A Thrill of Hope

I’m featured over at Spoken Women, writing about today’s second reading from St. Paul!

Excerpt:

This Sunday, with almost two weeks left before Christmas, St. Paul tells us to “rejoice always!”

Do you feel like you rejoice always? Or rejoice at all? Do you have joy in your daily life? 

I’m going to make a confession here: I am a very naturally happy, nay, joyfulperson. In fact, when I was a contestant on Jeopardy!, a Twitter user wondered if I was trying to imitate Carol Channing with my enthusiasm. (If you don’t get that reference, google Carol Channing. You’ll get it.) 

I wasn’t. I’m just a naturally joyful person. So when St. Paul says to “rejoice always”, I can say I do that often enough. Not always, though, because, let’s be honest: It’s hard to rejoice always. 

Read the rest there.

Walk the Holy Way with us this Advent

(All photos by Micaela Darr)

As crazy as it seems, Advent is almost here. It’s time to begin a new Church year! It’s time to wait in holy expectation for a baby to be born!

I always look forward to new Take Up And Read devotions, and The Holy Way is no exception. I’ve been so privileged to work with Elizabeth Foss and Micaela Darr on this one in the editing department to create The Holy Way for Advent 2021.

The readings are based on the daily Mass readings. Elizabeth has written beautiful, heartfelt essays for every day, as well as including journaling pages so you can write your own prayers and notes as you walk the Holy Way with us. One idea that repeats, over and over, in the daily Mass readings is the idea of a holy road—a highway for God; mountains that will be made low, and crooked ways that will be made straight.

We can do this in our own lives this Advent, by preparing our hearts, leveling the mountains of pride and discouragement, and making our lives a smooth pathway that will take us to the Babe in the manger.

Every one of these books is thoughtfully composed and curated just for our readers. Readers have asked for a book that mirrors the daily Mass readings, and here she is! The Holy Way is a meditative, prayerful, encouraging guide to this beautiful season of preparation and hope. It’s a daily respite to encourage you to put down roots in this holy season and let God speak to you.

You can get your copy here. I hope you will join us in walking the Holy Way.

Advent pondering: At the service of His plan

I was reading my Advent devotional this morning and came across an essay that I dearly love to re-read every year. It’s so rich in pondering that I thought I’d share some of it with you, in the hope that we can bring this mindset into our Christmas and new year.

The Service of His Plan

Those who place their lives at the service of [God’s] plan never have any reason to be afraid…Every day [Mary] placed her life at the service of his plan.

When we are really placing our life at the service of his plan at the general work, then, yes, by our manner of behavior there, by the sweetness that we bring, the patience, the humility, we could rightly say, “This is the Word of the Lord.” These virtues are his ‘words”, and he is being made manifest by them….

Things were always better where [Mary] was. Things we always sweeter and calmer at the well when she was standing in line…She was the one who said, “Yes, I’ll wait. I will not add another irritable word. I will bring the loving, calming word. I will be the one who sees something extra to do, not wondering why someone takes so long at her turn, but seeing if I can help her.” She was no less placing her life at the service of the Divine plan when she waited her turn at the well, than at any other time. …

We should make the word a little less unutterable, a little more recognizable by the way we live and serve and love. …

God has a great plan also in what we call the unexpected. It isn’t unexpected to God. He planned it from eternity…There is nothing unexpected in all of creation…nothing should ever take us by surprise, except the wonder of God’s plan…

God..is saying exactly this to us…”I don’t reveal all the details of those plans because I cannot deprive you of faith. I cannot deprive you of hope. I cannot deprive you of the glory of trusting in me. I cannot deprive you of the wonder of seeing my plan as it unfolds.”…

We want to be come very intimate with him as the great mystics were in very simple, humble ways, saying, “Dear God, I don’t get this at all, but I’m so glad that you do. And I know that you have a plan and I only want to be at the service of your plan.”…

In our personal lives there is a wonder unfolding. It is wonderful to keep going forward. Even our Lady did not know the last page…let us determine in all the events of each day to place our lives at the service of his plan. This is the happiest way that a person can live.

—Mother Mary Francis, PCC, Come Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting