Monthly Archives: September 2014

Another Miracle Moment with St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Therese of LisieuxSt. Therese of Lisieux, the “little flower,” is my confirmation saint and I am much devoted to her! Through PrayMoreNovenas.com, I’ve been praying a novena to her leading up to her feast day Wednesday, October 1.

It’s said that when praying a novena to St. Therese, you should look for roses as signs. Those were her favorite flower and she is often associated with them. I have very special intentions for this novena, so I was hoping for another such sign. You can read my past signs and experiences with St. Therese here.

Tonight, I dropped my kiddos off at their religious education classes at our parish for the first time this school year and returned to pick them up 45 minutes later. I walked to the end of the hall to wait for my youngest. As I stood there waiting at the very end, I looked up and literally right in front of me was a large St. Therese statue that I have never noticed before. I had no idea our parish had a statue of my saint until she was right on top of me last night! In the statue she is carrying a large bouquet of roses.

I consider that my novena sign that she is praying for me. I highly encourage you to pray to St. Therese! She is a gentle, lovely, powerful saint whose prayers are heard by God and who is much devoted to our Blessed Mother. Remember her on her feast day this Wednesday. Pray for us, St. Therese!

Don’t Worry, Just Work

Bible Worry

Are looking for peace in your life? I know that’s what drew me to the Catholic Church. I have the answer: don’t worry, just work!

When you are a follower of Christ, you know that you can give everything to Him, or to his Blessed Mother whom he has designated as the dispenser of all grace and our advocate. Jesus and Mary WANT to take your worry and your stress and your anxiety and your problems and give you peace in return.

I recently finished reading Gary Zimak’s new book “From Fear to Faith: A Worrier’s Guide to Discovering Peace.” Gary is a renowned Catholic speaker on the topic of worry and anxiety, and he outlines this important process in his 5-step plan to let go of worry and find peace. He was recently on one of my favorite Catholic radio shows, Catholic Answers Live, discussing the topic, which you can watch here:

 

For Gary, the first step in letting go of worry and finding peace is: Prepare.

You do this by prayerfully asking God to help you with a given problem and by asking Mary, and any of the saints, to pray for you regarding this problem. Then, you look for signs from God (you WILL see them if you’re paying attention) and do the “work” He is asking you to do. We can’t expect God to take care of the whole problem without us doing our part; however, we need to be sure “our part” is His will and we do so through prayer and careful discernment.

Then, do everything that’s in your power to help solve the problem. If you need a job, polish your resume and look for work. If you’re sick, go to the doctor and follow his or her orders. If you’re having a problem with a family member, speak the words you feel called to say, asking the Holy Spirit to speak through you.

Then… let God do the rest. His will be done! And be at peace.

Gary gives several wonderful examples of this process in the Bible. First is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Jesus gives the apostles work to do: ordering the crowd and distributing the food. The apostles did the work and Jesus performed the miracle, creating more than enough food for everyone.

Another example would be the Wedding Feast at Cana where Jesus began his public ministry. After Mary’s statement that the married couple had no more wine, Jesus directs the workers in filling jars with water. Then… HE performs the miracle that solves the problem.

I recently had a similar issue with my mother, who was completely against moving to a new home, which really is a necessity for her financial stability. I had done everything I could to help her with her finances and run out of options. Out of no where, a friend suggested this VERY SAME new place to live and she was suddenly miraculously convinced that it was not just the right thing for her but something she really wanted to do. I did the work I could; God performed the miracle. Thanks be to God!

This has happened to me so many times in the last couple years since becoming Catholic and especially since consecrating myself to Jesus through Mary and praying the rosary daily. If you pay attention and give your live over to God, these things will happen to you. I hope you are able to recognize them as the work of God and remember to give thanks :). Let these miracles uplift you as you encounter the next problem in your life.

Do you see how this works? Can you stop worrying and just work? Totally trust God to do the rest? You will be blessed in abundance if so. Even if His solution is not your solution, you will have peace about it — whatever it may be.

Entrust Everything to Me, says Jesus

A wonderful meditation for today from the Diary of St. Faustina. This is Jesus speaking to the saint:

“Entrust everything to Me and do nothing on your own, and you will always have great freedom of spirit. No circumstances or events will ever be able to upset you. Set little store on what people say. Let everyone judge you as they like. Do not make excuses for yourself, it will do you no harm (Diary, 1685) .”

This is from a daily Divine Mercy email that is sent to me daily for free courtesy of Flock Note. They also have daily emails to read the Catechism in a year and the Gospels in a Year. It’s a great service I highly recommend! Read while waiting in line, for your child’s game to start, etc and get a small dose of Holiness ;-).