Louise de Marillac was born probably at Ferrieres-en-Brie near Meux, France, on August 12, 1591. She was educated by the Dominican nuns at Poissy. She desired to become a nun but on the advice of her confessor, she married Antony LeGras, an official in the Queen’s service, in 1613. After Antony’s death in 1625, she met St. Vincent de Paul, who became her spiritual adviser. She devoted the rest of her life to working with him. She helped direct his Ladies of Charity in their work of caring for …
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Advent Prayer: Prayer of the Day for Monday, March 15, 2021
Come, long-expected Jesus.
Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours.
Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord
who enlists me in God’s own work for justice.
Come, long-expected Jesus.
Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world,
peace in my home, peace in myself.
Come, long-expected Jesus.
Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father’s joy.
I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love.
Come, …
Basketball Evangelization
Is anyone old enough to remember the guy that traveled from pro basketball and pro football games around the country for many years with his favorite sign: John 3:16? One thing he did was to raise awareness of that Bible verse. People around the country talked about him a lot. And most of the conversation was not very complimentary. Anyone that speaks openly about God or Jesus Christ is looked at as it’s being way outside the box. I am speaking here about conversations with friends and family members, not about giving talks at places of invite.
I am sure you remember Saint John Paul II’s words on the “new evangelization”. I believe that he knew how much it was needed around the world. We can write all sorts of books on the subject but, are we as Catholics really evangelizing? The man at the basketball / football games was doing what he felt he was supposed to do, promote John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” I applaud the man who had the guts to promote his God. To promote John 3:16. He was a fool for the Lord. When I heard people talk about him he was looked upon as some kind of Jesus freak. I heard that term for the first time back in the 60’s. It was about the same time the phrase God is dead was born. Also, about the same time that Madalyn Murray singlehandedly convinced the Supreme Court that there could no longer be prayer in public schools. How is that possible?? I was in the 6th grade in 1956 and Miss Mary Ewing read Bible passages to us almost every day! It was wonderful.
The Church gives us this time of Lent to make sacrifices and to pray more to clear our minds on the state of our spiritual lives. Pray about it. The Lord will tell you what He wishes you to do. Let’s be in eternity together!
Serving with joy!
Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They are the parents of eight children and twenty-nine grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
Featured Image Credit: wisconsinpictures, https://unsplash.com/photos/TE1Wrbl_Sho
St. Matilda: Saint of the Day for Sunday, March 14, 2021
Matilda was the daughter of Count Dietrich of Westphalia and Reinhild of Denmark. She was also known as Mechtildis and Maud. She was raised by her grandmother, the Abbess of Eufurt convent. Matilda married Henry the Fowler, son of Duke Otto of Saxony, in the year 909. He succeeded his father as Duke in the year 912 and in 919 succeeded King Conrad I to the German throne. She was noted for her piety and charitable works. She was widowed in the year 936, and supported her son Henry’s claim to his …
Prayer for God’s Help in Daily Actions: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, March 14, 2021
Our Father, may everything I do begin with Your Inspiration,
continue with Your Help,
and reach perfection under Your Guidance.
With Your loving care guide me in my daily actions.
Help me to persevere with love and sincerity.
Teach me to judge wisely the things of earth
and to love the things of Heaven.
Keep me in Your presence
and never let me be separated from You.
Your Spirit made me Your child,
confident to call You Father.
Make Your Love the foundation of …
Mercy, Love and Knowledge
The book of Hosea is a beautiful love story full of mercy, faithfulness and forgiveness. Hosea 6:6 says, “For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Some translations have mercy, not love. Either way, the point is the same. We are to give out love and mercy and know God rather than focus on sacrifice. Which is odd to think about during Lent, as we sacrifice in preparation for Easter.
The key, of course, is told to us in the Gospels, where Jesus speaks. Today we read the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector and their approach to prayer. I ask myself this question, “do I need God’s mercy?” and then, “do I want God’s mercy?”
The Pharisee is certainly not interested in God’s mercy, he’s too busy being self-righteous. I could make a list of virtues the Pharisee needs. And then, I would be just like him! Let’s not indulge ourselves in that behavior, either about this particular Pharisee or the people around us.
Instead, look at the tax collector. He knows who God is, he knows who he is, and he knows who is not God. He is in need of God. His mercy. His love. His forgiveness. He humbles himself out of love (cf Hosea 6:6) not out of obligation or fear or lack of self-esteem.
This verse, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ (Luke 18:13b) is part of the Jesus prayer used in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches: “O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. It is a beautiful prayer to use throughout the day, especially in those moments when we have sinned or need help in making the decision to avoid sin.
When we acknowledge our need for mercy, it overflows. As we continue our Lenten journey let’s not hesitate to ask for mercy, let’s make our sacrifices out of love and grow in our knowledge of God. That is what my prayer is for all of us today.
Deanna G. Bartalini, MEd, MPS, is a Catholic educator, writer, speaker, and retreat leader. She has served in ministry for over 40 years as a catechist, religious education director, youth minister, liturgical coordinator, stewardship director and Unbound prayer minister. For all of Deanna’s current work go to DeannaBartalini.com.
Feature Image Credit: James Coleman, https://unsplash.com/photos/p4lgsiyGW0s
Bl. Agnello of Pisa: Saint of the Day for Saturday, March 13, 2021
The founder of the English Franciscan province, Blessed Agnello, was admitted into the Order by St. Francis himself on the occasion of his sojourn in Pisa. He was sent to the Friary in Paris, of which he became the guardian, and in 1224, St. Francis appointed him to found an English province; at the time he was only a deacon. Eight others were selected to accompany him. True to the precepts of St. Francis, they had no money, and the monks of Fecamp paid their passage over to Dover. They made …
To Perceive Animals as God’s Gifts: Prayer of the Day for Saturday, March 13, 2021
God Our Heavenly Father,
You created the world to serve humanity’s needs
and to lead them to You.
By our own fault
we have lost the beautiful relationship
which we once had with all Your creation.
Help us to see that by restoring our relationship with You
we will also restore it with all Your creation.
Give us the grace to see all animals as gifts from You
and to treat them with respect
for they are Your creation.
We pray for all animals
who are suffering as a result of …
God has never given up on us and never will
Hosea represents the heart of salvation history. Despite our wanderings and wailings and wonderings, even after our fickleness, our refusals and our settled decisions to do things our way or to just not do things at all, God has never given up on us and never will. God will not let us go. Our Lover is faithful and his love can be trusted. The marriage holds. We are still his.
We remember that in earlier more tumultuous chapters of the prophet Hosea’s story, he was commanded to go and love a woman who is beloved of a paramour…, even as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods (3:1).
Isaiah realizes how useless is its own self-sufficiency in relying on Assyria and the horses of war, their calling god the idols which their hands have crafted. They are nothing without the God who made them and who loves them. God loves Israel, and us, with a love that is tender. The words Hosea uses for this love are emotional words that express a father’s or a mother’s tender affection.
I too have faithlessly wandered from the One who has loved me, literally, unto death. And tender has been his search for me wherever I have taken refuge to escape the demands of the relationship he has initiated with me. I am weak. I am poor. I am incurable. And I know beyond a shadow of doubt after so many attempts to improve this relationship on my own terms that it is only God who heals me, who loves me, as he revived and reconciled Israel to himself.
The images that Hosea uses to describe what God brings about in the life of his loved one are images of nature at the fullness of its beauty and bounty. They are images of the bountiful Giver of goodness, images of freshness, stability, and vigor:
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon (Hosea 14:4-7).
No god that I craft with my own hands, my mental acumen, or my gifted ability will ever compare with the endless River of living love that is my God. I am the loved one and now my Lover waits upon my word. What will be my response? What will be yours?
What a perfect reading halfway through Lent. Pope Francis in his straightforward and sincere homily on Ash Wednesday 2021 sums it up this way: “Return to me, he says, with all your heart. Lent is a journey that involves our whole life, our entire being. It is a time to reconsider the path we are taking, to find the route that leads us home and to rediscover our profound relationship with God, on whom everything depends. Lent is not just about the little sacrifices we make, but about discerning where our hearts are directed. This is the core of Lent: asking where our hearts are directed.”
Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is the author of the newly released title: Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments, by Pauline Books and Media. An author and spiritual mentor, she offers spiritual accompaniment for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey. Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/ For monthly spiritual journaling guides, weekly podcasts and over 50 conferences and retreat programs join my Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/srkathryn.
Feature Image Credit: JillWellington, https://pixabay.com/photos/grapes-vines-grapevines-vineyard-553463/
St. Fina: Saint of the Day for Friday, March 12, 2021
St. Fina or Seraphina, Virgin A.D. 1253 The old town of San Geminiano in Tuscany treasures with special veneration the memory of Santa Fina, a young girl whose claim to be recognized as a saint lay in the perfect resignation with which she accepted bodily suffering. She was born of parents who had seen better days but had fallen into poverty. The child was pretty and attractive. Poor as she was she always kept half her food to give to those who were worse off than herself. As far as possible …