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One of my best friends called this week to tell me about an amazing God-incident that happened to her. She’s really struggling right now in her life with one of her grown children going off the rails. Many of us have these difficult circumstances in our own lives. So, she did what we do when things get tough, she went to daily Mass to continue to beg Our Lord for His help.

She arrived late to Mass and sat in the very back of the church. The Gospel was the multiplication of the loaves, where Jesus shows His power in abundance to those 5,000 seated in the grass. Because she was sitting in the back, my friend was the last person in line for communion. 

As she approached the priest to receive the host, she glanced down to notice that there was only one host left in the ciborium. It wasn’t until she was halfway back to her chair that she realized what just happened. He only had one host left. The priest wasn’t nervous about the diminishing host, he wasn’t breaking the hosts in half just to be sure he’d have enough for everyone. There was only one full host left. 

Before she made it back to her seat, Jesus spoke to her softly, “I knew you were coming. I always have just enough for you. I am enough for you.”

When I heard those words initially and now read them again, my soul reacts with a deepening in love for Him. My faith is quickened. My joy increases. 

What happens in you?

Dear Sisters in Christ,

Happy Sunday!

I distinctly remember the day I made an indubitable experience of the Incarnation. The day was unusually challenging, one of those days when I just couldn’t get anything right. With my saddened spirit, I went to Jesus and told Him the mounting list of things gone wrong. As I prayed, He transformed my prayer into a walk with Mary.

We were on the road to Bethlehem. She sat on a donkey, and I was walking next to her holding the reins attached to the donkey’s bridle. It was late evening and the night sky filled with stars. I could hear the rocks moving under my feet as we walk along the dirt road. She invited me to tell her everything. I poured out my woes as she remained silent, listening. Nearing the end of my disclosure, I muttered, head bowed down with a long sigh as I felt the emptiness fill my stomach, “I guess I’m just not good enough.”

The donkey stopped abruptly. Mary slowly dismounted, walked around the front of the donkey and stood in front of me. She placed my hand on her rounded tummy and gently counseled, “Tell Him.” I knelt down and slowly whispered to the baby encased in her womb, “I’m not good enough.” I waited there for a response.

It was Mary’s hand that scooped up my chin and lifted me toward her. Ever so close to me, she gazed into my eyes and announced, “You are good enough for Him to become a baby.”

Please count on my love and prayers for you!
Love,
Melissa

Grab your tissues. I’m about to tell you a heart-melting story about the love of Jesus.

During the Be Loved Retreat, we had a contemplation of the “Day God Created You”. The prayer time was over, and I asked if anyone would like to share her story. One woman spoke up with a smile and gifted us with her experience.

“At the beginning of the contemplation, I saw a piece of wood. I was surprised to see that, but it faded away. Then I saw myself as a baby in a wooden cradle. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were peering over the edge of the crib and smiling at me, talking to each other about how excited they are to have me, how wonderful I am, and how much they love me. They called over some angels and even my guardian angel. They also gazed in amazement at my beauty.

Then, I remembered that Jesus was a carpenter. I glance over to see him take the wood pieces. He made a rocking chair so he could pick me up and rock me in His arms.”

*eyes are filling with tears of overwhelming joy and peace.

I thought you’d like that one.

He wants to tell you your story, too!

Are you working to be loved? For people to accept you and love you?

Maybe you’re exhausting yourself by doing things exactly right, so you won’t be criticized. Perhaps you spend hours exercising to be accepted. Perhaps you’re taking your kids to every possible extracurricular activity, so you look like a good mom. Maybe you are burned out because if you stay busy, you feel less anxious (because you are distracting yourself from your feelings or a deeper reality that needs to change). Maybe you are working overtime at work so people will notice you.

Regardless of the reason, working yourself to exhaustion is a form of bondage.

Henry Nouwen nailed it when he said,

“Exhaustion, burnout, & depression are not signs that you are doing God’s will. God is gentle & loving…Once you have allowed yourself to experience that love fully, you will be better able to discern who you are being sent to in God’s name.“

Ultimately, you can’t be free of doing to earn love until you learn to receive God’s love.

Paradoxically, God’s love creates space in the soul. It doesn’t crowd or fill – it opens. When we have more space or interior freedom, there is peace and calm. There’s no need to earn love from others or from God. He is LOVE; all He knows how to be is Love for us. He loves you for who you are, that you simply are.

If you can be honest with yourself, be honest with Him. Take your needs to Him. Ask Him to turn your “receiver” on and to teach you how to receive His love!