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Fr. Ed shared this beautiful quote by Ron Quinlan on the Catholic Exchange website during today's Women of Grace live radio program.  It beautifully illustrates God's deep and abiding love for us.  Happy St. Valentine's Day! 

My Beloved Child, Yes, you are my beloved child.  I know this is hard for you to believe.  You see all your mistakes and failures, all the times you lost your temper, all the times you’ve hurt people, all the times you stayed away from me.  You look at yourself and see your failures. I look at you and see your beauty.  I see the love you’ve given to those you encountered in your life.  I see the times you tried to love others, all the times you’ve given of yourself.  I see a beautiful person struggling to become the person you were created to be. There is a beauty and love deep inside of you.  Right now you may not see it but someday the whole world will look at you and see this rare beauty, someone very special and unique, a gift to the world — for you are my gift and my beloved child. So often you’ve been afraid of me.  You run and try to hide, hoping that I won’t notice your mistakes.  So many hours you spend, doing everything you can to stay busy, too busy to think, to busy talk to me.  You run away from me but I long for your company.  I long to shower you with my love, to pour my blessings upon you.  I yearn to comfort and console you, to be there for you in your pain.  My desire is to take care of you.  My passion is for you to come to me, seeking me, to know and love me — for that is why I made you. I want you to know that I know everything you ever done — and I love you with a passion so intense that human words can not describe it.  Your past is forgiven and forgotten.  I remember nothing you have confessed.  I passionately desire to forgive you everything.  All you have to do is repent and confess. So come to me; come so that I may pour my blessings upon you.  There is so much I want to give you.  I want to do so much for you.  I want you to know my peace.  I want to set you free from the guilt that robs you of your joy; from the fear that plagues you; from the worry and anxiety that is tearing you apart.  I want you to know my joy, to know my freedom, to be secure in my love. Come, now! There is nothing you have to change or do, no improvements you have to make before you come to me.  Come as you are.  I love you exactly as you are.  Just, come!

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Do you struggle with worry?  I know I do on occasion.  Life for the Christian is a daily exercise in surrender to Divine Providence and Venerable Solanus Casey knew this all to well.  Recently, I have found the following quote from Venerable Casey to be most helpful.  It is a wonderful reflection to use during your prayer time this week, especially if you are struggling with worry.  "Worry is a weakness from which very few of us are entirely free.  We must be on guard against this most insidious enemy of peace of soul.  Instead let us foster confidence in God, and thank Him ahead of time for whatever he chooses to send us. If we only try to show the Dear Lord a good will and ask Him for resignation to the crosses He sends or permits to come our way, we may be sure that sooner or later they will turn out to have been just so many blessings in disguise." Venerable Solanus Casey, pray for us. Related Resources: Saints of the States with Dan Lynch The Heart of a Saint: Ten Ways to Grow Closer to God

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During the first session of the Women of Grace study, I tell the women that my mother named me appropriately, Martha because I’m “a doer!”  But one day I heard a voice in the inner recesses of my heart say, “Martha, Martha, Come and sit with Mary at my feet.” The next thing I knew, I found myself participating in a Women of Grace study at a nearby parish!!

 

I fell in love with the study and realized I had a long, long way to go on my spiritual journey. The rain of graces from the study poured, not only upon my self, but upon my family as well.  My husband and I began praying the rosary together and the following Fall, Tony was right beside me as a daily communicant!!  My burning desire, my mission, was to create an opportunity for women from all walks of life to embark upon this journey of discovery and transformation.

 

The week that I was to begin facilitating my first Women of Grace group at my parish, negative thoughts plagued me like, “What are you doing?  You can’t facilitate this program! You don’t know enough! What if you are asked a question, and you do not know the answer?!”  I held my ground and didn’t allow the evil one to discourage me.

 

Throughout the bible we see how the Lord “qualifies the unqualified.” That was me but through my fiat, my “yes”, three Women of Grace studies were implemented at my parish; one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.  At one point, we had five studies running at various times throughout the week.  Over three hundred women have had the opportunity to go through this life-changing program and it is now being offered in five other surrounding parishes.

 

Our Lady impregnated my soul with a holy zeal for Women of Grace.  As a facilitator, a profound gift is given!!  The Holy Spirit allows me to witness His abundant fruit sprouting in the hearts of the women he has entrusted to me.  Just one example was when I saw a woman’s face transformed after she returned to the Sacrament of Reconciliation after forty years!!

 

For those considering becoming a facilitator, I can not express the importance of spending time in prayer.  It is prayer which allows the Holy Spirit to work in and through you.

 

As this New Year unfolds, may Our Lady and her spouse, the Holy Spirit, prepare your hearts with a double portion of fortitude to birth Jesus to the world!

 

 

 

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These are certainly unprecedented times.  One only need to watch the evening news to see that the world seems to be quickly spiraling out of control.  That is why the March for Life is an event of such great hope.  It is the powerful witness of hundreds of thousands of pro-life individuals from varying faith backgrounds marching together to give a voice to the voiceless unborn children and their parents who have been wounded by abortion. Those who March are the white (as opposed to red) martyrs of this generation.  Though they may not be called to shed their blood, they are called to walk in a spirit of self-sacrifice and like the martyrs, draw upon the virtue of fortitude.  It is fortitude which propels the soul to act in spite of fear or discomfort.  It is fortitude that gives the soldier the strength to enter into the battle.  It is fortitude which enables one to lay down their life for a friend.   As St. Therese of Lisieux reminds us: it doesn’t’ matter if we have courage – as long as we act like we do. So on this January 22nd, which marks the 38th anniversary of the March for Life and the devastating Roe vs. Wade decision, we call upon God to bestow upon those who will march, a double portion of His strength and fortitude.  We are in solidarity with you, our dear brothers and sisters in Christ and are grateful for the hope that you bring into this very fallen world.

"O Lord God of hosts, You said in your Gospel , 'I am not come to bring peace but the sword'; provide me with desire to fight for Your glory, but I beseech You, strengthen my courage.  Then with holy King David I can exclaim: 'You alone are my shield, O God; it is You who prepare my hands for war.' "O my Jesus, I will fight for You as long as I live, and love will be my sword.  My weakness should never discourage me; when in the morning I feel no courage or strength for the practice of virtue, I must look upon this state as a grace, for You teach me that it is the very moment to put the axe to the root of the tree, counting only on Your help." "What merit would there be in fighting only when I feel courage?  What does it matter even if I have none, provide that I act as if I had? "                                       (St. Therese of Lisieaux quote from Divine Intimacy, page 839)

Addition resources: Preparing for the March for Life by CatholicVote.org. March for Life official website and schedule of events EWTN  March for Life programming

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"I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor." St. Faustina Kowalska For Reflection: In whose life would the Lord ask me today to be a conduit of His love and mercy? (Hint: From whom would I most like to withhold love and mercy?) In what practical way can I respond?

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Feast of St. John Neumann, Bishop (1811 - 1860) A man must always be ready, for death comes when and where God wills it. St. John Neumann For Reflection: If today should be the day the Lord would call me home, would I be ready? (Consider: What are my outstanding sins? Whose forgiveness do I need to ask? Who do I need to forgive? What would be the last words my loved ones would remember me saying to them?)

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 "The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will."  St. Elizabeth Ann Seton As a Catholic revert, it was with great joy and surprise that I was introduced to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  I, like many, at the beginning of my faith journey, viewed sainthood as something that was only attainable to priests and religious who dedicated their entire lives to prayer, fasting, and extreme penances.  In other words, it wasn't for a lay person like myself.  Mrs. Seton taught me differently. 

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Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774 - 1821) "Live simply, so that all may simply live." St. Elizabeth Ann Seton For Reflection: Today, I will do an examination of conscience according to this quote and ask myself these questions: "What two virtues are implicit in this quote?" "To what extent has a consumerist mentality prevented me from living these virtues?" What positive steps can I take, beginning today, to remedy this situation?"

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"A person's prayer often keeps step with his moral life. The closer our behavior corresponds to the Divine Will, the easier it is to pray; the more our conduct is out of joint with Divinity, the harder it is to pray." Fulton J. Sheen For Reflection: On a scale of one to ten, with one being "easy" and ten being "most difficult," how would I rate my experience of prayer? In light of Bishop Sheen's quote, is a serious examination of conscience in order? (Please note the word "often" in Bishop Sheen's quote. Other reasons exist for difficulty in prayer such as distraction or aridity. However, it is always good to examine our conscience as a first prevention against difficulty in prayer time.)

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"When prayer is humble, trusting, and persevering, it obtains for us a more lively faith, a firmer hope, a more ardent charity. Thereby we see how fruitful mental prayer can be; how it draws God strongly toward us that He may give Himself intimately to us and that we may give ourselves to Him." Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. For Reflection: Is my prayer "humble, trusting, and persevering?" In which of these three do I most need to grow? What benefits can I expect to receive if I do so? Can I recall a time when I experienced the profound presence of God in prayer? How does this help me to remain steadfast to the resolution I made yesterday regarding my time of prayer?

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