Illuminated By Joy

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...

     Hey everyone! I've been having a strong case of writer's block lately and I'll be really busy as the school year starts back up again, so I probably won't be posting as much.      Anyhow, I've been thinking a lot about mercy and trust. Those are two virtues that I've always had trouble with, yet they're absolutely necessary if we want to grow in faith. They might not seem like they go hand in hand, but they do. Here's what Jesus says about surrendering ourselves to Him in St. Faustina's diary.      "My delight is to unite myself with you. It is when you submit yourself to my will that you give me the greatest glory and draw down upon yourself a sea of blessings. I would not take such special delight in you if you were not living by my will."- Jesus to St. Faustina ( Diary , paragraph 954)      Jesus wants us to trust Him and when we do, He will lead us to the abyss of His mercy.     Are you struggling with g...

 Hello everyone! So today I'm doing something a bit different and more fun after all the serious content. So I'm going to be taking a 'How Catholic are you' quiz from BuzzFeed, which will be interesting to say the least since I'm not too sure how nuanced BuzzFeed is in their ideas of Catholicism.  Anyway, enjoy!  The quiz is from BuzzFeed: 'How Catholic are you actually?'   "Do you practise what you preach" (seriously overused phrase. Please come up with a new one. ) "Choose all that apply."  You were baptized  ☑  An obligation for being a Catholic, so yeah. You aced Sunday School ☒  Is it just me, or is Sunday school not a huge Catholic thing? You see BuzzFeed, generally, at least at the more traditional churches, children are present for Mass (unless they have to go to the cry room XD) But... I did go to a sort of weekly catechism on Wednesdays which I did ace, so that kind of counts:-) You've taught a religious ed class ☒ I'm t...

 Hey guys! So sorry I haven't been posting in the past couple months. I've been busy, and yes, I forgot.   Games are fun, but they can be both fun and educational when you put a Catholic twist on them! So next time you sit down with Catholic family or friends, try challenging them to one of these games and see how well they do! Catholic Taboo    If you're not familiar with the basic game of Taboo, basically there will be a card with a word that you are trying to get the other players to guess, but then there will be five other words under that word that you also can't say. If you say the key word, or any of the other five words, then another player who supervises will "buzz" you, and your team loses a point. So Catholic Taboo is basically that, only the terms are all Catholic. Here's an example: Eucharist Body  Blood  Presence Adoration Revival  Also, you can't do any actions (like point to a picture of the Eucharist, for example), say things like...