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Here are this week’s must-reads:
+ “One thing I’ve had to learn is that the evidence of God being with you in a difficult situation isn’t always Him changing the situation or even how you feel within a situation. Instead, He sustains you through it… Sometimes He does choose to change the situation, or He changes how you feel within it. Other times, He gives you the strength you need for the next day. He helps you take the next step all the while asking you to lean on him, depend on him and trust in Him. He’s a good father who is fully aware of your situation. and if for some reason he chooses to allow it and doesn’t change it, I believe then that it’s’s for my good. Because i believe what the Bible says about who my father is. It doesn’t remove the pain or frustration about the situation, but it does give it purpose and hope. That’s why we count it all a joy. Because iv’e never learned to depend on God more than in situations where my need for him is on full display.” — Caroline Beckham
+ “The pressure is not on me to become a saint — holiness doesn’t come from my abilities or my talents, but a heart surrendered to His grace in the ordinary.” — Mary, Liturgical Style
+ “I get distracted and overwhelmed and I most definitely have dramatic moments where I tell Michael I’m positive that we just need to quit EVERYTHING. But then I drag myself out of bed in the early dark, or carve prayer time out of an over-busy day, or have my most intense prayer of the week right there in the carpool line, and I put my heart in His and I come back to Truth. This doesn’t all depend on me. I need to do what He has put in front of me in this present moment, and leave the thought of all the rest to Him. God doesn’t ask us to be successful; He asks us to be faithful.” — Erin Franco
Here’s a look at what’s featured in this week’s newsletter. Everything’s under $60. Sign up for it here – and you’ll also get access to last year’s best-sellers!
Scroll down for the fashion finds this week!
+ “Nature is a unique means through which God’s fingerprint is recognized and his creatures encounter him. Since the dawn of time, the garden has been a common backdrop of man’s relationship with God. As the recent readings of the Easter Octave remind the faithful, this is the setting where St. Mary Magdalene meets the Risen Lord, mistaking him for a gardener. God always meets us in the garden…” — Emily Malloy
+ “The most unvisited tabernacle in the world is often the tabernacle of our heart. 2,000 years ago in an unprecedented act of humility and generosity, God chose not just to write the law in our hearts and not just to become bread but to make his home the embodied soul of each baptized person. Saint Paul does not write you are “like” God’s temple. No. You are God’s temple. But it’s often the most neglected temple and where Jesus is left most alone. What we do with this knowledge changes everything.”- Mariana, Big Apple Catholic
+ “Isn’t it remarkable that there are no written words about the daily ins-and-outs of Saint Joseph’s carpentry business? Yet we know that Saint Joseph was a good steward… He sacrificed. He persevered. He labored in love. Together with Mary, he shared a single common center of attention: Christ.
Outside of Christ all our impressive labors, careers, bank accounts, reputations, and legacies are grand nothings. But in Christ, even the most tedious toil is reversed and redeemed. In Christ, there is hope for those who are unrecognized, those battling daily chores, those (unrecognized and not valued) at work, those for whom no room is given for advancement or opportunity to learn. In Christ alone is true rest.” — Michelle Karen D’Silva
+ “And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed; just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him.”
–St. Teresa Benedicta
+ While I was praying the Rosary, particularly thinking about The Visitation, I thought of St. Catherine of Siena, who once said: “Love does not stay idle.” When I first saw that quote, I initially took it as an encouragement in our vocation — to love and serve those around us. To be generous and to allow our heart to be moved towards love. Like Mary did as she visited Elizabeth.
Later in the day, though, I thought of it another way, and I considered how it really reflects God’s character. He does not stay idle. In our seasons of waiting — when all may seem still or quiet — or even completely silent, He is there and He is at work. (Like Holy Saturday).
Even now, I think of it another way — considering our Blessed Mother, Mary, Undoer of Knots. She’s not idle as we ask for her intercession. She’s working on those knots. “Love does not stay idle.” I love such simple and powerful sayings like this.
+ “Today’s gospel includes one of my favorite verses — Jesus says “Come, have breakfast.” John 21:12 // The Lord is in the big powerful moments, but He is also in the small and simple moments. Sometimes, He just wants to have breakfast with you.” — Mackenzie Hunter
+ “Marriage is a beautiful sacrament — a living reflection of Christ’s love for His Church. But in the busyness of daily life, it’s easy to overlook the simple but powerful ways we can make our spouse feel truly cherished and heard… Listen with your heart…Speak words of affirmation… Pray together… Serve each other with joy… Forgive quickly, love deeply. We are called to reflect Christ’s mercy. Offer grace freely and remember that love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).” — The Alexander House
+ “Love isn’t found in a birthday post Instagram caption written by your husband. It’s found in a husband remembering your favorite snack without you even asking. It’s found in the small, quiet ways they know you. The ways no one else even notices… His love isn’t loud, it’s not performative, it’s not meant for (everyone else). It’s quiet, it’s not flashy. It’s not for anyone else to see — it’s just for me.” — Caitlin F.
+ Marriage advice from Sunday’s Gospel: Jesus asked Simon Peter three times, “Do you love me?” And each time, Simon Peter said, “yes, I love you, of course I love you.” And Jesus said in response to that, “Tend my sheep, feed my lamb.” I think what we can take away from this is that saying, “I love you” of course has meaning and power, but it’s even more important to turn that into action when you can.
Another piece of this may be: to look for the action of our spouses showing us that they love us too — especially if it’s in ways we’re not noticing right now. Maybe they’re showing us their love in ways we haven’t appreciated or recognized in the past. 💙
+ Christ in the Desert painting (1872) by Ivan Kramskoy // Kramskoy wrote: “To the question ‘this is not Christ, how do you know he looked like that?’, I permitted myself to reply ‘but even the actual, living Christ has not been recognised’.”
More Finds in this week’s Newsletter, which you can read through here.
