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Here are this week’s must-reads:

+ “I want you to have a new concept of holiness. You’ve got to be holy where you are: washing dishes, at the office, at school. Wherever you are, you can be holy there.” — Mother Angelica

+ “We are “other Christs.” Our destiny is to live the Christ-life: to bring Christ’s life into the world; to increase Christ’s love in the world; to give Christ’s peace to the world.Caryll Houselander

+ “When Jesus called to Bartimaeus and allowed him to come near, He asked Bartimaeus what he wanted. Bartimaeus answered, “Master, I want to see.” 

He was clear and concrete with what he wanted. This reminds me of some prayer advice a good friend of ours — a priest —  gave us long ago: to pray with a solid and concrete intention. To make it clear. To make it black and white. This way, he told us, we will know better what the Lord’s response is to our desires. And we’ll be able to work with what we’re receiving in prayer — whether that’s a yes or a no or a “something else.” 

What also resonates with me about Bartimaeus saying so clearly what he wanted is that… While we know the Lord knows our desires, we shouldn’t let that stop us from speaking them clearly — descriptively. He wants to hear it from us. Because that’s where the relationship happens — in those conversations of sharing and asking and receiving. ” — read the full reflection here. This is from last week’s Catholic Wife, Catholic Life Newsletter. I made this post public so you could see what you get when you sign up for them 🙂

+ “Today I spoke my daughters’ names into a church basement full of mothers. I told them the truth that bearing witness to Maggie and Abby’s lives and deaths has helped me to hold the joy and grief of this love together, in tension. We bear what we believe we cannot bear… I worried about the wrong things that October day years ago. I watched my plans crumble as I stared at an ultrasound screen and pictured how hard my life would become now, or so I thought. But I have enormous compassion for the worried mother I was then, just I have awe for the woman I am becoming after their deaths. We can hold more than we think, more than we want. Our hearts are muscles made to stretch.” — Laura Kelly Fanucci

+ “What children teach us about our relationship with God: Children are impressionable… They are They are dependent for all that they have… A child knows who to run to… They delight in small things… They are quick to forgive and forget… ” — Fr. Edward Looney

+ “It is not how much we are doing but how much love, how much honesty, how much faith is put into doing it. It makes no difference what we are doing. What you are doing, I cannot do, and what I am doing, you cannot do. Only sometimes we forget and we spend more time looking at somebody else and wishing we were doing something else. We waste our time thinking of tomorrow, and today we let the day pass, and yesterday is gone.” —Mother Teresa

+ “There is a strict logic at work here. When you really love someone, you tend to love, as well, what they love. Well, what does God love? He loves everything and everyone that he has made. So, if you want to love God, and you find this move difficult because God seems so distant, love everyone you come across for the sake of God.” — Bishop Barron

+ What to do when you struggle to forgive

+ “With Joseph and Mary we are to search for Jesus as the Bride of the Song of Songs searches for her Beloved. It is the searching of the soul, the longing of the heart for love: for love of this, the True Bridegroom. This searching is meant to become finding the God who is Love all around us, especially in those we love, in our homes, in everyday love. We will also find pain. Very often we carry the Cross: because we love, because we share the crosses of ones we love! When we remember then that God is love, while that doesn’t mean that challenges, difficulties, or pains disappear, we can know that GOD IS WITH US, TRULY. A new way opens up, this way that Mary and Joseph were invited to understand more profoundly still, that day in the Temple. Joseph would die before Christ launched His public ministry. Mary remained to stand at the Cross, united heart to heart with Jesus as He saved world. In our everyday crosses we are to be the Beloved Disciple at the side of the Cross, united in the work, too. This kind love leads to resurrection. Let us be about the Father’s business.” — Fr. James Phalan

+ 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.

You can sign up for the newsletter here.

–> And here’s a look at last week’s newsletter, to give you an idea of what you get when you sign up 🙂

You can sign up for the newsletter here.