Guardian Angels Aren’t Just for Children

Angel of God, my guardian dear to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule, and guide. Amen

The Guardian Angel Prayer

My First Prayer
I feel like when you’re a child, angels are cute and magical, like fairytale creatures. We would want to dress up as them and pretended to be them. I didn’t just think I could be an angel when I went to Heaven, I wanted to be an angel so badly. In my First Holy Communion classes, we named our guardian angels and drew a picture of what they looked like to us. (I learned later that we really shouldn’t do that because angels already have names and we don’t know what they look like.)

I prayed the guardian angel prayer every night and asked for its help when I was little. That prayer was probably the first one that I learned to pray. It was comforting to know that my guardian angel was protecting me, and I thought about my angel with, for lack of better terms, childlike wonder.

Guardian Angels Aren't Just for Children

Growing Out of Guardian Angels
After a while, it seemed like praying the guardian angel prayer and being slightly obsessed with having your own personal angel was just for kids. When I outgrew coloring, playing dress-up, and having tea parties, I must have outgrown my guardian angel too. I regret to say that I sort of forgot about my guardian angel for a chunk of my life, but fortunately, my guardian angel never forgot about me.

There were so many times in my life when I could tell God was looking out for me. Looking back on those occasions, I think He sent my guardian angel to protect me. Throughout my years of dance, I never had a major injury. I had survivors guilt when I would see dancers with torn ACLs, concussions, and more while I would only have a few bruises. Growing up Catholic in today’s society isn’t easy, and there were times when I ran into someone or read or watched something that contradicted my faith. Instead of giving in, I’d dismiss it knowing that I have the truth in Jesus Christ and His Church. Again, I felt a twinge of survivors guilt seeing how I kept my faith while others tragically didn’t.

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Reuniting with my Guardian Angel
I typically think to pray to God the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, or ask Mary or the Saints for help and prayers before I think of my guardian angel. It wasn’t until college when I started thinking about my guardian angel again. I learned that angels are wise, so when you study, you can invoke your guardian angel to help you. I took the small step of rebuilding my relationship with my guardian angel by asking it to help me study for my exams. I honestly didn’t really talk to my guardian angel much other than that. Regardless, I knew that I still had somewhat of a relationship with my guardian angel. Even if I didn’t talk to it or ask for its help often, I knew that it was always protecting me. I might have only asked for help with my studies, but in that way, I still kept my guardian angel close.

Now I’m out of college and a “full-time adult.” Although I don’t talk to my guardian angel as often as I’d like to, I can tell that it’s keeping me safe. I genuinely hope that when I get to Heaven, I can ask it what it was like to look out for me all of those years. I can only imagine what it’ll say about what it was like when I fell and scraped my arm in Cathedral Falls. Because today is the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels, I encourage you to say the Guardian Angel Prayer. As childish as you might feel praying this prayer, you’re never too old to ask your guardian angel to guide and protect you.

Stay radiant!

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How My 1st Year of Blogging Changed my Faith Journey

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall always be in my mouth.

Psalm 34:2

Happy birthday, Radiant with Joy
I’m not known for making spontaneous decisions, but I made one a year ago today that I’ll never forget or regret. A year ago, I got my rejection email from FOCUS, and I was left wondering what to do next. I was in the elevator on my way to a dance class when I declared:

I’m going to start a faith blog.

It was spontaneous, impulsive, but I went for it anyway. Looking back, I’m certain it was the Holy Spirit. I knew what I would name my blog right away, Radiant with Joy, after my favorite Bible verse. Psalm 34:5 reads “Those who look to God are radiant with joy; their faces are never darkened with shame.” This is how I want to live for my Heavenly Father, and I hope that my joy not only brightens up those around me, but also helps them to encounter God.

I always felt called to help people fall more in love with God, which is why I applied to be a FOCUS missionary. As much as I was heartbroken when they said they wouldn’t interview me, I took their rejection graciously, knowing that God had other, more beautiful plans for me. There’s beauty in the breaking, and from the heartbreak that came with FOCUS’s “no,” I was able to say “yes” to starting Radiant with Joy.

I started this faith blog with transparency being a priority. I truly believe that everyone can be holy and anyone can be a Saint. Remembering how much I’ve struggled with spiritual comparison, I knew that only sharing my spiritual highs, or the good things going on in my faith journey, would be toxic. Instead, I decided to write about the highs and lows of my faith journey, starting with the “no” I had to hear from FOCUS. It wasn’t always pleasant to write about the lows. It was downright difficult to be so vulnerable sometimes, but it was worth it to be honest with myself and my readers, and I believe this facet of my blog is what makes it so beautiful and precious to readers.

How My 1st Year of Blogging Changed my Faith Journey

Because of Radiant with Joy…
Within this little ministry, I found that I inspired quite a few people. As the Peace Prayer of St. Francis goes, “it is in giving that we receive,” so as I wrote Radiant with Joy and poured my heart into it, my heart was filled to the brim.

My email wasn’t exploding with messages of gratitude, but when I would run into a friend at the Newman Center and they would say they loved my last blog post, I’d beam just knowing that someone read it and liked it. Having a faith blog kept me accountable for growing in my faith, so I made more of an effort to receive the Sacraments more and to pray every day. In writing about my faith, I found myself learning more about the Church and her teachings, and falling more in love with them. In this past year, I went to daily Mass more than I ever have, I prayed the St. Andrew Christmas Novena, I finally made my Marian Consecration, I did Fiat 90, I’m working on my second 54-day Rosary Novena, and I read more Scripture than I ever have in my life. Radiant with Joy gave me the push that I needed to strengthen my faith. It elevated my prayer life, revived my relationship with Mary, and deepened my relationship with God.

I grew in perseverance not only with prayer and growing in faith and virtue, but also with my writing schedule. By planning blog posts and making a content calendar, I grew in commitment. I found so much support from my family and friends, and from some fellow faith bloggers! It means so much when they support me and Radiant with Joy, and I genuinely love to cheer them on with their blogs.

When I decided to write a faith blog, I became vulnerable and open with my faith journey. Because of this, I could have placed my worth in the amount of readers or followers that I had or the success or lack thereof that I gained, but strangely that never happened. Through it all, I gained a deeper understanding of my worth and identity as a daughter of the Lord. Whether Radiant with Joy becomes a huge and successful ministry or a little way to share my faith, I know that the Lord is pleased with me. I’m secure in knowing that I’m His beloved daughter, which has made me more joyful in everything that I do.

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A Few “Thank Yous”
The Lord is first and foremost in my life, so first, I thank Him for Radiant with Joy and its very eventful first year. Every milestone that Radiant with Joy reached during this year, I credit to my Heavenly Father. Without him, none of this would have been possible. As I watch Radiant with Joy grow, I know that this is His plan for me. I felt Him guiding me as I got the domain, made social media accounts, watched my number of page views go up each month, opened an Etsy shop, and made the blog look prettier and more professional. I thank Him endlessly for what Radiant with Joy has become in the last year, and I look forward to where he’ll take it in the future.

Thank you to my family for being my biggest fans since day one, especially my mom for commenting on all of my blogs and sharing every single one. Thank you to Nathan, for your genuine excitement and support each time I talk about Radiant with Joy or do something new with it. Thank you to all of my friends who constantly hype me and RwJ up, especially Bernie, for your loving words of encouragement. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and this blog. Finally, thank you, for reading my blog. Whether you’ve been here all year or if you’re new to Radiant with Joy, I hope you’re feeling the joy and love of our Father radiating from my words. Please know that I’m praying for you to always stay radiant with the joy that only the Lord can give.

Stay radiant!

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This Sunday’s Gospel: September 27, 2020

Luke 9:43-45

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
“What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
He said in reply, ‘I will not, ‘
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir, ‘but did not go.
Which of the two did his father’s will?”
They answered, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him.”

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I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “actions speak louder than words.” What we do tends to be more meaningful than what we say. I can tell my housemates that I’ll do the dishes tonight, and I can promise my mom that I’ll call her, but unless I follow through with these actions, they mean nothing.

Our actions speak louder than words as Christians, too. I tell the Lord that I love His commands, but I don’t always follow them. I say that I love my neighbor as myself, but I fall short. I tell God that He’s the most important part of my life, but I waste time on social media or being lazy instead of spending time with Him in prayer.

When our promising words aren’t backed up with following God’s will, we’re like the first son in today’s parable. We can’t affirm that we’ll do what our Father asks and then not show up. This is why we need to let our actions speak louder than our words. Let’s answer our Heavenly Father’s call to take up our cross and follow Him humbly, whether we vocalize what we’re doing or not.

Stay radiant!

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15 Saints Who Weren’t Too Young to be Saints

Ask Jesus to make you a Saint. After all, only he can do that.

St. Dominic Savio

Saints of All Ages
We often see icons of adults and old men and women, but we know that the Saints come from all walks of life and all ages. There are so many young Saints with steadfast faith who are deeply in love with the Lord. Being still on the young side myself, their stories inspire me to live radically for Jesus now. These 15 Saints show us that we can never be too young to be holy.

15 Saints who Weren't "Too Young" to be Saints

1 St. Agnes, age 13
St. Agnes was born to a wealthy family in 4th century Rome. She made a vow of chastity, and when a suitor tried to ask for her hand, she would say “Jesus is my only spouse.” Eventually, she was condemned to death for refusing to marry. When the guards led her to be burned at the stake, she was as happy as a bride walking down the isle to her groom. The flames wouldn’t burn her when she was tied to a stake, so she was beheaded.

2 St. Tarcisius, age ~12
In 3rd century Rome, Pagan rulers often threw Christians in dark and dirty prisons where they would wait to be martyred. A bishop wanted to make sure that the prisoners could receive the Eucharist, and the young St. Tarcisius volunteered to bring the Blessed Sacrament to them. He claimed that the guards would think he’s only a messenger boy, so his bishop allowed him to go. He carried the Eucharist under his tunic, close to his heart. One day, the guards found out that St. Tarcisius was a Christian and carrying “Christian mystery,” so they beat him to death. He’s known as the “boy martyr of the Eucharist.”

3 St. Maria Goretti, age 12
As a young girl living in poverty in Italy, St. Maria Goretti’s faith was remarkably strong and she always trusted in God. In the early 1900s, her neighbor, Alessandro Serenelli tried to rape her. St. Maria Goretti fought back, saying it was against God’s will, so Alessandro stabbed her fourteen times. As she was dying, St. Maria Goretti forgave Alessandro, and he later converted and even attended her canonization.

4 St. Gabriel, the Child Martyr of Poland, age 6
Born in a Polish village in 1684, St. Gabriel was an innocent and holy little boy. He often spent his time praying and contemplating Divine Province instead of playing. When he was only 6 years old, St. Gabriel was tragically kidnapped from his family. After 9 days of torture, he died from bleeding out of his pierced side.

5 St. Philomena, age ~13
Centuries after her death in 3rd century Rome, St. Philomena appeared to Sister Maria Luisa di Gesù in 1833. She explained that she was a Greek princess who took a vow of chastity at age 11. When she refused to marry a Roman emperor, St. Philomena was imprisoned for forty days. She survived scourging, drowning, and being shot with arrows before she was finally beheaded. According to St. John Vianney, “To St. Philomena, God refuses nothing,” which makes her a powerful intercessor.

6 Ven. Carlo Acutis, age 15
Born in 1991, to Italian parents, Ven. Carlo Acutis is probably the most tech-savvy of all the Saints. He was devoted to the Eucharist, and wanted to share the beauty and truth of the True Presence. Ven. Carlo Acutis did this by building a website which documented Eucharistic Miracles that occured all around the world. Moreover, he used his time on the Internet in holy ways, and limited his screen time so that he was free to pray and receive the Sacraments. He died of leukemia at age 15 and offered his suffering up for the Church.

7 St. Dymphna, age ~13
When her Christian mother died at a young age, St. Dymphna’s pagan father experienced mental health issues. This, paired with poor advisement, caused him to view St. Dymphna as his late wife and want to marry her. To escape his advances, St. Dymphna fled Ireland for Belgium with a priest, two servants, and a jester. While there, she built a hospital and cared for the poor and sick. Eventually, her father found her and killed her as she defended her vow of chastity.

8 St. Dominic Savio, age 15
Even as a child, St. Dominic’s faith was his at the forefront of his life. In love with the lord, he prayed often, and received the Sacraments regularly. After he received his first Holy Communion, he wrote in a journal four promises, which were, “I will go to Confession often, and as frequently to Holy Communion as my confessor allows. I wish to sanctify the Sundays and festivals in a special manner. My friends shall be Jesus and Mary. Death rather than sin.” When he became sick, he could tell that he was dying, so he requested that a parish priest visit him for Anointing of the Sick and he prayed the Exercise of a Happy Death.

9 St. Thérèse of Lisieux, age 24
This list wouldn’t be complete without the Little Flower. St. Thérèse entered a Carmelite convent in 1888 when she was 15. She discovered that the Lord delights when we depend on him like little children and have a spirit of childlike love. Because of this, she became known for her “little way” as she did small things with great love. Before she died of tuberculosis at age 24, she promised to send down a shower of roses from Heaven.

10 Bl. José Luis Sánchez del Río, age 15
During the Mexican Christero War, Bl. José Luis Sánchez del Río fought against anti-Catholic laws. He was taken as a prisoner of war and brutally tortured before his execution. Guards cut the bottoms of Bl. José’s feet and led him along a rocky path to a cemetery. Along the whole way there and until he was shot to death, he exclaimed “Viva Cristo Rey!”

11 St. Kateri Tekawitha, age 24
The first canonized Native American Saint survived smallpox as a child, but the disease scarred her face and left her an orphan as it took the lives of her parents. When she was 19, she became a Christian and was baptized by Fr. Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary. She took a vow of chastity and traveled by herself to Montreal, where she lived with a community of Christian Indigenous Americans until she died of an illness when she was 24. As a nod to her indigenous tribe, she’s known as “the Lily of the Mohawks.”

12. St. Joan of Arc, age 19
From a young age, St. Joan of Arc heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret. They inspired her to help the French army fight against the English and to bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation. Dressed as a male solider, she traveled with the French army and led them to victory at Orléans, which allowed Charles VII to become king. After being accused of heresy on account of her visions and dressing like a man, she was burnt at the stake.

13, 14, and 15 Sts. Jacinta and Francisco and Bl. Lucia
Our Lady of Fatima appeared to these three shepherd children when they were and 7, 9, and 10, respectively. Our Blessed Mother visited them six times over the course of six months, showing them visions and telling them important secrets. The children were encouraged to pray the rosary every day to “end the war,” and they learned what became known as the Fatima prayer which was added to the rosary to pray for the salvation of souls. The three children faced harassments and threats because of their visits with Our Lady of Fatima, but nothing could keep them from their Heavenly Mother or stop them from spreading the devotion to her Immaculate Heart. Although Sts. Jacinta and Francisco became ill and died a year or so after the series of Marian apparitions, Bl. Lucia became a religious sister and passed away at age 97. I have her listed here not only because she was a child when Mary appeared to her, but also because she lived the rest of her life with childlike dependence on our her Mother.

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Are you “too young” to be a Saint?
When I look at the lives of the Saints, I’m always inspired and encouraged to live like them. They make me want to actively pursue the Lord more and to keep choosing to live a holy life for Him. When I look at the lives of young Saints, I’m reminded of the urgency of the Gospel. I remember that God doesn’t guarantee any of us a long life, so we should constantly say yes to Him and live according to His will. What’s stopping us from living our faith heroically right now? These 15 young Saints lived very different lives, but none of them let anything separate them from Jesus. We might not be called to take a vow of chastity or wear the crown of martyrdom, but like these Saints, we can follow Jesus as closely as we can for as much time as we have in this life.

Stay radiant!

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How to Stay Catholic in College

I plead with you–never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.

St. John Paul II

You moved into your first college dorm. You hugged your mom and dad goodbye, and you’re on your own for the first time. Now, you’re tasked with making sure you wake up and get to class on time, staying on top of your homework because no one will remind you to do it, and doing your own laundry. Oh yeah, and making friends and finding time for self-care will be helpful.

So where does your faith fit in to all of this?

When I started college, I knew that I had to take my faith into my own hands. I made every conscious effort to stay Catholic, and when I realized I’d have no problem with this, I was able to deepen my faith and grow in holiness. Whether you just started college or you’re a little further into your college career and want to come back to the faith, check out these “dos and don’ts” of staying Catholic in college:

DO pray every day
I made the mistake of genuinely forgetting to pray during my first few months of college. Consequently, I felt myself floundering as I tried to live my faith on campus. Your prayer life literally makes or breaks your relationship with God. If you want to grow closer to Him, you have to start by making time for Him. Make time to pray, and even schedule it in your day if you have to. Start with a realistic amount of time, like 15 minutes, and add more prayer time gradually as you’re ready and as you feel the Holy Spirit call you.

DON’T think that you have to do everything on your own
If you try to stay Catholic in college by yourself, you’ll have a hard time. Before I met my Catholic friends, I felt isolated and alone. I didn’t know where to go to Mass, or how to grow in my faith. We’re like hot coals that have to stay together. Otherwise, we burn out and lose our fire for the Lord. Finding friends and creating a community was releveling and comforting. Not only did it cure my loneliness, but I had a group of Catholic college kids by my side to grow with me and support me.

DO find a community
No matter where you go to school, you should be able to find a faith community. It could look like a club, a Newman Center, monks, friars, religious sisters, a local parish, SPO or FOCUS missionaries, but most likely, it’ll be a mix of all of these. God doesn’t want us to be alone, which means we’re literally made for community. No matter what the faith community looks like on your campus, hold fast to it. Plant your roots there. Call it your home and the people in it your family. Your community will be your shelter in the storm when life gets hard. They’ll be there to show you God’s love, and they’ll run beside you as you pursue Him.

DON’T give in to spiritual comparison
When you start hanging out with young adult Catholics, you’ll notice that not everyone is in the same place in their faith journey. You’ll meet the ones who go to Mass every morning and pray a holy hour every night, the ones who are just getting serious about their faith, and everyone in between. It can be easy to start to compare your faith with that of those around you. You might look at someone else who’s holier than you and feel discouraged. I like to call this spiritual comparison. When I experienced this, I was so hard on myself. I always felt bad about not having a stronger faith, but as soon as I overcame spiritual comparison, I experienced an outpouring of graces that allowed me to grow more than I thought was possible. I highly recommend avoiding this toxic form of comparison at all costs, but if you’re trying to break this habit, read about how I overcame spiritual comparison.

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DO receive the Sacraments often
When I was preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation, one of my teachers told me that the Sacraments are ways of spending time with Jesus, and he was so right. Every time we go to Mass, we encounter Him in the Eucharist. When we go to confession, He embraces us in our vulnerability and showers us in mercy. The more time we spend with Jesus, the stronger our relationship will get. Like with prayer, receive the Sacraments as often as you reasonably can, and work your way up from there. This is also a great way to build community as you can go with friends or missionaries!

DON’T forget who you are and whose you are
In college, everyone wants to find themselves. Everyone is asking “who am I,” “what’s my purpose in life,” and other existential questions. In the midst of discovering what makes you unique and finding your calling, don’t forget that you have a paramount identity that cannot be taken away from you. You are first and foremost a beloved child of God. He loves you so much that He became man to die for your sins so that you could have eternal life and be with Him in his Kingdom forever. You are worthy of his love and mercy and a relationship with him. As hard as pursuing your Catholic faith in college can be, when you put God first, everything else will fall into place.

Stay radiant!

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Sharing in Our Lady’s Sorrows

And you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Luke 2:35

I meditate on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and I find myself on the outside looking in. I’m not a mother yet, so I can’t relate to losing a child. I’ve never watched one of my loved ones take their last breath. But if I zoom out from a microscopic view to a more bird’s-eye view, I notice that Mary’s Sorrows aren’t completely different than the ones that I experienced. I’m no stranger to feelings of sadness, fear, and loss, and neither was Mary. I’ve found little ways to relate to the Seven Sorrows of Mary to make them more tangible. As I did this, I understood them better and reflected on them more deeply.

1 The Prophecy of Simeon
Maybe a priest never told us that a sword will pierce our hearts, but I’m sure we’ve all heard bad news. You probably heard something from a family member or read something that broke your heart. When I learned that I wouldn’t be a FOCUS missionary, my heart shattered. I felt like a sword had pierced my heart, so I made a beeline to the Newman Center’s chapel to bleed out in front of the Lord. Eventually, I learned that God broke my heart to mold it into something new. I became thankful for FOCUS’s “no,” because their “no” allowed me to say “yes” to some other beautiful things that God planned for me. There’s beauty in the breaking. From the sword that pierced Mary’s heart, we find the image of her most Immaculate Heart. From her sorrows, we enter into her heart that loved Jesus more than anything so that our hearts might become like hers.

2 The Flight into Egypt
The Holy Family fled to Egypt to escape the Slaughter of the Innocents. I can only imagine Mary’s fear during this sudden change of routine. Like Mary, we also face uncertain times. The Coronavirus pandemic brought a whirlwind of emotions when it forced us to uproot our lives. I’m certain that I went through the five stages of grief when I found out my graduation was postponed indefinitely. When my classes and Rock Catholic meetings moved online and I couldn’t see my friends anymore, I overflowed with sadness, fear, anger, and apathy. When my graduation day rolled around, God blessed me with a beautiful day. As a pandemic graduate, I didn’t have the graduation that I expected, but it was still a memorable day filled with the people I love the most. During our seasons of change and periods of panic, we can look to the Holy Family and find our shelter in them.

3 The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple
We all know what it’s like to make one mistake and feel like a failure. I’m sure Mary felt defeated in this moment. If I were here, I’d think that I didn’t just let my son down, but I also let down my Lord and My God. I feel this way when I go too long without praying. When I get caught up in other things and allow myself to get distracted from prayer, I feel my relationship with God deteriorating. When I don’t pray for an extended period of time, I feel like I lost Jesus, and because Jesus doesn’t leave us, it’s my fault. The beautiful thing is, he brings me so much joy when I come back to him. When I start praying again, rebuild my relationship with Jesus, and “find” him, I’m overcome with joy. There will be times when we won’t be near to Jesus. During these times, I think of Mary’s relief and happiness when she finally found her Son in the temple. We’ll feel lost and like Jesus is nowhere to be found, but when we’re reunited with him, we’ll experience the joy of finding Jesus.

4 Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
Mary could have walked away after meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary. She didn’t have to follow him to the foot of the cross, but she did. Instead of leaving, she stayed until the bitter end out of love for her Son. Mary is a perfect example of encountering someone in their suffering and accompanying them. In high school, my best friend Mikayla had surgery for her scoliosis. I prayed for her constantly, gave her a blanket made by my church’s sewing ministry, and visited her when she came home from the hospital. When the only thing that I could do was be there for her, I showed up. The only way that I could really help was to be present, so in those moments, I gave her my heart. Mary walked with Jesus every step of the Way of the Cross, and likewise, we’re called to accompany our brothers and sisters in Christ.

5 Jesus Dies on the Cross
I think it was from a podcast that I heard that when Jesus sacrificed physically on the cross, Mary sacrificed emotionally as she watched him. Mary knew what it was like to helplessly watch someone suffer and know there’s nothing that can fix it. At the foot of the cross, Mary didn’t just watch Jesus die. She was present with him so that he wouldn’t be alone. Nathan and I have barely seen each other since he moved to Maryland and I moved to Washington DC. I have to be cautious amidst the pandemic so that I don’t bring anything into the house and spread it to my community. Nathan and I still miss each other tremendously, and we often talk about how lonely we feel. Talking as often as we can doesn’t shorten the distance between us, but it lightens the load of our loneliness. While we feel each others’ absence with heavy hearts, we look forward to the days we get to spend together with hope.

6 Mary Receives the Dead Body of Jesus in Her Arms
Images of the Pietà flood my mind when I contemplate this Sorrow. The beauty of Mary holding the body of Jesus juxtaposes her grief in that moment. The light of her life was now lifeless. Although she knows that Jesus will soon conquer death, Mary probably felt defeated. If she could have done something, she missed her window of opportunity. When I was nine, my Mom told me to pray very hard for my Grandma because she was in the hospital. I prayed almost every night for her, but she still passed away. For a long time, I blamed myself. I thought that if I prayed more, my Grandma would still be here. After a few years, I realized that God brought Grandma home according to his perfect timing, and I’ll see her in Heaven someday. When we mourn our loved ones, especially when we feel guilty, Mary comforts us. She embraces us in our suffering and helps us to remember the Resurrection.

7 Jesus is Placed in the Tomb
Mary knew that Jesus would rise again. She watched the stone roll in front of his tomb and knew that his Resurrection was just three days away, but she still mourned his loss. It’s hopeful but still difficult to know that things will be okay. There are times when we know that our wounds will heal and our tears will dry, but for now, our wounds are still stinging and our tears are still hot rolling down our cheeks. In college, a heartbreak debilitated me. After a boyfriend at the time broke up with me without warning, I sat in sadness asking God why and begging him to take away the pain. I waited in darkness for two months for the light at the end of the tunnel. We know what came after Good Friday. Jesus rose again, and he always redeems us so that we can rise with him.

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Every sorrow that Mary experienced didn’t last forever. Before long, her tears were dried and she shared in the joy that only God can bring. The Seven Sorrows of Mary allow us to reflect on the swords that pierced her heart, but we can also contemplate them and remember Mary’s hope. Throughout the sorrows of our life, we can turn to our Blessed Mother and her Son to remember that we’re not alone. We can rest knowing that our sorrows are only temporary and hope for the joy that Jesus provides.

Stay radiant!

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This Sunday’s Gospel: September 13, 2020

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
As many as seven times?” 
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 
That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt. 
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan. 
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount. 
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused. 
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt. 
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair. 
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! 
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt. 
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.

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In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us the importance of forgiveness. Even though he gives us the number seventy-seven, he doesn’t want us to keep a record of how many times we forgive. We should forgive our brothers and sisters lovingly, generously, and almost recklessly. Before someone even asks for forgiveness, we can show it to them. When someone seemingly “doesn’t deserve” to be forgiven, we can forgive them anyway as the Lord forgives us.

No matter the multitude or the severity of our sins, God forgives us every time we approach him with a contrite heart. The best part is, he’s always so quick to forgive us, and he does it every time! He loves us so much that he welcomes us back and embraces us no matter what. A Bible verse that I’ve been pondering lately is Matthew 5:48, which reads “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Although we’ll never be perfect in this life, we can still strive to imitate our Heavenly Father and become as much like him as possible. One way that we can do this is by forgiving others with our hearts filled with love. When the occasion arises, don’t think of their offense when someone asks for forgiveness. Instead, remember the gift that they are and how much you love them.

~Stay radiant

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8 Ways to Pray Throughout Your Day

Prayer is being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with him who, we know, loves us.

St. Teresa of Avila

Talking to God
If we want to have a friendship, or any relationship, with God, then we have to pray. As St. Teresa claims, prayer is the way in which we talk with God. Think of the person who you’re closest to. How long could you go without any contact with them? I could never imagine not talking with my best friend for a prolonged period of time, so I don’t let a day go by without talking to God in prayer. Prayer is mandatory if we want to maintain and strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Of course, we’re only human. Sometimes we forget to pray, sometimes we’re caught up in other responsibilities, and sometimes we struggle to find the time. We understand the importance of prayer, but it’s hard to fit it in our day. This is understandable, but if our relationship with God is the most important part of our life (as it should be), we should do whatever we can to make our prayer time a priority.

It isn’t easy to do a holy hour every day or have a consistent prayer schedule, but we can start by praying little by little throughout the day. If you need some ideas and ways to pray, then check out this list below!

1 When you wake up
As soon as you wake up, thank the Lord for a new day. Think of Psalm 118:24, which says “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Keep a prayer card on your nightstand to start your day with a short prayer, or talk to God as your get ready, bringing him your joys or anxieties about the day ahead.

2 Daily Mass
If your schedule allows, daily Mass is a wonderful way to pray. If you can spare 30 minutes in the morning (or sometimes the afternoon or evening), you can pray the most perfect prayer and receive our Lord in the Eucharist!

3 Before work or when work gets stressful
As you begin your day, offer your work to the Lord and ask him to bless it and make it holy. Ask St. Joseph the worker to intercede for you and to help you work with God in mind. When you start to get stressed or frustrated, take a short break to pray and offer it to God.

4 Before and after meals
Thank God for every meal before you eat, asking him to bless the food and those who prepared it. This forgotten and sometimes overlooked prayer is a great way to incorporate prayer throughout your day. There’s even a prayer after meals that you can find on a prayer card in my Etsy shop!

5 Daily rosary
In all of her apparitions, our Blessed Mother recommended praying the rosary every day. It offers so many graces, its rooted in Scripture, and it brings us closer to Jesus through Mary. If you need a push to start praying the rosary every day, try the 54-day rosary novena, which is an especially powerful novena comprised of praying the rosary every day for 54 days.

6 Impromptu gratitude prayers
When something good happens, when you hear good news, or when you’re happy for yourself or someone else, thank God for those moments. Our Heavenly Father delights in his children’s happiness. Don’t be afraid to say, “Praise God!” or “Thank you, Lord!” throughout your day. It’ll open your eyes to how God is working in your life, and it’ll help those around you recognize the Lord too.

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7 Reading your Bible, praying Lectio Divina, or reading the daily Mass readings.
There are several beautiful ways to incorporate Scripture into your daily routine. If you can’t make it to daily Mass, you can read and reflect on the readings online. You can pray Lectio Divina and listen to what the Lord is telling you through his word. If you want to read the Bible more often, you can make a reading plan or commit to reading a certain number of chapters each day.

8 When you go to sleep
Before you go to sleep, you can pray an Examen of Conscience. Created by St. Ignatius Loyola, the Examen of Conscience helps you to reflect on your day and view it through God’s eyes. Instead of looking at your phone, keep a prayer card or a book on your nightstand to pray from before you sleep.

Making Prayer a Habit
No matter how you want to start praying, commit to a way to pray and a time. You can pick a thing or two from this list to incorporate into your daily routine and see how it works. Once you find consistency with a few small ways to pray, you’ll be able to work your way up and pray longer and more often. Little by little, prayer will become a habit, and you’ll find yourself growing closer and closer to God.

Stay radiant!

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Happy Birthday, Mary!

Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.

Luke 1:45

God loves women.
At Franciscan Mission Service, I’m so blessed to live in a community of people who are on fire for the Lord. I love to sit on the porch or around the dinner table and talk about faith with my community. I was talking to Fatima, one of my friends here about Mary about how its so amazing that God chose to come to earth through a woman. She said “He’s God, so he could’ve came here any way he wanted, but he chose to be born from a woman!”

God loves women. We’re so special and close to our Lord’s heart. As St. Edith Stein mentioned, we’re blessed not because of what we have, but who we are. The most blessed of all women is the crown jewel of God’s creation, a young woman from Nazareth named Mary. Whenever I hear people say the Church suppresses women or that God loves men more because he made them first (yes, I actually read that somewhere), I think of Mary. I think of how God entrusted himself to her. I think of how Jesus became human and the Word became flesh through her. I think of how Jesus loved her so much, that after her death, he brought her body and soul into Heaven and crowned her Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Happy Birthday, Mary!

The Perfect Missionary
A FOCUS missionary named Becca was the team director at Slippery Rock for two years. Whenever we prayed together, she always said, “Mary, you are the most perfect example of the perfect missionary.” I didn’t understand what Becca meant at first. I didn’t know how Mary was a missionary, and I contemplated this for a long time. I discerned being a missionary while I was in college, and if Mary was the perfect missionary, I knew I needed to be like her, but I needed to figure out how.

When I made my Marian Consecration, I finally realized why Mary was not just a missionary, but the perfect missionary. Mary constantly guides us toward Jesus in everything she does. Everything that our Blessed Mother does points us toward her Son. In her humility, she directs all of the attention and praise we give her to Jesus. Mary takes credit for nothing, but rather boasts in the Lord in everything. She takes our prayers and perfects them. She makes our brokenness beautiful. She takes all of our insecurities and imperfections that we want to hide and makes them into a beautiful bouquet for Jesus.

Keeping God’s Word
What makes Mary the most blessed of all women is that because she’s free from sin, she was chosen to be the Mother of God, and that she always does the will of God perfectly. I love to reflect on Luke 11:27-28, which reads:

While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

In these verses, Jesus isn’t discrediting Mary. He knows that Mary is blessed because he’s his Mother, but she’s also blessed because she listens to and follows God’s word perfectly. When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, she didn’t just call Mary blessed because she was the Mother of God. She also called her blessed because she had faith in God’s word.

Mary was blessed with abundant graces, and the amazing thing is, she wants to share that grace with us. We can also listen to, believe in, and follow God’s word, and we can look to Mary to help us.

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Sharing in Our Birthday Lady’s Gifts
Today, on Mary’s birthday, ask to share in her gift of grace. Our Blessed Mother longs to take care of us and lead us to her son, and she’s never outdone in generosity. Mary wants to embrace you, wrap you in her mantle, and share her grace with you. All you have to do is ask, and the best way is with the most perfect way of doing this begins with a Hail Mary.

Stay radiant!

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