Illuminated By Joy

J.M.J. *This post is part of Grim's lovely Remember, O Thou Man Lenten link up here .  (credit) "The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings." -St. Francis de Sales St. Francis de Sales is one of those saints who found me. I was struggling in life and God sent him my way through his beautiful spiritual readings and wonderful quotes. (If you've never read "Introduction to the Devout Life", you MUST!) He is a great friend of mine, even so much that I decorated my graduation cap with one of his quotes. :) Let's just say, I can always count on him to guide me ever closer to our loving Father!  In the last few weeks, the temptation to give up my Lenten resolutions has been so real...how I am ready to give up right now amidst struggles. A rough day of tea

 J.M.J. "Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris."  These are the words we hear before every Ash Wednesday Mass. As we approach the priest who signs our foreheads with ashes, we are reminded of death. Death. Why is it pushed aside so often? Why is everyone so sad after a death? Our happiness is not of the world or of worldly things; we are here only to prepare for our earthly death so we may one day live our eternal life in Heaven. I am reminded of this by one of my favorite Bible verses: "I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). Life is not easy. It is full of sufferings to guide us to love the Lord with our whole heart, soul, and mind so that one day we may go home to Him. Often, it is the small sufferings that God sends us each day that are our greatest trials. In times of sickness and hardships, let us offer it up in union with Jesus! As St. Gemm

J.M.J. "Go and Fear Nothing, I Will Help You".  These are the words I read every morning as I look at a beautiful picture of Our Lady hanging above my dresser. Last May, I had the wonderful opportunity to complete my first pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin- the only approved Marian Apparition in the United States.  21 miles. Early morning wake up. Rain. No training. These four things rang in my mind at 5 am on the morning of the pilgrimage. Little did I know how much this pilgrimage would change my life, and increase my trust very deeply. Up to this point, I was on a roller coaster in discerning various things in my life. I had graduated with my AS degree, but I was in total confusion regarding transferring colleges. All of my friends were in a four year college, and here I was, juggling three daycare jobs and caring for over 30 children every day. The thought that "these jobs are putting me behind" was constantly in m

 Hey everyone! I hope you've all been having a great Christmas season and end to 2023! Around this time of year, people like to reflect. They look back over the past year and forward over the next year. They evaluate where they are in life. However, it can be so easy to get caught up in it, that we miss out on small things. It doesn't even have to be things we did-- sometimes it can be things we received, or even ways that God was present in our lives. God is always working in ways that we can't see. Throughout the process, He has blessed us with so many gifts. More than you can imagine! It might not seem like it, but there is a popular Christmas carol that reminds us of God's goodness-- The Twelve Days of Christmas. Apparently, Catholics who lived in England during the persecutions wanted to remind each other of the truths of their Faith, but needed a way to do it secretly. So, they composed the carol. Each number of gifts in the song stands for a gift God gave us in t

 Identity. That's a central theme going around in our culture today-- people trying to figure out who they are. They have forgotten that they are beloved sons and daughters of God, so they try to define themselves by their accomplishments, desires, and talents. And in doing so, they have lost the true meaning of what identity really is. Think about it-- we now say things that go against our very nature as humans. We say that men can be women, and vice versa. We claim that animals and beings with no Free Will are our equals. We constantly compare ourselves and our accomplishments, desires and talents to those of others. This loss of human reason is evident everywhere in the media. When I think about it, it seems like the main message that the culture says about identity is that it's up to you to define yourself. Basically, whoever you say you are is who you actually are. So if I say that I'm an athlete, than I'm an athlete. And yes, that also means if I say I'm an al

 Hey everyone!  Over the past few years, I've seen lists of saints that belonged to different races or suffered from a particular circumstance, but I've never seen a list of saints with physical disabilities. So I've decided to make one for all of you today. They'll be listed in alphabetical order along with a brief description of their disability. Some of them were born disabled, some acquired their disability later, but I promise you -- every single one of them is unique. - Bl. Alexandrina Maria da Costa jumped off a roof to escape a man who was trying to assault her and remained bedridden for the rest of her life. - Bl. Alexius Kim Si-u was paralyzed on the right side of his body. - St. Ava was born blind, but was later cured by St. Reinfredis. - Bl. Benedetta Bianchi Porro suffered from an illness that eventually left her blind, deaf, and paralyzed. - Servant of God Darwin Ramos was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at age five and had it the rest of h