pour itself out to others. It isn’t really love if we are content just to hold it all inside. We are called to be like John the Baptist, we are not the way, but we can point to the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

So how do we do that? What is it about us, which points others to the love of Christ? What is it about our relationships with others that will lead them to build a relationship with Jesus Christ? How do we help others make straight the way of the Lord? How are we the voice crying out in the desert of our current culture? These are questions we each have to answer for ourselves.

It is the reason that God created you to be you, just as you are. He has a plan for you to be the arrow pointing someone else back to Him. You might be a big, flashing neon light complete with music. You might be a quiet candle in the window. You might be a patched up sign that shows the effects of time and wear. You might be a silent whispered prayer interceding for someone who doesn’t even realize they need intercession. Wherever you are, whoever you are, you were created just as you are for a purpose, and that purpose is to use your talents to build the kingdom of God in a way that one else ever created can.

As we start this new decade, what if we all became a little more conscious of how and where we are pointing? What if we became a little bit truer to ourselves and to who God created us to be? What if we remembered that we are not called to be the way, but only to point to the way? Because Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies. He is the new Moses interceding for us to the Father. He leads us out of ourselves into the light of His love. The promised land isn’t some far off place, but is alive and well here and now when we live in His grace. The rebuilt temple isn’t just one place but exists in each of our hearts. Because in the beginning, God created you out of love to love, and life doesn’t get much better than that.

Contact the author


Sheryl delights in being the number 1 cheerleader and supporter for her husband, Tom who is a candidate for the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. They are so grateful for the opportunity to grow together in this process whether it is studying for classes, deepening their prayer life or discovering new ways to serve together. Sheryl’s day job is serving her community as the principal for St. Therese Catholic School in Wayland, Michigan. Since every time she thinks she gets life all figured out, she realizes just how far she has to go, St. Rita of Cascia is her go-to Saint for intercession and help. Home includes Brea, a Bernese Mountain dog and Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever.

A Blessed New Year

Nathalie and I have decided to do “Whole 30” to start the year. I made it clear that this meant I would be eating cheese whiz at some point today to celebrate that which I am losing, delicious processed foods. It is that time of year where we look at our lives and make resolutions to better ourselves. This week is the prime time to be a gym membership salesman or self-help coach, and it makes sense because we live in a culture that is consumed with self. This year though, I am going to try to make an effort to reach out to others with my resolutions.

I love the first reading today. What a beautiful blessing that God tells Moses to pray over Aaron and his family. Here we see that God wants us to bless others in his name, he wants us to ask that he would visit them and be with them, he wants us to care for others and bring them closer to him. Now we know that God already knows the struggles of all and is with them always, but here he is asking us to bless others through him. This is so important to the Christian faith. As we are all part of the body of Christ, we should all make an effort to care for the body and all its members.

God may not need us to tell him what is going on with others, but he wants to hear from us. St. Teresa of Avila once said, “You pay God a compliment by asking great things of him.” Our prayers have power, or God wouldn’t ask us to do it. Do we believe that? Fr. John Ricardo often talks about how God wants us to pray for and expect miracles. Do we believe in this power? I am sick of a faith that is just rules and regulations and feels like a Santa Claus like figure where when we are good, we are rewarded and are always being watched. While there are rules we must follow because Jesus has given them, he has also given power. That’s a faith that should transcend boring rules and get us excited to live it out.

In this new year, it is essential to care for our bodies as we are temples of the Holy Spirit, but it is also of the utmost importance to care for the members of our body, the body of Christ. I challenge you to decide on one thing in 2020 that will help to bless other people. If you need some inspiration, here is the beautiful blessing from our first reading today.

“The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless and Happy New Year!

Contact the author


Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

From Creation to Birth

Christ is born! Glorify Him!
“It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.”
-St. Teresa of Calcutta-

What a joy it is to reflect on these readings during the Octave of Christmas!

As I read today’s readings–especially the first reading from 1 John–I thought to myself, “Geez! Being a Christian is a huge responsibility!” John tells us, “I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and every lie is alien to the truth.” As Christians, it is our responsibility to know the truth and to reject all that is contrary to that truth. I think this is something that is particularly hard in our day and age when everything we see on social media, on the news, and in advertising tells us that they have our best interests in mind. Social media wants us to look our best, feel our best, and have the best…the same with advertising. News reporters use emotional appeals to reel us in, so we follow their advice regarding politics and society. John’s warning about people who are not part of the truth serves as a call to action for us. We must promote what is True and what is Good in order that other people may not be swayed by lies.

We hear this Gospel during the Octave of Christmas because Christmas is about the birth of Christ, and John’s prologue tells us that Christ did not come into existence on the day of His birth. Rather, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Christ has always been: “He was in the beginning with God.” I love this prologue because we learn so much about who God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, is and what He does. “In the beginning was the Word…All things came to be through him, and without him, nothing came to be.” In hearing these two lines, we know that God the Son was an active part of Creation. The rest of the prologue is a synthesis of Christ’s life with us. We are told that He came into the world that He created but was met with rejection. Despite that rejection, Christ chose to die for our sins in order that we might receive Truth and Grace. Those who accept the sacrifice of Christ are children of God and can enter into eternal life with Him in Heaven.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to drown out lies with truth and to show others the beauty and grace that is possible because of Christ’s sacrifice. In the same way that John made known the truth of who God the Son is, we too must spread the Good News of Salvation to the ends of the world.

In this season of Christmas, may we recognize the sacrifice Christ made in becoming man and dying on the Cross for the sake of all men.

Contact the author


Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.

A Family of Faithfulness

On the Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas, we are still – liturgically – celebrating Christmas Day! We sing the Gloria at each Mass during these eight days, and the prayers for the Nativity from the Liturgy of the Hours are repeated each morning as if it were still Christmas Day. In the Church, we celebrate the major feast days for weeks, not hours, so continue to spread the Christmas cheer, all the way to Epiphany!

In today’s Gospel, we glimpse the “hidden life” of the Holy Family in Nazareth. After the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, where the prayerful, faithful, 84-year-old temple-dwelling widow, Anna, recognized the Messiah in the arms of Mary and Joseph and gave thanks to God, the family returned to Nazareth. By all outward appearances, this was a family like every other family, and the child was a child like every other child, who “grew and became strong.” Like most children do. Right?

We are given a hint that there is a bit more than this at the end of the reading: the child was “filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” What did this look like within this particular family? There are things we can know and things we can only wonder about.

We know that they were faithful to the prescriptions of the Jewish law. We know that they prayed at the specified hours, that they prayed the Psalms, that they fasted, and observed the feasts prescribed by the law. We know that they had to work, to eat, to serve, and celebrate with their neighbors. And as faithful Jews, we know that they recited (several times a day) the Shema, acknowledging God as one, Whom they love with all their heart, soul, and mind. This is how they lived: in loving obedience to the one God of all, in constant obedience to the Father.

We don’t know many details about these years, but our hearts can lead us to ask some questions about them. What was it like to be the parents of the God-Man, to teach the law to the One Who gave it to His people? Did their neighbors discern anything special about this little family, in their demeanor or their generosity? Did their dinner conversations ever reach to the future, to the Mission of the Christ? We are free to wonder, and even to ask Jesus, His Mother, and St. Joseph to help us understand this mystery. And we certainly can – and should – ask them for the grace to live each moment with the same love and obedience to the Father.

May that be part of our New Year’s resolutions: to strive to walk with the Holy Family, and let them lead us to understand that we are loved intensely and infinitely by God. I pray that you and all those you love are being showered with many Christmas graces, and are blessed with a peace-filled New Year!

Contact the author


Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

O Angel of God

“O Angel of God, my guardian, dear.” I think most of us probably learned this prayer as we were kids. I can remember praying this all together, sitting around the fire at night before bed. I think this is a beautiful tradition that families should start, but it also can lead to some thoughts about angels that may not be accurate. Because angels are frequently talked about and depicted in children’s prayers and books, we tend to think of the angelic as childish or almost make believe to help children with bad dreams. 

This couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is that angels are God’s messengers and protectors. All throughout scripture, we see angels intervening and interceding for us here on earth. This makes sense if we think about it. Angels were created by God and are happy with him in heaven, so why not ask for and believe in their help. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church takes this idea further. The Church, in her wisdom, states, “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. ‘Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.’ Already here on earth, the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.” 

This should be far more exciting to us than what we perhaps believed as kids, that angels were similar to Santa or the Easter Bunny. If we believe in demons, fallen angels, then we must believe that there are angels who are not fallen who are willing to fight on our behalf. We need this. We need as much help as we can get in this world, and God knew it. 

In today’s gospel, the holy family is told to flee to Egypt to escape certain death. Do we believe in the power of God and in his wisdom to protect us through his angels? Do we believe they can actually help us in our day to day and do we ask for their help, or do we believe they are nice things we heard and read about long ago? 

During this celebration of Christmas, let’s try to grow closer to our guardian angels and ask for their help and protection. “O Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule and guide.”

Amen.

Contact the author


Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

The Thorn Among the Roses

It hasn’t been a very good year, has it? No matter what one believes politically, there is no Catholic who can feel good about children separated from their parents, put into cages, dying of neglect—or worse. I live in a country that allows this to happen. I am a citizen of a country that considers this an acceptable solution to a problem.

It’s not a comfortable thought.

I want my country to be more compassionate. I want my world to be more compassionate. So I turn to prayer. I ask God why; I ask him where he is when these terrible things are happening. Where is he when families are torn apart, when children are crying in the night?

And I hear his answer. He is here. He is in the camps at the border. He is with them, every day, every moment. He meets them in their pain and suffering. Where is he? He is sitting with the immigrants in their cages. He is holding the solitary frightened  toddler as she cries. He closes the eyes of the young boy who just died.

But, I say to him, it’s not fair! How can you allow this to happen?

And he points me to today’s Gospel, difficult to read at the best of times, excruciating to read here and now in the Year of Our Lord 2019. If the birth of the Christ-Child in Bethlehem that we just celebrated could be considered the roses, then today’s reading surely points to the thorns surrounding them.

A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.

The two themes of today’s Gospel reading have woven together this year in a most terrible way. First, we have a young family coming to the horrifying realization that they won’t be going home with their newborn, after all. That they cannot go home. That home is unsafe. That home means death.

They must leave the only place they’ve ever known, with nothing but the clothes they wear and the baby in their arms, and walk. For days stretching into weeks, they walk until they can enter another country, another culture, one they did not choose but have to embrace… and, somehow, survive there. It’s probable—in view of human nature as we see it around us—that Joseph and Mary, these refugees from Judea, were despised by the citizens of that new country. Viewed as Other. Viewed as Not Quite As Good As Us. Viewed as Them.

The Holy Family didn’t choose to be migrants, any more than many of the people at our borders want to be there. They are escaping—violence, death, starvation. They are there for the same reason the Holy Family was in Egypt: because it was the only option they had.

And then comes the massacre. The three wise men alert Herod—aging, feeling his power slipping from him, paranoid from the palace intrigue raging around him—to the birth of a new king in Bethlehem. Bethlehem at the time doesn’t actually amount to much; it’s a village of about 1,500 residents. Some interesting studies have shown there were probably no more than two dozen babies two years old and under—half of them female.

That’s still twelve to fifteen children murdered. Not enough to register in the mind of Josephus, our primary external source of the time; but enough. Enough for their parents. Enough for their communities. Every child is sacred. Every life is meaningful.

And it’s a number that’s getting dangerously close to the deaths suffered by children in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol.

We celebrate Stephen as the first Christian martyr, but I wonder if we ought not think of those babies in Bethlehem as the first martyrs to Christianity. Innocent. Helpless. Just learning their first words, taking their first tentative steps. Dimples and gurgling and asking for just one more drink of water before they go to sleep. Gone.

And the other Baby, the newborn, living in poverty in Egypt, his family constantly on the move—we have sources for this, how they never stayed more than six months in one place, which can only point to the residents’ treatment of them—survived. God was with his Son, even as he is with all the children of migrants, the castaways, the Other.

It wasn’t a particularly auspicious beginning, was it? Rags and begging and just managing to get through the day. Surely God’s Son deserved better?

Surely everyone does.

Contact the author


Jeannette de Beauvoir is a writer and editor with the digital department of Pauline Books & Media, working on projects as disparate as newsletters, book clubs, ebooks, and retreats that support the apostolate of the Daughters of St. Paul at http://www.pauline.org.

Complete Joy

“We are writing this so our joy may be complete.” 1Jn 1:4

My youngest surprised me with her attendance at a family Christmas gathering last weekend. My joy was complete when she walked through the doorway and gave her grandma a bearhug. Grandma was flabbergasted. “Oh, my goodness! Oh, is it really you? Oh, how beautiful you are! Oh, what a surprise,” could be heard through the muffled kissing and hugging that continued between the pair who hadn’t seen each other in 2 years. I was able to get a great picture of the moment, too, complete with huge grins on their faces and their eyes brimming with tears of joy.

My thoughts go back to times in my life when my heart just overflows with complete joy. The last day of school. The time I got (snail) mail with an acceptance letter to the university of my choosing. The day I graduated from high school. The thrill of paying off my college loan. Going on a road trip in my own car. The sight of a sunrise or sunset or any natural phenomena that takes my breath away. The times that stand out the most are the births of each of my three children — holding those tiny, wonderfully made children, my own living gifts from God, leaving me speechless and overwhelmed with love and joy. 

Over two thousand years ago, a young wife and her husband experienced the complete joy of having a child, which they wrapped in swaddling clothes. They named him Jesus; Emmanuel, God is With Us. Jesus is the joy of Christmas and a love that is so freely outpoured to each of us throughout the entire world. 

In his Christmas homily, Pope Francis said that the love of God was revealed to us through Jesus. “In Jesus, the Most High made himself tiny, so that we might love him…in the beauty of God’s love, we also discover our own beauty, for we are beloved of God.”

On this third day of Christmas, remember that you are a beloved child of God. You are a precious gift, well-loved, and beautifully made. May the joy of Christmas continue to live on in you.

Contact the author


Beth is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She brings a unique depth of experience to the group due to her time spent in education, parish ministries, sales and the service industry over the last 25 yrs. She is a practicing spiritual director as well as a Secular Franciscan (OFS). Beth is quick to offer a laugh, a prayer or smile to all she comes in contact with. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.

Tough Conversations

“Jesus said, ‘I am the Truth,’ and it is your duty and mine to speak the truth. Then it is up to the person who hears it whether to accept or reject it.” -St. Teresa of Calcutta

Have you ever had a tough conversation? I know I have had a handful that really stand out in my 28 years. As a special education teacher, I have had many talks with families and co-workers that were uncomfortable, but I knew they had to be had because it was the right thing to do – my job is to advocate for my students and their needs and so this is the goal that drives these conversations.

Sometimes others may not understand the needs of the children I work with, and I have to bring an awareness of the abilities of students with disabilities. I often have to have conversations regarding the difference between fair and equal, and ultimately what this means for accommodating students on my caseload. My desire is to help people see the truth and beauty that God has given to my students and the gift that they are to the world.

Beyond these types of conversations, I have also had to defend my faith many times to those that were not Catholic or fallen away. When these talks occur, it is my duty as a Christian to love the person first and foremost. The focus must be upon loving the person, trusting that the Holy Spirit will provide the words we need in order to speak truth into the other individual. Conversion should not be the goal of the conversation, but rather love. Love is our primary vocation, and so that must be our goal entering into any conversations with those that may have been led astray or those that have not been exposed to the truth.

I pray that your heart will be open to the words God wants to give you today, whether it be a conversation with a family member, friend, co-worker, or stranger. Ask God to give you His eyes and heart so that you may see Jesus in everyone you encounter, approaching them with the honor and tenderness they have been given by God.

Contact the author


Nathalie Shultz is a joyful convert to the Catholic faith and a competitive swimmer with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  She loves to share her passion for Catholicism with others, including her conversion story and how God continues to work miracles in her life through her OCD. She is the Director of Religious Education for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative of parishes. Nathalie is married to her best friend, Tommy Shultz. Her favorite saints include St. Peter the Apostle, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II.  She is also a huge fan of C.S. Lewis. If you have any questions for Nathalie, or just want her to pray for you, you can email her at rodzinkaministry@gmail.com.