I don’t usually do the word of the year thing, and I don’t really do resolutions very well. I just can’t keep to one thing for an entire year. This year, though, God pretty clearly gave me a word that would be my focus. Beloved. I will say that I was pretty curious at the beginning of the year, and I was looking forward to a lot of love, hugs, and feel-good moments to come. Wouldn’t you? Well, I’m here to tell you that it didn’t go quite as planned. Yes, there were some wonde

As we say in our house, “It’s Christmas Eve Eve!” Two days left. It’s almost time for that most holy of nights when we stop all the preparation and receive the gift we have been waiting for. Whether your Advent has been filled with Christmas carols and daily devotional reflections, with stress and way too many commitments and hassles, or with pain and sorrow, the wait is coming to a close. It’s almost time to put everything down and come to the stable. We don’t have to be per

In this season of Advent, we’re waiting for Jesus to enter into our world. Whether it is for the first time or the twentieth time, we’re waiting. So how do we know when Jesus arrives? Most of us won’t follow a star, or even see a bright light when it happens. It’s more subtle than that, but at the same time, so much more powerful. We’ll know that He has arrived in our lives when our hearts start to transform into His. Isaiah tells us what the heart of the Messiah will look li

“Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43) As Mary arrives to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, she doesn’t say a word before Elizabeth proclaims what she knows. Mary is pregnant with the Messiah. John recognized it in the womb, and Elizabeth understood his joy. And Mary hadn’t said a word. We are not quite at the panic-level days of December when we have to pay exorbitant prices for shipping or just make a card with

Growing up, my family's motto was always "Better late than never!" We almost always made it to Mass in time for the homily, and usually in time for the first reading. At a family reunion with well over one hundred people, there was not a single event that started less than half an hour after the posted start time. It was even on the t-shirts we made for the reunion! You may have even noticed that this post is a day or so late... If you're like me, or maybe if you're still loo