Faith

Accept, Access, Action

Today I listened to the Palm Sunday homily by Fr. Mike Schmitz. He did a great job of wrapping up the reflections of the past 5 weeks of Lent based on the book, “He Leadeth Me” by Fr. Walter Ciszek. The whole series is based on surrendering our lives to God. That includes acknowledging that […]

Clear the Blockage

We’re very happy that my mom still reads our devotion from “Jesus Calling” every night. The last few sentences from tonight’s reflection were particularly meaningful and we read it over again. “When your mind is stuck on a negative focus, you see neither Me nor My gifts. In faith, thank Me for whatever is preoccupying […]

Baptized

Today a friend shared a video of her 6 year old daughter being baptized. She is of a Protestant religion and her daughter decided after Sunday school that she wanted to be baptized. As a Catholic, being present for an infant baptism is always a beautiful celebration. For my friend to hear the request from […]

Prayerful Song

A relative sent me a message that included a link to a beautiful, prayerful song. She said it is in her Lenten worship liturgy and she adds prayers for us as they sing it each week. I feel blessed to have her prayers. And the song will be a perfect bedtime meditation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjcobfw87ng I Found […]

Healing and Conversion

I heard a story today about a woman who had an aggressive type of kidney cancer and was given a few months left to live. Before the diagnosis she was a strongly independent person, in control of her own life. During the treatment she had a strong conversion experience. While she believed in God previously, […]

Jesus You Take Over

I wish so badly that I could alleviate all my mom’s suffering. Truth is I can’t. Nor can the doctors or nurses or people who come to help. Neither can the medications that were created by incredibly knowledgeable people. This morning’s meditation on part of the surrender novena spoke to my heart. Jesus said, “Does […]

How To Surrender

The theme for the reflections and stories I have been listening to during Lent is surrendering to God. It includes the prayer, “Jesus, I surrender my life to you. Take care of everything.” Today I have been praying  about what it looks like exactly to surrender to God. I take the time I can, I […]

Help With Anxiety

My mother had a very challenging afternoon. Even with additional medications, she was anxious and distressed. It made me sad because yesterday I was feeling relieved that she was happier. That’s just how it goes. I was very grateful that a caregiver was here this afternoon. At one point she read today’s reflection from Jesus […]

Mistake or Grace

I admit I do have a problem with trying to be perfect. When I was younger, I thought if I made a mistake, that meant I wasn’t good enough. Now, however, especially caring for my mom, I don’t want to do anything that will harm her, or make the situation worse. Today in the continued […]

Sharing Good News

Some of our friends are what I consider to be missionaries. They recently returned from a trip in a foreign country and came over this afternoon to share photos and stories. While they were there, they visited some schools where they taught English, helped the teachers to teach the language, and helped with projects. At […]