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Jesus is Calling Me

Marriage is sacred—yet so am I. I’m a beloved child of the Father. I’m called to an intimate relationship with Jesus. I’m desired and cherished. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). These are truths I’ve always rationally known, yet I wasn’t able to fully comprehend them in my heart until I began to heal from my struggle with domestic abuse. Because I’d been too focused on my relationship, I hadn’t cleared the space in my soul to allow such divine certainties to enter. I’d been trying to survive heartbreak for so many years that…

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Who Jesus Says You Are

The most insidious and damaging identity lie victims of sexual abuse believe is that they are forever stained and disgraced; not just physically but in in the very core of their being and dignity as a woman. “He robbed me of my dignity” is a lie that kills the life of a woman’s soul and blinds her to the unchangeable Truth that she is a precious daughter of God. Our inherent dignity and sacredness as a child of God is our birthright and no one, no impure and violent act against us, can defile our true self. We are Christ’s…

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Christ’s Love is My Analgesic

“My Beloved is a sachet of myrrh lying between my breasts.” The Bridegroom, Song of Songs 1:13 The Cross of my Bridegroom is the sachet of myrrh lying within my heart. I am reminded of this sachet of myrrh every time I make the Sign of the Cross and whisper to my Beloved to please seal me in the love of my Triune Spouse and let me not forget that our marriage bed is made of wood. Why do I smile as I remember this? Not because I love suffering but because I know that the Cross of Christ my…

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Reflection for a New Year

I wish you a blessed first week of 2023! I pray that your Christmas provided moments of peace and recollection with our newborn King. And now as we prepare to return to work or school or other routine activities, let us step back in with one foot, while keeping the other firmly rooted in the inner sanctuary of our hearts - that private place deep within ourselves which we prepared for our Lord's coming at Christmas. I personally am in no hurry to abandon the slowness and the quietude that the past week has afforded!  I wanted to share a reflection with you that I have…

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Our Neediness is a Nativity

My dear friend sent me an instagram post the other day: "Your neediness is a nativity." Wow. That’s what my heart longs to hear. I know the need is real. Glory be to God that it can be a birth place! Our poverty, our lack, our weakness, the cry of our heart, our deepest ache and need, our longing – this is the place where little Jesus wants to be born this Christmas. This is His manger. Our need, when opened to the Father, becomes the seat of glory, the throne of the living God, the crib for the newborn…

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At the Feet of Christ

A friend and I were recently together during Adoration and she said to me, “I have to spend more time gazing on the Cross.  I notice that you look at the Cross a lot.” Her words seemed to penetrate my heart and I realized that, yes, I do spend a great deal of time with my eyes to the Cross.  In pondering her statement, it seems, almost without thinking, that upon entering a Church, I allow my eyes to search for Him Who is Crucified.  When my eyes and my heart have found Him, they make their way from the…

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Healing After Trauma: Awakening to God’s Call

Talitha cumi … Let Him kiss me I feel like I’ve been asleep for a long time. I’ve been entombed, like a fairy-tale princess; enclosed in a glass casket, cut off from the rest of the word, secluded in a forest of my own making where no one can find me, let alone touch me. Betrayal trauma does that to a person, especially if the betrayal is a protracted one, spanning years or even decades. Infidelity, domestic abuse, the confusion of being brainwashed into thinking you’re the cause of every problem … All these issues naturally lead to self-doubt, a…

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Reaching a Little Higher

As we pick the "low-hanging fruit" along our faith walk, we begin to reach for those gems we can see, just up a bit higher. I think of the low-hanging fruit as those foundational practices for living our Catholic faith, such as daily prayer, regular confessions, Mass every Sunday and, if possible, during the week, as well as regular spiritual reading. Participating earnestly at this level stokes an ever-expanding desire to draw more deeply into union with Jesus. As I do this, I find that the Lord fosters within me a curiosity and a taste for new fruits. For example,…

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A Curly Willow Tree from God

Two weeks ago, I was driving through the countryside. It was a perfect sparkler of a day; the green golden corn stalks were breezing against the azure sky. Everything was invigorating. I had my windows down and music pumping. As I wound around a bend, in an instant, I spotted a curly willow tree, glowing green and dancing in the light air. The thought flashed through my mind: “Oh, I love curly willows! I would really love to have one in my garden someday!” It was not even a prayer, just a thought. But all is prayer really, and God…

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The Garden of the Soul

Looking out upon my yard fills me with many emotions… wonder, gratitude and awe for God’s creations.  But there is an area of my yard that I have been purposefully avoiding for several summers… the dreaded weed patch!  This area seems to have a mind of its own.  It gets weeded and then seems to regrow overnight.  This has caused some angst in me at the thought of tackling the project, especially after such a rainy few months, the weeds have taken over!  Recently, on a sunny day, after much prayer and procrastination, I decided to take on the weed…

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