No One Sees ME

I wonder what the man dwelling among the tombs with an unclean spirit experienced on the “inside.” We know how other people experienced him: he was a scary, out of control, possessed, and violent man. As I prayed with this passage, however, I entered within this unsubdued man bound with chains and shackles. What was it like to be this man? What did he feel? Desire? Fear? 

I sensed that this person, deep within his spirit, could have felt shame, abandoned, powerless, hopeless, rejected as he dwelt away from the community, possessed by thousands of demons. (The name “Legion” refers to a Roman regiment of six thousand soldiers.)

Perhaps his heart was crying out, “Even though I’m screaming, no one hears ME. Even though people see me crying out and bruising myself with stones, no one sees ME.”

Sometimes I feel this way. When life throws me unexpected detours shot through with loss and grief, my response can be public, embarrassing, insecure, out of character. I feel shame as people see my problems, mistakes, tears, reactions. Yet at these times I too cry out from the deepest places of my heart, “No one sees ME.” They hear my attempts to understand, analyze, and fix. Responses such as, “I heard you already,” “You can’t do it,” “You’re too identified with your role,” “You’re out of the picture now,” can leave any of us crying out as the man who gashed himself with stones on the mountainside, ostracized from the community, our hearts broken open with the longing to be seen and heard and touched with gentle reverence. 

In this Gospel reading, it is clear that Jesus saw this man. Jesus saw the external behavior that so frightened everyone who knew about this man. He also, though, could hold in his vision the heart and soul of this man created by his Father, this Beloved of his Heart. Jesus saw him. Jesus knew him. Jesus restored him to wholeness and truth. Jesus returned him to the community.

Jesus sees your deepest reality, your greatest suffering, your desperate need. He knows your true self and can understand and heal the parts of you that still cry out for wholeness and truth. 

When we see ourselves and others in this beautiful and gracious way, we too can bring wholeness and truth to others and ourselves in the midst of any suffering.

Contact the author

Sr. Kathryn J. HermesKathryn 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: Luis Ca, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/2127-perfil-jesus

Be Set Free From Evil

As the disciples’ boat arrives at Gerasa a man with an “unclean spirit” comes from the tombs towards them. It is much like a modern-day horror film that would cause fright and fear. The man had supernatural strength and was uncontrollable. He would howl and gash himself with stones, so his appearance must have been terrifying. 

At the sight of Jesus, this man ran to Him, fell to the ground and worshiped Him, and shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The man seemed to sense that Jesus could free him from a horrible oppression, and the evil spirits knew that Jesus had divine power over them. 

At the end of this Gospel reading, we learn that the man was freed from the demon named Legion when Jesus sent the demons into a herd of pigs. The pigs then jumped off the cliff and died. Instead of the townspeople rejoicing that this man was saved from his affliction by the demonic spirit, they were more worried about the loss of the pig herd and were afraid of our Lord. 

Not only did they not thank Jesus for freeing the community from this demonic and frightful man, they, in return, asked Jesus to leave. Just think of their missed opportunity by not inviting Jesus to heal and help their families from their sickness and afflictions. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; He sets us free from sin, and yet, we must be open to this personal transformation. We must invite the Lord into our life. 

However, all was not lost. The man set free from a life of demonic possession was now free to proclaim the Gospel. Even though the townspeople were afraid of Jesus and asked Him to depart, Christ left them a messenger of the Good News who had a powerful testimony. Jesus asked the cured demoniac to “Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in His mercy has done for you.” Words for all of us to reflect on. Our personal testimony is a most powerful witness for the Holy Spirit to reach other hearts through us.

Contact the author

Emily Jaminet is a Catholic author, speaker, radio personality, wife, and mother of seven children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mental health and human services from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.  She is the co-founder of www.inspirethefaith.com and the Executive Director of The Sacred Heart Enthronement Network www.WelcomeHisHeart.com. She has co-authored several Catholic books and her next one, Secrets of the Sacred Heart: Claiming Jesus’ Twelve Promises in Your Life, comes out in Oct. 2020. Emily serves on the board of the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference, contributes to Relevant Radio and Catholic Mom.com.

Feature Image Credit: cathopic.com

Two Important Questions

The Old Testament today has the messenger Nathan astounded at what David has done, especially since David is the anointed of the Lord. David’s sin is forgiven by the Lord. There are, however, consequences because of his sinful actions.

The Gospel of Mark has an incredulous Jesus asking the disciples, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

It’s still fairly early in Jesus’ ministry. The disciples are still trying to figure out who Jesus really is, a prophet or the Messiah.

They’ve seen water turned into wine, watched a man’s withered hand be healed and several other miracles. They’ve just listened to Jesus share many parables: the sower of seeds, scattering seeds, a lamp and a basket, the mustard seed. Yet when they get in a boat with Jesus and he’s fast asleep, there is panic that they will be swamped and drown during a sudden storm. Really?

I’ve heard of and read about the same miracles and healings. Would I have the trust and faith that Jesus is in control of the wind and seas of the situation?

Do I have the courage to do whatever He tells me without fear?

Do I have the faith that He will get me through whatever storm may come my way?

I admit there have been a few times in my life when I’ve been scared, really afraid of the next thing to do. In the Hispanic culture this is known as ‘caerse del susto’ being scared to death.

This type of loss of faith experience has happened to me many times including, during a sudden move, graduating from school, challenges in married life, getting a job, going through pregnancy, delivery and birth. It’s also happened when coping with illness, surgery, loss of life or relationships. I’ve also felt a trembling of faith before and while having hard conversations with family, friends and others. My head knows Jesus is in the boat with me, yet I’ve allowed fear of the unknown to take control of my mind and heart instead of relying on Him. 

Today I offer the following prayer to begin again on my journey in faith with Jesus.

God, grant me the Serenity

To accept the things I cannot change…

Courage to change the things I can,

And Wisdom to know the difference.

 

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His will.

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

Amen.   

Contact the author

Beth Price is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and a practicing spiritual director. Beth shares smiles, prayers, laughter, a listening ear and her heart with all of creation. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.

Feature Image Credit: Sofya Pestova, https://unsplash.com/photos/kyXTDh5BWNU

God’s Mysterious Mercy

“With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private” (Mark 4:33-34).

When I read these words from today’s Gospel, I found myself wishing I were one of the disciples, sitting at the feet of Jesus as he explained his parables.  I often wish God would explain his mysterious ways to me!  

For example, do you ever wonder why God chose (and chooses) such flawed instruments through whom to work? In today’s First Reading we learn that the great King David was an adulterer—and worse, a murderer.  He spies on a beautiful married woman and has relations with her. When her pregnancy threatens to expose his actions he ends up sending her husband to his death to cover up what he has done. I was struck by David’s attempts to conceal his guilt, trying two times to get Uriah to go home and have relations with Bathsheba so there would be a plausible explanation for her pregnancy.  

Have you ever desperately tried to hide or fix something you did wrong? This story reminded me of a time when I was a little girl. I overheard a friend’s mother telling mine that their dog had been hit by a car, but that they were going to tell the children the dog was just lost.  The next time I saw my friend, I told her what I had overheard. When she said she was going to go ask her mother I was immediately overcome with fear and remorse and started swearing I made the whole story up.  As she left the room I hid under a table. I was terrified of what would happen if she told our mothers what I had said.

Do you remember Adam and Eve cowering behind their fig leaf coverings and hiding from God when he came to walk in the Garden with them in the cool of the day? Of course, there is no hiding from God, and even if David had succeeded in his plot, God still would have known that he was the father of Bathsheba’s baby, just as he knew that David was responsible for Uriah’s death.

Thankfully, we, like David, are more than the sum of our wrongdoings.  Today’s reading from Psalm 51 is so comforting with its assurance that God in his mercy really can wipe away our guilt. David repented and today we remember him as not only a great king and warrior but as someone who followed God’s laws.  In the story from my childhood, my friend’s mother provided a beautiful example of mirroring the mercy of God. She came and found me where I lay sobbing and held me in her lap and told me it was okay, that she should have told the truth in the first place. 

So today, if you long for God’s mercy, imagine yourself like a child in a parent’s lap, begging for forgiveness and knowing that Scripture promises that it is available to you.

Contact the author

Leslie Sholly is a Catholic, Southern wife and mother of five, living in her hometown, Knoxville, Tennessee. She graduated from Georgetown University with an English major and Theology minor. She blogs at Life in Every Limb, where for 11 years she has covered all kinds of topics, more recently focusing on the intersection of faith, politics, and social justice.

Feature Image Credit: Caleb Jones, https://unsplash.com/photos/rpPvrOQmR2s

What’s Your Secret?

Today is the memorial of Saint Angela Merici  (and my wife’s birthday.) Perhaps you have heard of Saint Angela or know very little about her. One of our daughters that writes a blog here attended and graduated from Brescia University a few years ago that was run by the Ursuline Sisters. That order was founded by Saint Angela Merici, which is the oldest women’s order on the planet.

Saint Angela seems to be a secret in the church, at least in the USA. She grew up in Italy during a very difficult time. It was also the time of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop of Milan. Angela was a friend of the very rich and the very poor.

I used the word secret because Jesus used that word in today’s Gospel. Jesus was rapid fire in his talk today! First, he asks if you put a lamp under a bushel basket or a bed? Then, “nothing is secret except to come to light”. And, “anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” Then, “take care what you hear”. In a way, Jesus is telling us what to do and what not to do.

When I read the word secret, I flashed back to two things. First, many years ago someone told me that I should make a general confession. I wasn’t even sure what that was. I prayed about it and followed through on the Feast of Saint Ambrose. Gulp! It was a very difficult thing to do! It is revisiting one’s past sins and telling them to a priest in confession. Now I know if those sins were confessed before then they are in the past and do not need to be resurrected again. I’m still not sure if it was the right thing to do, but so be it.

The second thing is when we belonged to Saint Jude Church, we would have a Men’s Retreat every January. If you have never been on a weekend retreat, then you are in for a surprise! Jesus walks into the retreat whether you are ready or not. (A Cursillo is a good example. Try it, you will like it.) During those retreats, we always had confessions. Our attendees were from very young adults to the elderly. Saturday evening seemed to be the time when the Holy Spirit really did some work. We had one gentleman that hadn’t been to Reconciliation in over 30 years. The joy was overwhelming. His secrets were totally forgiven. He was a new man.

So I ask you, do you have secrets that should have been confessed by now? This is a great time to bite the bullet and to just do it. Saint Angela was a dear friend to many. She had heard their secrets as she counseled them. I’m sure she led them to the nearest priest to be absolved of the darkness that they had carried for so long. I am sure you all have heard of Divine Mercy. It is free,  and it is waiting for you in the confessional.

Serving With Joy!

Contact the author

Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 50 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty 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: Captura con Fe, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/10084-sacramento-reconciliacion

The Soil of Our Souls

If you’re like me, you probably can’t even count the number of times you’ve heard or read today’s Gospel, Mark’s version of the sower and the seed. That familiarity with the parable puts us in a polar opposite situation with the Twelve Apostles. “We get it, we get it. Good soil — fruit; bad soil — withered,” our minds might be saying, not understanding how or why Jesus’ closest followers had to ask him what the story meant.

Yet, Jesus’ response to us, I think, would be exactly the same as it was to his disciples. To paraphrase: “Don’t you get it? If you don’t get it here, how will you get any of my teaching?” Because responding out of familiarity, “We get it” seems to be just what he’s warning against. We think we know, so we let the teaching get snatched away, or let it wither, or let it get choked by other worldly concerns, including our own arrogance that “We get it.”

Looking at it like that made me realize, while the four types of soil can be seen as four types of people, four types of hearts our Lord is looking to penetrate, they also can be seen as four varying stages in our own hearts and our own faith journeys. Anyone who has ever been to a retreat, Cursillo, spiritual conference or other faith-filled event can’t help but leave it thanking God for how much they have been moved and changed and enlivened. God forbid on the drive home we see a broken-down car on the side of the road or a homeless person panhandling on the corner and we give them no thought at all. Or someone cuts us off and we’re quick to scream loudly. Fertile ground and a rocky path, right there in the same heart.

The key, Jesus tells us, is hearing the word and accepting it. In the context of the parable, the seed is sown in the soil of our souls. Accepting it, then, is the tending of that seed and that soil, becoming our own gardeners to make sure that seed bears fruit that is thirty or sixty or a hundredfold. We have to have an active role in the process, the accepting, the nurturing, the cultivating, developing and sharing of that which has been given to us.

Paul reminds us in his salutations to Timothy and Titus how the seed sown by Jesus is planted in us today, 2,000 years later. “Timothy, my dear child,” he says, and “Titus, my true child in our common faith.” Faith is handed down to us in close, personal relationship. Our parents, priests, teachers, catechists, spiritual directors; the writings of saints baring their souls; the epistles and Gospels and prophets and psalms. With the Holy Spirit’s help, these personal connections transmit the love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ down through time and space to our very souls. Now it is up to us to tend the soil of our souls, to accept the seed planted there and make it bear much fruit. And what do you do when you have fruit, abundant and overflowing? You give it to others.

Contact the author

Mike Karpus is a regular guy. He grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, graduated from Michigan State University and works as an editor. He is married to a Catholic school principal, raised two daughters who became Catholic school teachers at points in their careers, and now relishes his two grandchildren, including the 3-year-old who teaches him what the colors of Father’s chasubles mean. He has served on a Catholic School board, a pastoral council and a parish stewardship committee. He currently is a lector at Mass, a Knight of Columbus, Adult Faith Formation Committee member and a board member of the local Habitat for Humanity organization. But mostly he’s a regular guy.

Feature Image Credit: Joshua Lanzarini, https://unsplash.com/photos/Vct0oBHNmv4

On The Conversion (And Transformation) Of Saul/Paul

Saul becomes Paul. Are they the same person? Yes and no.

We know that Christ has come to make us a new creation. He makes the whole world new, and each of us new. He proclaims in today’s Gospel that his disciples will do things that were hitherto unheard of, like driving out demons, speaking new languages, overcoming poison, and healing the sick.

And we know that when Saul was knocked to the ground surrounded by a brilliant light and the voice of Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” he was never the same again. Blinded and humbled and stopped in his tracks from arresting followers of “the Way,” Saul was profoundly changed. So profound was this change that on recovering his strength he immediately began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God!

He is made new. In one moment, his cramped and somewhat self-righteous zeal for the Jewish faith has him chasing down Christians to arrest them. In the next moment, his radical new (Christian) self is worshipping with them and proclaiming the Truth of Jesus Christ. He is, in essence, a new creation. Even though he is the same man, he has been made new.

Did he receive a new name? Actually, he didn’t! We often think he did (and Jesus DID sometimes re-name people) because when we first encounter him in Acts he is called Saul, and we know him as Paul. Like many people in the Bible, he had two names: Saul was his Hebrew name, but he was also known by his Roman/Latin name, Paul. It seems he began to use his Roman name because it was the name the Gentiles would have been familiar with, and he felt called to preach to the Gentiles.

But he was certainly made new in Christ Jesus, as we all are!

We may not see a bright light or get knocked to the ground, but the Lord is always calling to us and always coming to us! He wants to convert our hearts and transform them to be like His Holy Heart, so that we become love, like Him. Where are the points in your life that God has stopped you in your tracks, prevented you from doing something, or changed your course? Has God ever blinded you by His Presence, given you a word or a question, directed your heart in a surprising direction?

There are many ways that God uses to confirm us in the faith and invite us into His glorious will for us. On this celebration of the Conversion of St. Paul, let’s ask him to help us make the small and large changes that will make us truly new in Christ.

Contact the author

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Father Rob), and four grandchildren. She is President of the local community of Secular Discalced Carmelites and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 30 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio. Currently, she serves the Church by writing and speaking, and by collaborating with various parishes and to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is www.KathrynTherese.com

Feature Image Credit: MoIsés Becerra, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/10533-san-pablo

Blasphemy Against the Spirit?

Our Gospel gives us an opportunity to address one of the more confusing passages in Scripture: “‘Amen, I say to you, all sins and blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.’ For they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” (Mark 3:28–30). We must keep in mind that Our Lord means what He says and He does not contradict Himself. We have to wrestle with the hard sayings, and every difficulty in Scripture can be solved, even if we do not yet have the tools to do so.

So, what is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? St. Thomas Aquinas, a Doctor of the Church, summarizes the issue neatly. In his Summa Theologiae (II-II, q. 14), he mentions the interpretations of Sts. Athanasius, Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, John Chrysostom, and Augustine, holy Fathers of the Church.

All but St. Augustine interpret blasphemy against the Spirit as literally speaking a blasphemy against the Third Person of the Trinity, namely by attributing His work to Satan. This is what the Jews did in our Gospel. Jesus had been performing miracles by His own power, glorifying God, but the Jews called Him possessed, saying that He was casting out demons by Satan’s power. In reality, Jesus performed miracles by the power of the Spirit. But the Jews said that the Spirit’s work was Satan’s work, gravely offending God.

St. Augustine interpreted blasphemy against the Spirit as final impenitence, which is the refusal to accept the mercy of God. According to Aquinas, this can happen through despair or presumption. In despair, we think ourselves unworthy of God’s mercy and resign ourselves to Hell, never daring to ask forgiveness for our shameful sins. In presumption, we think ourselves too good for God’s mercy, never stooping to ask forgiveness because we think we are perfect. Either way the result is the same: a direct offense against God’s mercy or justice, and death in the state of unrepented mortal sin.

These interpretations are not mutually exclusive, but St. John Paul II emphasizes Augustine’s interpretation in his encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Dives in Misericordia (part II, section 6). There he describes the “unforgivable sin” as unforgivable by its very nature, since it rejects the salvation offered to us through the Holy Spirit.

Whether we side with either or both interpretations, this shouldn’t be an issue for most of us. Chances are that if we are reading this, we are in the habit of turning to God for His mercy and confessing our sins in the confessional. However, it is always good to be on our guard against despair, presumption, and calling God’s good work evil. It can be easy sometimes to think that we are either too far gone or too good for God’s forgiveness.

(On his feast day, I’d also like to recommend St. Francis de Sales, another Doctor of the Church. His Introduction to the Devout Life is incredibly practical, and his section on ordinary temptations (part 4) is especially helpful.)

Contact the author

David Dashiell is a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader based in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. His writing has been featured in Crisis Magazine and The Imaginative Conservative, and his editing is done for a variety of publishers, such as Sophia Institute and Scepter. He can be reached at ddashiellwork@gmail.com.

Feature Image Credit: Laura Tapias, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/15369-tercera-persona-santisima-trinidad

A Year Acceptable to the Lord

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus went into the synagogue and read this passage from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

He then looked at all those who sat listening to Him and proclaimed: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Wow! We hear that and we feel excited. But the people listening then were astounded—so astounded that they became furious. They drove Him from the temple believing He had committed blasphemy. But we know that He did not. We know that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the promises in the Old Testament. 

As Christ said, He was sent to “proclaim liberty to captives.” We desperately need this liberty, for we are all ensnared and held captive by something of this world—our jobs, our friend groups, social media, the news, even our phones. We allow these things to take the place of Jesus in our hearts and minds. We allow these things to fill us, and often they fill us with anger, resentment, anxiety, sadness, or more. 

But Jesus is here—and has always been here—to free us from the chains that come with these things. He doesn’t just fill us, as these things do, He brings us joy, peace, love, and harmony.

Nothing of this world can do that. Sure, many can bring happiness, but happiness is fleeting. Happiness doesn’t last. But a joy in Christ lasts. 

So let us take time to reflect on how we spend our days. Where is our focus? Are we spending so much time watching the news, playing on our phones, or scrolling through social media that Christ becomes secondary in our lives? Are we letting the world fill us with an anger that threatens to destroy the joy we have? 

Because of sin, our world is broken. This should—and often does—bring us sadness, but it’s a sadness we must not dwell upon. Instead, we must turn this sadness into an awareness that only loving and God-centered actions can effect the change we need in this world.

So, as we begin this new year, let us allow God to liberate us from our captivity and truly make this a year acceptable to the Lord. 

Contact the author

Susan Ciancio has a BA in psychology and a BA in sociology from the University of Notre Dame, with an MA in liberal studies from Indiana University. For the past 17 years, she has worked as a professional editor and writer, editing both fiction and nonfiction books, magazine articles, blogs, educational lessons, professional materials and website content. Eleven of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently Susan freelances and writes weekly for HLI, edits for American Life League, and is the editor of Celebrate Life Magazine. She also serves as executive editor for the Culture of Life Studies Program-an educational nonprofit program for K-12 students.

Feature Image Credit: Luis Ca, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/2094-un-solo-dios

Standing for Truth

Today’s Gospel is short, only 2 verses. When I first read it I thought to myself, “Now what in the world am I going to write about for this Gospel?! There’s nothing there!” But there is so much packed into these 2 short verses. 

In today’s Gospel, we hear what seems to be talked about a lot less than Christ’s miracles and His gathering of followers. We hear that His mission was not always easy. Throughout the years He spent preaching and performing miracles, He encountered countless people who rejected Him. Many thought that Christ was crazy, that he was “out of his mind”. Despite sharing the Truth of salvation, He experienced harsh criticism and condemnation. 

In the same way that Christ was mocked, ridiculed, and shunned for telling those around Him the Truth, so too do we risk being mocked, ridiculed, and shunned for our belief in the Truth. Yesterday (and throughout the month of January), all over the country hundreds of thousands of people marched for the rights of unborn babies. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recognizes today as a “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children”. Those who stand for the dignity of human life in the womb are met with the same ridicule and the same bitter criticism that Christ faced in the Gospel.  

St. John Paul the Great encouraged us in our mission of protecting the dignity of human life at all stages: “Never tire of firmly speaking out in defense of life from its conception and do not be deterred from the commitment to defend the dignity of every human person with courageous determination. Christ is with you: be not afraid!” In saying “Christ is with you”, John Paul II did not mean merely on a spiritual level, although that is true too. Christ is with us in our battle to share the Truth about human life. He endured the same derision for speaking the same Truth. 

May we find great comfort in uniting our suffering and the mockery we endure to that which Christ endured. In times of sorrow and frustration, may we seek His Holy Face and be reminded that He has already won the battle and place our hope and trust in Him. 

Contact the author

Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.

Feature Image Credit: https://www.cathopic.com/photo/4498-toda-vida-vale