Most of us have seen some romantic comedies—whether as teenagers, in our hopeless college years, or perhaps even later on in life. Who doesn’t like a good, sappy romance movie during the Christmas season? As women, one of our deepest longings is to be pursued and to be loved and these movies stir up those exact desires. We may easily look to others to fulfill this expectation of “lover” while hesitating to see the Lord in this way. Maybe it is because we do not often get the butterflies-in-my-stomach kind of feeling when we go to Adoration or sit in silence to pray. Yet the truth is that, as ..read more

Click here to read today's devotion with Scripture readings on BlessedisShe.net. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, ‘Everyone is looking for you.’ // Mark 1:35-36 5:30 a.m. on a midwinter morning is as dark as midnight, but I forced myself to get up anyway. Carefully inching away from the warm, soft, soundly sleeping toddler next to me, I slid my feet into my fuzzy slippers and snuck soundlessly out of the room and down the stairs. I made myself a cup of coffee and sat ..read more

Encuentra las lecturas de hoy aquí.  He escuchado muchas veces que somos hijos e hijas de Dios, que fuimos creados a su imagen y semejanza, y si bien estas palabras son muy ciertas, a veces me he preguntado lo que implican en realidad. Con profunda alegría y asombro, caigo en la cuenta que significan simple y llanamente que somos parte de su familia. Veo que su amor y su misericordia hacia nosotros son tan grandes, que además de formarnos como cosa suya, quiso hacerse hombre, quiso ser de nuestra misma sangre. Quizá, entre otras cosas, para que no nos quepa duda de que Él entiende, en c ..read more

During this colder month, it can be difficult to imagine days in the desert. But give it a try. Lent will be here before we know it; and in Lent, we enter the desert. The desert is a place in which we can no longer run from reality. What is in front of us simply is. We may grow weary in the desert from heat and thirst. We may feel alone. But the desert is also a place in which deep soul-shaping takes place. As Catholics during Lent, we don’t go into the desert alone. Jesus is with us. And what is promised on the other side is redemption, mission, and discipleship. Why Do I Need a Devotional ..read more

Encuentra las lecturas de hoy aquí. Hay una canción que a menudo se me queda grabada en la cabeza y que comienza con este verso. Debido a que la canción es tan pegadiza, he pensado y rezado mucho con estas dos líneas. Creo que es porque me recuerdan a mi primer encuentro personal con Dios. Yo tenía trece años. Mi prima me invitó a ir al grupo de jóvenes de mi parroquia porque había muchos chicos guapos, así que fui. Aunque había sido católica practicante toda mi vida, Jesús era más un concepto que una Persona divina; Él estaba distante y era un poco aterrador en mi mente. Ese día en el grupo ..read more

The first time I was “stopped in my tracks” by Mother Teresa was when I was a teenager. I sat next to my mom to watch a documentary about her life that came up on television. Her genuine desire to leave all that she knew to go serve the Lord in a country that was not her own moved me. She was determined. She knew that if the Lord called her, she must not hesitate to respond. This theme would follow her for the rest of her life. Later, she made a vow under the pain of mortal sin (with the permission of her spiritual director) to never refuse Jesus anything (Come Be My Light, 60).   ..read more

Encuentra las lecturas de hoy aquí. ¡Feliz fiesta del bautismo de Jesús! Este día se ha convertido en un día muy especial para mi. Pues al celebrar el bautismo de nuestro Rey y Salvador, también celebramos nuestro bautismo. Gracias a ello, nosotras también recibimos al Espíritu Santo al ser bautizadas.  “Nosotros hemos nacido dos veces: la primera en la vida natural, la segunda, gracias al encuentro con Cristo en la fuente bautismal. Allí hemos muerto a la muerte, para vivir como hijos de Dios en este mundo. Allí nos hemos vuelto humanos como nunca habríamos imaginado. He aquí por qué t ..read more

Our quads were burning as we continued walking higher, higher, and yet still higher, with the goal not yet in view as apartments and gift shops surrounded us on each side. But it was a beautiful, sunny day, and we had just spent days savoring cheese and croissants, so we didn’t mind the exercise.  It was our last day in Paris, and my husband and I were spending our last evening walking to the highest point in the city, Montmartre, The Mount of Martyrs. A place where a number of Christians were martyred, including Saint Denis, Paris’ first bishop and patron, who was beheaded there. This ..read more

Click here to read today's devotion with Scripture readings on BlessedisShe.net. I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. // Isaiah 42: 6-7 She grabbed the red box that contained her baptismal candle with her sweet chubby cherub-like baby hand. Her tiny little fingers wrapped around it completely. It’s like she knew there was something inside of t ..read more

Click here to read today's devotion with Scripture readings on BlessedisShe.net. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” // Matthew 2:1-2 Have you ever experienced a time when an aspect of faith clicked in your mind, and you felt awe? I was sitting towards the back of a dimly lit hotel ballroom while a theologian was explaining the correlation of the book of Revelation and the Holy Mass when my hands unexp ..read more