If you’re reflecting on the seven deadly sins with me, and praying with the Penitential Psalms to overcome them, notice how well this week’s Psalm 38 expresses our experience with envy: “thy arrows have sunk into me” (vs 2); “my wounds grow foul and fester” (vs 5); and “Lord, all my longing is known to […] The post THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: Reflecting on the sin of Envy appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

This week I’m looking at the sin of greed (avarice), making it the basis of an examination of conscience and pairing it with the second penitential psalm in my lenten reflections. [Read more about that here – and download instructions here.] Week 2: Psalm 32 — “From the sin of GREED, O Lord, deliver me…” “Greed is a […] The post THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: Reflecting on the sin of Greed appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

I’m reflecting on the seven deadly sins this year, focusing on one each week as part of my Lenten examination of conscience. Will you join me? The internet is full of questions to use if you need help, just type in “examination of conscience, seven deadly sins” and find a set you like. Or you […] The post THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: Reflecting on the sin of Pride appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

The homily I remember best may also have been the shortest. It was Ash Wednesday morning, at the early morning mass when everybody has to get to work and there’s not a lot of time for extra details. The priest got right to the point: “The Gospel is from Matthew 6,” he said. “Jesus tells […] The post “HOW,” NOT “WHAT” — GETTING READY FOR LENT appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

“For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” — Matthew 2:2b It’s a dull, gray day and there’s an emptiness around my heart, something I can’t quite name. Where is the child all the fuss was about? Where is Jesus? I wonder if the Church knew it might be […] The post FINDING JESUS AFTER CHRISTMAS: EPIPHANY appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

Every Christmas for nearly 30 years, my husband’s mother sent us a new ornament. There are creamy white Belleek castles and shamrocks and angels; engraved brass Christmas trees and stars; large globes covered with family artwork – enough to start the kids off on their own trees when it’s time. Then one year, Mom couldn’t […] The post GOD IS WITH YOU (Even if you can’t tell) appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

    “HEY! Unto YOU a child is born!” Tough and scrappy little Gladys Herdman, one of “the worst children in the history of the world,” may not have been the most likely choice to play the angel in the Christmas play — but she knew how to deliver her line! I watched “The Best […] The post UNTO YOU A CHILD IS BORN! – Welcoming Jesus with the O Antiphons appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

Wake up! It’s time to make our way toward Bethlehem. Imagine what that was like for the magi, leaving on their long journey, following a star that promised a king. They hoped in that promise and acted in faith: not knowing where they would end up or how far they had to go.   In […] The post JOURNEY TO CHRISTMAS WITH ONE OF THESE FREE READING PLANS appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat ..read more

The mural fills an entire wall of the Encounter Chapel, which is built on the first-century stone floor of the marketplace at Magdala by the Sea of Galilee. In it, sandals crowd the floor and linen robes brush against the legs and ankles of the men who throng around Jesus. He is a man on a mission, on his way to heal a dying girl. Through the legs and robes stretches a hand. It is a woman’s hand, worn by age and care. And where it touches the fringe of the Lord’s garment, at the very center of the painting, a pulse of light unites them. Mural in the Encounter Chapel of the Duc in Altum Spirit ..read more

How can it be summer already?! And how did I get this far without resting? Summer used to be one lazy day running into the next: swimming and picnics and hand-cranked ice-cream, nights full of stars and fireflies. Above all, there was time to rest. Time to watch the clouds or fish and paint and time to dream. Where did that all go? “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.” Our Lord’s words arise, unbidden, from the back of my mind. Only, what I hear is “Sarah, Sarah, you are anxious and worried….” For the fact is, the peace I’m looking for isn’t found beside a lake or “d ..read more