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Here are this week’s must-reads:

+ “St. Martha, a you’re a saint not because you got everything right from the beginning, but because you stayed close to Jesus, you listened and learned. Help us always do the same! St. Martha, pray for us!” — Sarah Holthaus

+ The Pray More Healing Retreat begins next week! Next Wednesday 🙂 It’s all online — it’s a self-paced, do-it-yourself retreat that we’re doing with you. There are 6 speakers, 19 talks in total, and all of the talks come with a study guide and transcript (we also have closed captions). You can check it all out here.

+ “The pain you feel comes from tiny tears in your muscles. Once the muscle fibers heal, they’ll be able to carry more weight and work harder next time. So the tearing isn’t something you did wrong; it’s how muscles get stronger.” Tearing before strengthening. Rending before repairing. Strength from resilience. What in my life needs to tear in order to become stronger? Where can I trust that pain could bring healing?The Psalms sing about strengthening our souls, and every time it catches me as strange: wouldn’t we pray for minds or hearts or bodies to be stronger instead? But the soul needs strengthening, too. Perhaps it tears in a thousand tiny ways over time, healing to hold more and carry farther.” ❤Laura Kelly Fanucci

+ “When we live with people day in and day out, their presence because common place and can easily taken for granted. When you fell in love with your spouse you probably had a racing heart and butterflies in your stomach. When your baby was a newborn their new presence was probably very exciting for everyone and it was such a novelty having them around.

“But over time the people in our lives feel like such a given that we become used to their presence. On top of that emotional complacency, their irritating habits and imperfections sometimes are what stand out to us day in and day… Look deep into your family, not past them. Really give loving attention. What poverties are they suffering? Are they feeling lonely? Scared? Has a big life change left them unsettled and unsure?” — The Catholic Mom

+ “When we heard the story of the loaves and fishes on Sunday, we were visiting a parish out of town, and the priest asked us to consider it in a different way. Our homilist invited us to focus on how Jesus took the leftover fragments of the loaves and fishes and saved them. The priest encouraged us to think about the value and purpose of those scraps—and how Jesus took those broken pieces and used them to feed still more people. Look at the brokenness in our own lives, he said, and think about how Jesus makes it into something good.” — Rita

+ Another reflection on feeding the 5,000 — this was great!

+ “How can we possibly learn to love like Christ? Today, Dr. Sri shares a powerful story about how reading Thomas Aquinas’ work on the virtues changed his life and helped him to love his wife, his family, and God the way he truly desired.” — here

+ “Being holy means generous availability to God and to those around us. Blessed Solanus Casey was nicknamed the “doorkeeper” because his office as the porter enabled him to be the face of the friars to the outside world. For many, he was also the face of Christ, and the doorway to Heaven. May we trust in God to make us saints like this joyful man, and pray for his intercession on his way to canonization. Blessed Solanus Casey, pray for us!” — CFR

+ “We all bring brokenness into marriage and by God’s grace, we also get to participate in our spouse’s healing journey. In part three of our Healing in Marriage series, we discuss how to restore trust in broken areas of a marriage.” — Restore the Glory podcast

+ In one of the daily Mass readings last week, we hear about how Moses’s face was radiant after spending time with the Lord. I wrote about it here: It reminded me of others in my life who are like that — who have been like that — different & changed after an encounter with Christ. And this reminded me of what their radiance ultimately did for me — it pushed me to want to seek some of that Light for myself. It encouraged me to take some steps that would help me get there. // I wrote the @blessedisshe__ devotional that day about a distinct time in my life when I decided I wanted to be more committed to my faith, and the role that the radiance of other Catholics played in that decision. You never know how your hope, faith and trust in the Lord will affect others, but I hope I can be a small reminder today that the light you’re sharing — your faith & hope — does make a difference, and it is meaningful and good.

+ “A little reminder: God is always doing so much beneath the surface.”

+ 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 & home decor.

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