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Here are this week’s must-reads:

+ It’s National Marriage Week! I shared some of my favorite marriage advice here, and it’s been amazing to read through the comments and hear your favorite marriage advice too — so much wisdom there.

+ “In the wait, I will worship. Leaning into love, my foundation is strengthened. In the wait, I will trust. His ways are higher, better and beyond my understanding. In the wait, I will grow. He is refining and renewing me from the inside out… In the wait, I will hope. Clinging to the Shepherd, I know I’m not alone.” — Cleerely Stated

+ “During #MarriageWeek I am in awe of the beauty of marriage, but know that it shines the most in the difficulties where God invites us to act as a team: through sickness and through pain, our Lord has given us someone who we can laugh with, hope with, cry with, comfort in. Marriage… It is worth waiting for the right person to do it with.” — Kataryna, Little Olive Prints

+ Sometimes, social media can really be a hamper on marriages, you know? Things you see there can easily make you think less about your life — your home or your relationships… and I really don’t want that for any of us. That’s why I shared what I did here, about marriage and looking for ways our husbands love us.

I remember — years ago, social media being a source of pain for me as I saw other wives share about how their husbands would bring them flowers or chocolate or jewelry — frequently. That’s just not how my husband shows his love for me (most of the time) — mine does it differently, and over time, I’ve learned to see it better — which in turn, makes me feel way more loved than I used to. ❤️ And I want that for you too. ❤️

I want you to be able to see how your husband is loving you… even if it’s not the kind of love you see on instagram and facebook. I want you to be able to see the small, everyday things your husband does for you — out of love and service and sacrifice. Those things are so meaningful — they often require more time, more gift of themselves, more dying-to-self from them. And that’s the most beautiful type of gift, whatever form it comes in.

How do you notice your husband loving you every week in these small, “every day” ways? Share those here!

+ The Sacramentality of Marriage

+ “The grace of God does not find men fit for salvation, but makes them so.” — St. Augustine // This is a quote I shared in this week’s newsletter — scroll all the way to the bottom of the post for more about that 🙂

+ “Authentic married love is caught up into divine love.” Catechism of the Catholic Church

+ “Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid to love. Even when suffering comes, humiliation comes, pain comes, success comes, joy comes. Remember, you are precious to Him. He loves you.”- St. Teresa of Calcutta

+ “Life can often feel like it’s just too much to handle. Too many messes, too many fights, too many challenges, too many strong personalities; especially when we’re not just looking after ourselves, but a family, too. But you are capable of so much — much more than you think or feel. You are the right woman to handle your life circumstances. And better than that, you are not alone in it.

“You have your dear friends to surround you with love and encouragement, but even more incredible than that, you have God. As I look back, there were times I didn’t know if I could be strong one more day. But, trusting that God was present in my life, I would be faithful one more day. Eventually I found a lifetime of God‘s faithful provision one day at a time, that eventually built the legacy of my life. No matter what this day or season holds, I think you have it in you to go just a little further.” — Sally Clarkson

+ Mental health tip from the Sisters of Life

+ “You are wired to hear from God… Rhema Vs. Logos: the two different words God speaks to us and why they matter…”

+ “What’s the point of healing? To love better. To be more Christlike. Not just to *not* have bad feelings.” — Jake Khym

+ “It takes just a single touch from the Lord to change a condition. To reverse a health diagnosis. To set free from an addiction. To restore a lost dream. To bring a loved one home. To re-route a life trajectory. No matter how complex the issue, or how long it’s been going on… Whether you were responsible for it, or have been the victim of it… He can do it in a moment, in a single touch. Take courage, friend — Jesus can do this.” — Catholic Revival Ministries

+ “If we had no hope, what would we do in this world?” — St. Josephine Bakhita // “I am definitively loved, and whatever happens to me, I am awaited by this Love.” — St. Josephine

+ “God’s only desire is to bring me home.” — Henri Nouwen

+ Urgent prayers needed for our friend Tabitha from House of Joppa.

+ “Lourdes is a hallowed place where heaven touches earth and illness and disability cease to have power. The parts of individuals that are broken are not denied or hidden but met with care and love; the aspects of society and environment that work to keep us isolated and broken are either restored or surmounted together.

“The last are first; the ones who need help are helped; the relationships among body, soul, community, and world are smoothed and mended; the spiritual is as real and important as the physical; and suffering of every kind is met with grace upon grace, until it is no longer suffering, but simply one way of being.” — Christy Wilkens

+ “Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? . . . No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed.

“Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen. ” — Pope Benedict XVI

+ “Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ.”

+ “The world needs the home. If there are only workers and no homes, then man will become nothing more than a piece of machinery; children will certainly be trampled. Beauty will be drained out of life. The home needs a maker; my conviction is that God made women to make the home and to guard beauty from utilitarianism.” – Leila Marie Lawler. The Summa Domestica

+ 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. This week’s reflection is all about God’s grace equipping us for what we’re called to do — for our relationships with Him, and in our vocations.

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