NCRegister Blog: Reflections on the End of the Liturgical Year

Ever since I was a child, I have loved Advent. My mother always made it beautiful with our homemade Jesse Tree ornaments, our simple green Advent wreath, and our tradition of singing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” in the candlelight before supper. All of our voices would rise up together in our hope for the coming Savior. This liturgical year, which has been passed down to us by tradition, and which never ceases, is the heartbeat of the liturgical life. Around and around we go. From Advent to Christmas to Lent to Easter to Pentecost and the time after up through our remembrance of the dead in November during which in our Mass readings we anticipate the Second Coming of Christ. It all fits together so beautifully and is one of the things that I love about being Catholic...

Read the rest at the National Catholic Register...

Blessed is She Devotion: The Love You Had at First

 
This devotion I wrote back in September for today on the daily Mass readings is full of my own advice that I really needed to hear. My prayer life has been a bit of a struggle these past few weeks; it has been harder to pray, to want to pray, and to focus on prayer. But I am reminded that I need to continue on in my own resolutions despite my difficulties, and focus on kindling the love God first gave me for Him.

Read today's readings and the devotion at Blessed is She...

Only a Few Quick Takes...

It's Friday! It's Friday! This weekend we are going to winterize the yard, which means raking, bush trimming, composting the garden. It has been so mild this Autumn that we had been able to put this off until mid-November, and I am not complaining! We actually still have broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprouts still growing. We are going to start our sauerkraut fermenting tonight.

I just wanted to let you know about two awesome things coming up.

First, if you have not ordered your Blessed is She Advent journal, do it. And do it soon. It is amazing. As a theological editor for BIS, I have read it all through and it is soooooooo good. Elizabeth Foss did an amazing job with the writing. I want to hurry up and get ready for Christmas materially before Advent so I can sit back and pray with this journal. Head over to Elizabeth's blog to see her introduce the journal.

Second, Anna, Jacqui, and I will be running the Catholic Women Bloggers Network Midwest Conference on March 25, 2017 in St. Paul, Minnesota. If you are a fellow Catholic women blogger, we would love to see you there! Registration starts soon, so keep an eye out for the details and join our Facebook group.

Have a blessed weekend.