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Here are this week’s must-reads:

+ Peter’s Imperfect Love was Enough for Jesus (this article was so interesting and beautiful to know!)

+ St. Catherine of Siena said, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the whole world on fire.” Well, one of the things that can get in the way of this — for me, at least — is fear. Sometimes anxiety, or worry. So I wanted to share this beautiful quote with you today in any case that you also struggle with fear at times. This was a beautiful reminder for me — I hope it can be for you too.

This comes from Dr. Bob Schuchts — he wrote: “You don’t need to muster more courage right now. Courage is not the opposite of fear. The opposite of fear is communion. The only answer to your fear and anxiety is the knowledge that Jesus is here, intimately present with us….” — That was just what I needed to hear and I wanted to share it with you too. Watch/read the full post here.

🌸 May is the month of Mary! That’s the theme I went with for this week’s Newsletter, which includes a DIY indoor Mary garden, a Mary crowning kit, and a beautiful gold Marian vase. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the pictures of everything included. You can sign up for the newsletters here. When you do, you also get a 25% off promo code off your total purchases with The Catholic Company.

+ “How do I know this thought is from God?”

+ “Despite the common refrain echoing in society that tells us that we are enough, we are, in fact, not. We are unfinished. We are a work in progress. And we are not enough… Yet, this realization should bring consolation… The greatest gift in life is in the development of an interior peace when we realize that He is enough and the one with pruners in hand and the perspective to arrange perfectly. We have an innate sense that we aren’t enough. This is why we are never satisfied even with the chants of “you are enough” in the world. And our insecurities are often suffocating. We aren’t enough. But he is. But rest in the knowledge that you are a masterpiece. His masterpiece in progress. All he needs is surrender and trust that he is enough.” — Emily Malloy

+ Hope for Bad Anniversaries:

“This is what the Apostles came to understand through their post-resurrection encounters with Christ and through the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost… their lives were not over, they were just beginning – a gift from the One who makes all things new.

“And this is what we must also come to believe – to believe in a way that utterly changes our lives. After traveling with the Lord through this Lent and His Passion and Death, we have arrived at new life – both during the remaining days of our life on earth and in fullness on the day of the Resurrection of our bodies when they will be reunited with our souls as the completion of time.” — Deacon Bickerstaff

+ What to do with heartbreak and trauma: “Life breaks, and our hearts break, and our stories break, but nothing can break the redemptive storylines of God.”

+ Three Key Phrases to Repeat in Marriage

+ “Praise is so important in a marriage. No one should be a bigger cheerleader for their spouse than you.” // “No matter what you’ve been through in your marriage, your best days can still be ahead of you and not behind you if you’ll work together to make the marriage all it can be.” // “If you want more peace in your marriage, then assume the best in each other. Always.” — Stronger Marriages

+ Mercy in Marriage: I spoke about two things we can do in our marriages, inspired by Divine Mercy Sunday and the Gospel reading of Jesus’ merciful encounter with Thomas. – watch it here.

+ Five things St. Gianna and her husband teach us about marriage and love

+ “Kingdom Mindset: The role that our mindset plays in experiencing God’s Kingdom.” — Catholic Revival Ministries

+ Intentionally Looking for Joy

+ “Satan’s greatest desire is to separate us from God. This process starts the minute he separates us from God’s Word. He wants us to see God’s Word as a burden instead of the blessing it really is.He will make us think we don’t have time to read God’s Word. We’re not smart enough to study and understand God’s Word. And it’s impossible to live out the truths in God’s Word.The minute any of those thoughts pop into our mind, we must recognize it’s the enemy lying and trying to lure us into a trap. We can immediately shut him down by proclaiming, “God, Your Word is my greatest treasure. Your ways are my greatest joy. And You, God, are my greatest love.”And then we need to open up God’s Word and let His truth set us free.Do you ever struggle with any of these lies from Satan? Let’s commit together to press past these lies so we can purposefully spend time with the Lord this week.” — Lysa T,

+ St. Joseph the Worker and the Meaningful Mundane

+ “Working with my trainer this past year (it doubles as physical therapy with my autoimmune disease) gave me new insight on pain recently. Before, I was paralyzed by fear of pain. I avoided certain movements and developed coping mechanisms that, come to find out, exacerbated injuries and affected surrounding joints and muscles… It’s the same with the spiritual life… We’re afraid & avoid anything hard or painful, because we only want to feel good & comfortable. But this keeps us trapped in injury and weakness instead of freeing us for healing & growth. We develop coping mechanisms that atrophy our souls and wear at unsuspecting parts of our spirits…” — Megan Hjelmstad

+ How to make a big decision

+ “John 21-there’s lots of layers of theological meaning to that fish breakfast Jesus made his disciples after he rose, but one of them is this: God wanted to make them a nice breakfast. Think about that.” — Chris Stepanik

+ Worship & Veneration in the Catholic Church: “Protestants often accuse Catholics of idolatry whenever we venerate the saints or pray to them. They frequently quote a passage from the book of Exodus to make their point that we are guilty of idolatry for venerating and praying to saints. In order to understand where this accusation is coming from we have to first to know the Protestant understanding of worship. Protestantism believes that prayer and worship are synonymous and that its object is only God. This Protestant notion of worship is different from what the Bible says and what the Catholic Church believes.” — read more here

+ “Embrace the gift of right now. Though life looks differently than you thought it would, it can still be stunningly beautiful.” — Lysa T.

+ Lastly, here’s what’s featured in this week’s Catholic Wife, Catholic Life NewsletterI share these every Monday and they always include: two gluten-free recipes, a reflection & prayer based on Sunday’s Mass readings, and links to budget-friendly fashion & Catholic home decor. 

+ Those who sign up for the newsletter now also get
a 25% off promo code to use with The Catholic Company! +

You can sign up for the newsletter here.

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