Posted on

Pray and Live with Confidence

Click here for daily readings

What hope we hear in the readings today! 

In the First Reading, John encourages us to pray confidently because we have assurance of eternal life. But is it really that easy? In whom is our confidence? Ourselves? Certainly not! John’s answer is “If we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears us.” (emphasis added by author) Not only must we be confident in the promises of our Father, we must be confident that He wills that which is truly best for us. It is when we can fully trust Him that we are able to conform our wills to His, and it is through that conformity that we gain confidence in prayer. 

As we move to the Gospel, we hear an excellent example of someone who submitted their will to the will of the Father, humbled himself before the Lord, and was greatly exalted: St. John the Baptist. What can we learn from St. John the Baptist? In short: “He must increase, I must decrease.” John the Baptist knew that it is humility that allows us to place our lives in the hand of God, and that, by being humble, we will be raised in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Pride is often considered the deadliest of sins and the root of all other sins. It is pride that turns us away from God in our times of need. It is pride that allows us to take credit for our accomplishments and for our good deeds rather than giving the credit to our Creator. Recognizing the reality of our humanity before God, John the Baptist says, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.” Everything we have, everything we are is a gift from God. When we live our lives with this at the forefront of our minds, we are better equipped to pray with confidence. 

May we pray with the confidence, intentionality, trust and selflessness of which John speaks. Like John the Baptist, may we surrender our will to the Holy Will of God and allow Him to fulfill the wonderful plan He has for us. For it is in humbling ourselves before Him that we will be raised to glory with Him.

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.

Feature Image Credit: remehernandez, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/18254-oracion

Posted on

Be Made Clean

Click here for daily readings

There have been some changes the last couple of days at work. I’m sitting in a different part of the building that has windows with an outside view (wooHoo). Making a space clean that has been unused for the last 22 months takes a little time. It looks clean but once you start the process more is uncovered that needs to be cleaned or restored to right order.

In today’s Gospel there are three little words that challenge me to uncover more: be made clean. The Scripture tells of a man full of leprosy who fell prostrate before Jesus pleading, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean. Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I will do it. Be made clean.’”

The leprosy was gone because of those three simple words and a touch of Jesus’ hand. Jesus’ love and compassion cured a man whom society branded an untouchable outcast due to the leper’s personal or hereditary sin or spiritual corruptness. The Messiah, our Lord God, is the only one who can make a person fully clean, be it in body, mind or spirit.

I surely can clean an office, my clothes or clean up my act. I do, however,  absolutely need divine intervention as I do these tasks and every other kind, too. Really; I am not being flippant or sarcastic. Every aspect of who I am needs to be made clean as I am human.

When it comes to keeping tasks, habits or deep seeded feelings or reactions to certain situations, thoughts or people, and in the loving and just relationship with God I am to maintain through my baptism and teachings of the Catholic faith, I need the Holy Spirit and the sacraments to help me be made clean. 

What I have done throughout the day, week, or since I last went to confession and what I have failed to do offends my heavenly Father. I am so very thankful that before I receive Communion I pray,
‘Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof; but only say the word, and my soul will be healed.’ I need to remember to ask the Lord to stay in my heart, my thoughts, my words and my actions throughout the day. I want to be clean in all aspects of my life. 

Contact the author

Beth Price is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and a practicing spiritual director. Beth shares smiles, prayers, laughter, a listening ear and her heart with all of creation. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.

Feature Image Credit: Oliver Hale, https://unsplash.com/photos/oTvU7Zmteic

Posted on

God is Love

Click here for daily readings

What is love? This question seems to echo through the halls of human history as strongly as the question asked of Jesus by Pilate, “What is truth?” Of course, the answer to both questions is found not in a book, experiment, or set of theories, but rather in a person, namely the person of Jesus Christ.

Ok, that’s cute and all to tell to students in a youth group to help them feel loved, but what does it really mean? We hear in the First Reading today that we can only love because God first loved us. I often try to bring my readers back to the beginning, not because Genesis gives us a purely scientific description of the start of all things, but because it shows us deep theological truths about who we are and who God is.

When reading through the first few chapters of Genesis it is immediately striking that out of all the creation narratives that have been written, and there have been many, Genesis stands apart because it is finally talking about a God who creates out of nothing in an act of pure love. All of the other major creation narratives talk about gods at war or sexual promiscuity as the source of all things, but here God stands apart from all the other pagan beliefs. We hear it in the Gospel of John, “God is love”. John also draws the connection between this God who is love and the Creator in the beginning, they are one and the same. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God.”

Ok, where am I going with all of this? Let’s think back to that First Reading. We cannot even begin to love unless God first loves us. The Catechism makes the bold claim that, “God is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.” From the very beginning God is love itself and we were made in the very image and likeness of that same God. We have love in our DNA so to speak, as deep as our bones, and deeper in fact because it resides in our soul.

I think we can often try to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and white knuckle religious rules and regulations. By that I mean, I think we often think we can do this religion thing on our own. We may have the false belief that we only need God for the really big things. But in today’s readings we are reminded that without God we can’t even love, because we would be rejecting love itself. Rather than living by this pelagian mindset, the heresy that we can do it by our own strength and don’t need God, let’s instead ask for the grace to live according to how we were created in the beginning. Adam and Eve may have lost the grace of God in the fall, but we can get it back through the God who is love who hangs on the cross for us.

During this new year, let’s try to make an effort throughout the day to notice when God is working with his grace. The great tragedy of our time, it seems, is that we can go weeks without ever contemplating how God is working in our lives. Let’s ask for grace to take hold so that we may be loved and in turn may go and love others. From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

Contact the author

Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

Feature Image Credit: Jez Timms, https://unsplash.com/photos/bwtgal6MJLM

Posted on

The Twelfth Night

Click here for daily readings

The twelfth night, the evening of January fifth, has marked the end of the Christmas season since the Middle Ages.  There are many who believe and just as many who think the Catholic meaning of the twelve days of Christmas is an urban legend.  When Catholicism was made a criminal offense by Henry the 8th in England in 1558, many believed that the song was a secret catechism for the Catholics living in Britain to remember and teach their faith without fear of prosecution.

Many people singing this song envision “my true love” as a smitten suitor, while others know the “true love” as God himself.  Each gift given has a catechetical meaning starting with The Partridge as a symbol for Jesus Christ.  Two Turtle Doves refer to the Old and New Testaments.  The French Hens for the Trinity, Four Calling Birds reference the Gospels of the New Testament.  Five Golden Rings symbolize the Pentateuch.  Six Geese are the Creation Days.  Seven Swans symbolize the Seven Sacraments.  Eight Maids are the Beatitudes and Nine Ladies are the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  Ten Lords refer to the Ten Commandments and the Eleven Pipers are the loyal Apostles of Jesus.  Twelve Drummers remind us of the twelve doctrine points of the Apostles Creed.  

The twelfth night may recall the romantic comedy by Shakespeare or the festivities still celebrated in a handful of European countries in Rick Steve’s Christmas Travelogue, but what does it mean to us besides a wee bit of history?

We are blessed to live in a country free from religious persecution.  It is difficult to imagine a world where a multitude of denominations and religions don’t coexist, but we all know those places do exist.  I am not a cradle Catholic, the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder and over the head a few times until I found my home in the Catholic faith.  Would I be strong enough to withstand a world where I could lose my freedom or my life if I chose to remain and worship as a Catholic?  Would I be crafty enough to sing a song with dual meaning to my grandchildren in order to maintain our Catholic Faith?  The twelfth night to me is my litmus test.  

After all the gifts my true love gave to me, the greatest is love.  Our First Reading today says “….so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.”  BE FEARLESS!

Contact the author

Kay Kunz is the Accounts Manager at Diocesan.  She is a mother of two and grandmother of five.  Living on her family’s centennial farm surrounded by nature, creatures great and small, wild and tame, Kay and her husband are in perpetual restoration mode.  When she is not crunching numbers or helping churches with bookkeeping issues, you’ll more than likely find her curled up with a book and a cup of coffee.  Inspired by St. Brigid of Kildare, not just because she is the patron saint of chicken farmers and turning water into beer, but her simple pastoral life of finding peace in nature.

Feature Image Credit: jamie-wheeler-PArX0FUajUs-unsplash.jpg

Posted on

We Need Christ as Our Shepherd

Click here for daily readings

Today’s Gospel reading tells the story of Jesus preaching to the masses and multiplying the loaves and fish. It begins: “When Jesus saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” 

How often do we feel like sheep without a shepherd? It’s easy to feel that way when things go wrong in life or when we choose to do our will rather than God’s will. We lose direction and feel like we’re floundering. But we know that God is our shepherd; He is always there for us. We simply need to seek Him.

God is our spiritual Father; He leads us. So we must follow His example and lead our children or the children in our lives. We must act in the spirit of God here on earth and teach our children what He would have taught—just as He did the day He multiplied the loaves and fish.

But talking to kids today can often be extremely difficult. If they’re not playing video games, they’ve got their nose stuck in a phone watching Tik Tok or sending Snapchats. They’re just like the sheep without a shepherd—unless we become a shepherd in Christ’s footsteps.

How do we do that? It’s not always easy, but it’s necessary.

Engaging them is key. Start by having a phone-free dinner or a phone-free game night. Sit together and talk about their day. Ask what’s going on in school. Ask their opinion about current events, about sports, or about anything you think they’ll discuss. Tell them about your day, even if you’ve had problems or difficulties. Allowing them to watch you work through problems is integral and can help them develop techniques to work through their own problems. 

Use Christ as your inspiration. Never forget that He is there for you, and make sure that your kids know that you—and God—are always there for them. Become the shepherd of your family. If you don’t, then social media or their peers will. 

Psalm 23 teaches: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.”

Let us ponder this Psalm and hold its words in our hearts, as we remember God’s infinite love and mercy, and as we extend that love and mercy to our own children.

Contact the author

Susan Ciancio has a BA in psychology and a BA in sociology from the University of Notre Dame, with an MA in liberal studies from Indiana University. For the past 17 years, she has worked as a professional editor and writer, editing both fiction and nonfiction books, magazine articles, blogs, educational lessons, professional materials and website content. Eleven of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently Susan freelances and writes weekly for HLI, edits for American Life League, and is the editor of Celebrate Life Magazine. She also serves as executive editor for the Culture of Life Studies Program-an educational nonprofit program for K-12 students.

Feature Image Credit: José A. Soto De La O, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/26306-jesus-buen-pastor

Posted on

Transformative Repentance

Click here for daily readings

“From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Mercy offered in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is transformative. The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides this magnificent explanation on the grace of Confession:

 “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time, it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace” (CCC 1431).

A “radical orientation of our whole life” seems powerful language for entering a confessional (or room) with a priest and laying out our offenses. Spewing out a laundry list of “should have” and “should have nots.” Why not bring these directly to Jesus in prayer? Why involve a middle-man of sorts?  

There was a time I was petrified to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. My heart raced, palms sweat, throat closed, and my feet wanted to sprint to the nearest exit. Honestly, I avoided it until the Holy Spirit nudged me to go, and there, Jesus made me laugh. 

First, the nudge, Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). Next, the time the priest called me back into the confessional. After completing my Confession and opening the door to leave, I heard, “oh, wait, one more thing.” I am sure that’s happened to you before, right? Sweat formed on my brow as I made eye contact with the long line of people waiting for their turn! 

I sheepishly smiled at the kind folks staring back at me and slowly closed the door. The kind priest recognized my voice and wanted to share some exciting parish happenings with me. Although it didn’t seem the appropriate time (or place), a little spiritual insight sparked by grace helped it all come together, whereas I could recognize — God’s perfect timing and precisely the encounter I needed to overcome my fear. 

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the love and mercy of Jesus, offered through the priest, In persona Christi, Latin for, “in the person of Christ.” A genuine encounter with Christ, who is eager to impart grace and wash away your iniquities and cleanse you from your sins (Psalm 51). Sure, it will be uncomfortable; that’s contrition! Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel reminds us that the Kingdom is now, and we want to be always ready to enter it when called.

As for that middle-man? I am grateful for the opportunity to encounter Jesus through the priest because I have yet to experience anything in this world, as sweet as the words, “The Lord has freed you from your sins. Go in peace.”

 Contact the author

Allison Gingras works for WINE: Women In the New Evangelization as National WINE Steward of the Virtual Vineyard. She is a Social Media Consultant for the Diocese of Fall River and CatholicMom.com. She is a writer, speaker, and podcaster, who founded ReconciledToYou.com and developed the Stay Connected Journals for Catholic Women (OSV).   

Feature Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/church-architecture-religion-4095968/

The views and opinions expressed in the Inspiration Daily blog are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Diocesan, the Diocesan staff, or other contributors to this blog.

Posted on

A Resolution to Make Haste Slowly

Click here for daily readings

Happy New Year! By now, you have likely considered a new year’s resolution and maybe even tried a few.  If I’m honest, I have a long history of falling headfirst off the new year’s resolution wagon by about January 2nd.  

I tend not to follow through on new year’s resolutions because my resolutions are usually completely arbitrary and decided hastily at about 11:00pm on December 31st. Instead of being intentional about what I should do each year, I tend to toss around ideas, both noble and not-so-noble, about what I could do:  Keto diet! Volunteer for the PTA. Organize my closet. The list of good ideas goes on and on.  

Unfortunately, an arbitrary resolution, even a decision to do something good, is not necessarily the right resolution. So if you haven’t already, I propose that we re-examine our resolutions and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance on what we should resolve to do this year. To this end, I’d like to invite you to take a walk with one of my favorite saints today: St. Katharine Drexel. Katharine’s life provides a great guide for discerning resolutions, and really, any decision in your life.

Katharine was born into a wealthy Philadelphia family and had the financial means and influence to do almost anything she wanted. But she did not take action arbitrarily. People around her urged her to do all kinds of good things:  get married; use her fortune for philanthropies; become a cloistered nun; or live a single life in service to the poor. However, Katharine’s spiritual director urged her to “festina lente” – make haste slowly. Festina lente – I find these words encouraging in the new year. Take time to choose the good to which God calls you.   

Always drawn to serve the poor, in 1887, Katharine attended a private audience with Pope Leo XIII and urged him to send missionary priests to the United States to Native Americans.  He responded, “Why not my child, yourself become a missionary?” This interaction helped to lead Katharine to her vocation. But Katharine made haste slowly. It was not until four years later, in 1891, that she became a missionary and founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She subsequently spent her life supporting missions and schools throughout the United States. In all, she and her sisters established 145 missions, 50 schools for African Americans, and 12 schools for Native Americans. Some described her as an “apostle to the poor.”

Katharine took time to discern how God wanted her to live out her vocation. What would have happened if Katharine had jumped at all of the ideas that she could have done, instead of truly discerning what God asked of her?     

Meditating on Katharine Drexel clarifies my new year’s resolution, or at least my approach to it. My resolution is a prayer to festina lente – to make haste slowly – to avoid that instinct to accomplish all the things I could do, and instead, listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit that reveal the things I should strive to accomplish.  

2022 is still new, and as the adage goes, it takes 21 days to form a habit. St. Katharine Drexel, perfected her vocation of missionary service through over fifty years of active ministry.  I’m going to need more than 21 days and a lot more practice to festina lenta. Did you plunge headfirst into an arbitrary resolution or are you still looking for that perfect resolution? If so, perhaps you could make haste slowly with me.

Contact the author

Elizabeth Tomlin is the author of Joyful Momentum: Building and Sustaining Vibrant Women’s Groups and contributing author to the Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers. She is General Counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. Elizabeth is an Army wife and mother of three and currently lives in the DC area. She blogs at JoyfulMomentum.org or @elizabethannetomlin on social media.

Feature Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/wine-glasses-toast-holiday-6688901/

Posted on

The Clock of Salvation

Click here for daily readings

Welcome to 2022!!! Likely you are exhausted from staying up late to celebrate a new year with your friends and family. This day always brings to mind resolutions, diet programs, calendars, time, and beginnings. Though the secular world sees this as a day for starting anew, the Church sees it as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. I think all of these themes tie together in a beautiful way through the Second Reading, where we first hear that Jesus became man at the fullness of time.

Have you ever wondered why calendars count time according to roughly the year that Jesus was born? It’s as if even the secular world can’t help but commemorate the importance of that historical event so many years ago. When we read further in Galatians we hear that Jesus is born of a woman. So he comes in the fullness of time and he is born of a woman. There are probably many different ways to interpret that, but the way I see it, the clock of human salvation started ticking the second that Eve took a bite of the apple. The first woman doomed human nature to a life without grace while the “second Eve” said yes to God’s plan for salvation.

All those years in between we wondered and waited at the plan that God had promised throughout the centuries. Time ticked on and many new years came and went, but God’s salvation clock brought us to the simple yes of a woman and the birth of the Savior. He always had the plan, but he waited for the precise moment when, instead of rejecting him, a woman would cooperate with him. Notice that grace, though it is freely given, requires cooperation for it to bear fruit. If we reject grace, God is not going to force us to take it. In the beginning Eve made the choice to fall and in the fullness of time Mary made the choice to say yes to God’s plan for her life.

So I guess the question for today and for the rest of 2022 should be, how are you allowing the grace of God to work in your life? You might have a new diet or exercise plan you are starting or a list of rules you are going to follow this year for your mental health, but what are you going to do in this new year to more fully imitate Mary who gave her yes and accepted the grace that God had to offer? Do you believe, as St. Paul did, that when God became man we became adopted sons and daughters of God? We are not slaves, but sons, and not just sons, but heirs. What are you going to do in this new year to cry out, “Abba, Father!” From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless and Happy New Year!

Contact the author

Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

Feature Image Credit: Thomas Bormans, https://unsplash.com/photos/JsTmUnHdVYQ

Posted on

In 2022 God Will Never Stop Loving You

Click here for daily readings

Today we stand on the threshold of 2022, breathing a sigh of relief that we are another few months through the general crisis that the world is collectively living. 

 …the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… (Jn. 1:5).

As you enter the new year, remember: No darkness within or without, past, present or future will ever overcome the Light of the World. No war will overthrow the sovereignty of the Prince of Peace. No sin will be stronger than the love of the merciful King of Glory.

Oh, friend, remember who you are…

…dust and glory…

At Christmas we celebrate how we have received among us, in our home, in our flesh, the Word.

…And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us… (Jn 1:14).

…You have seen the glory of the Father’s only-begotten Son…

In the words of my favorite Italian Christmas carol, Ninna, Nanna:

Those who walked in darkness
Now rejoice in the King’s splendor.
All sorrow will flee,
And those whom He shall ransom,
Will be crowned with everlasting joy.
Love has made Himself our Brother,
Come to us in the arms of a Mother.
Sing, O angels, sing praise to this Child,
The holy One, the Son of God, Emmanuel.

You have come to love and to save,
Come to lead us all in Your Way.
Sleep on, my Jesus, sleep on, my Lord.

In 2022 God will never stop loving you. God sees the darkness and the darkness doesn’t surprise him. He sent his Son to be with us in the midst of the darkness. He sent his Son to be the Light, to show us the Way, to illuminate our minds with Truth, to be Life for the world. He sent his Son to overcome the darkness.

Perhaps you are not convinced. How could the memory of the birth of the Christ-Child just celebrated at Christmas influence the trajectory of the forces of history through which we are living? 

That is precisely the illusion: that the Christ is a memory! 

No. Love has made himself our Brother. Pope Benedict XVI reflected: “Hope marks the journey of humankind, but for Christians it is enlivened by a certainty: the Lord is present in the events of our lives. He accompanies us and will one day dry our tears. One not-far-distant day everything will reach fulfillment in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of justice and peace” (Homily, November 28, 2009).

It is time to stand up in this hope. To walk into the darkness assured that it is the Kingdom of mercy toward which we walk, our steps made sure in the Light that dispels the power the darkness could have over us, beckoning us ever to look up, to believe, to trust in God’s fidelity.

…[for] we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son,  full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14).

Contact the author

Sr. Kathryn J. HermesKathryn James Hermes, FSP, is the author of the newly released title: Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments, by Pauline Books and Media. An author and spiritual mentor, she offers spiritual accompaniment for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey. Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/ For monthly spiritual journaling guides, weekly podcasts and over 50 conferences and retreat programs join my Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/srkathryn.

Feature Image Credit: Myriams-Fotos, https://pixabay.com/photos/a-book-pages-open-heart-book-pages-1950451/

Posted on

Turning Ourselves Toward God

Click here for daily readings

I hope that your Christmas season is full of joy! As I read today’s readings, I was struck by the last verses in both the First Reading and the Gospel. They both point to doing the will of God is what ultimately fulfills us, both in this life and the next.

“Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.” 1 John 2:17

For many years I have struggled with overeating. In the last few months, I have participated in a group to help me with this struggle. And I have found such truth in this program which is based on Theology of the Body. One of the most important ideas I have come away with is that it is hard to get enough of something that almost works (Dr. Vincent Felitti). It helped me realize that food, for me, is “the world and its enticement,” and while I of course need food to care for my body, it can substitute for doing the will of God. You can put in place of food whatever it is that you cling to instead of God. 

When we cling to God, go to him first, we are like Jesus, in this verse from the Gospel, “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” Luke 2:40

We are meant to grow in strength and wisdom all our lives, turning ourselves toward God. I am grateful I have my whole life to do this. Like many people I did not always understand this concept when I was younger. Now, while I have a better grasp of it, I can still get derailed. Thankfully, God’s grace calls me back and sets me right. And I can begin again.

Our intention matters in this life. As we approach the end of this year, consider asking yourself two questions: Did I fulfill my intentions for the year? And what are my intentions for the coming year? Not a New Year’s resolution list; an honest review of the past year and what you want to have happen next in your life.

Growing in wisdom and following God’s will are great places to start. 

Contact the author

Deanna G. Bartalini, is a Catholic writer, speaker, educator and retreat leader. She is the founder of the LiveNotLukewarm.com community, a place to inform, engage and inspire your Catholic faith through interactive Bible studies, courses and book clubs. Her weekly podcast, NotLukewarmPodcast.com, gives you tips and tools to live out your faith. At DeannaBartalini.com  she writes about whatever is on her mind at the moment.

Feature Image Credit: David Wirzba, https://unsplash.com/photos/1xWIRQzBzKE

Posted on

Radiate Joy

Click here for daily readings

In the First Reading today, John tells us: “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. . . . The world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.”

This is a great reminder, especially as we just finished with a holiday that’s very much focused on things. 

It’s great to receive gifts. They make us feel special, loved, valued, and important. Giving gifts is even better because we can make someone else feel special, loved, valued, and important. 

But there’s so much more to life and to our world. The happiness that things bring is fleeting. The joy we get from a life of faith never goes away. So let us always strive to remember that things come and go, but Christ is always there with us, even when we can’t see or feel Him. 

And there will be times when the things of this world get in the way of us seeing God or feeling His presence. The devil makes sure of that. It doesn’t have to be bad things or times when we feel alone. We can fail to see God during the good times too.

We tend to forget that all we have comes from God. Our families, our friends, our homes, our possessions, our abilities—all those are gifts from a heavenly Father who loves us immensely. Do we thank Him for those gifts? Do we acknowledge His goodness in giving us so many wonderful things? How many of us actually took time this Christmas to slow down, think about Christ’s birth, and wish Him a happy birthday? Or did we get so caught up in our world and in the craziness of the season that we only sort of remembered why we celebrate?

God wants us to remember Him during the good times and the bad. He wants us to wake up with a prayer, fill our days with prayer and good deeds for others, and go to bed thanking Him for another day and asking ourselves if we glorified Him in all we did.

Do we do that? If not, let us start today! It’s never too late to change our priorities. It’s never too late to allow the Word of God to fill our lives and our hearts. 

A new year is coming; let us ring it in with a renewed sense of joy in the Lord. When we do so, we will realize the difference between joy and happiness. And we will understand that, while happiness waxes and wanes with our circumstances, joy in Christ never wanes. It becomes more radiant with each passing day.

Contact the author

Susan Ciancio has a BA in psychology and a BA in sociology from the University of Notre Dame, with an MA in liberal studies from Indiana University. For the past 17 years, she has worked as a professional editor and writer, editing both fiction and nonfiction books, magazine articles, blogs, educational lessons, professional materials and website content. Eleven of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently Susan freelances and writes weekly for HLI, edits for American Life League, and is the editor of Celebrate Life Magazine. She also serves as executive editor for the Culture of Life Studies Program-an educational nonprofit program for K-12 students.

Feature Image Credit: Cathopic, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/5318-dicha-naturaleza

Posted on

The Martyrdom of the Holy Innocents

Click here for daily readings

Today, on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, we remember the massacre of young boys in Bethlehem by King Herod the Great in the time of Jesus. Herod orders the death of innocent children out of envy, anger, and fear. He does not want His dynasty to end and allow a new Kingdom to come about. Herod’s heart was closed to the Kingdom of God and evil only occurs when we, God’s creation, close our hearts to Him, our Creator. In His attempt to prevent the will of God, Herod kills the most innocent of God’s creations, fails in his attempt to kill Jesus, and shows the world that the will of God can be accomplished despite man’s sinfulness. 

This has always been a difficult celebration for me to understand. Why would God allow something so evil and so tragic to happen? And why would we celebrate this event? In preparing to write this reflection, I came upon a beautiful passage: “The Holy Innocents died in Christ’s stead so He could die in ours.” It was in reading this that I realized we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents for the same reason and in a similar manner, that is solemn, as we celebrate Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection during Holy Week. Although God does not will evil and although evil is a result of man’s sin, God can still do His will through the evil that persists in our earthly world. We celebrate the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents because, in a profound way, during their very short lives they were able to do that for which all of us should strive: die for Christ. It is because of the Holy Innocents that we have the privilege to know, love, and serve Our Lord, Jesus Christ. The deaths of the Holy Innocents, and Herod’s ultimate failure in his attempt to kill Jesus, brings to mind the verse from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “O death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory”? There is no sting of death; there is no victory of Hell. Christ has already conquered death.

Important to contemplate, as well, is the fact that Jesus did not enter this world to the sound of trumpets and praise. Rather, He entered this world with only His mother and father present, in a lowly manger. Very soon after His birth, His family fled to Egypt in exile. From the beginning, His life was not easy and He and His family were faced with persecution. So what do the lives of Christ and those of the Holy Innocents tell us about our lives? They are not meant to be easy. It is inevitable that living a life for Christ will bring about persecution and hardship. But there is hope!

We hear about that hope in John’s epistle. He tells us that Christ is the Light that came into the world. In order for Him to light the darkness of our lives, we must accept Him and we must live in His truth. When we bring Christ into the darkest corners of our lives, He dispels all our darkness and we are able to live in His Light. 

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.

Feature Image Credit: geralt, https://pixabay.com/illustrations/all-saints-christian-holy-faith-2887463/