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Day 72 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 273-278. There is so much to get out of today’s readings. They are packed with all kinds of wisdom and good food for thought. We talk about Marilyn Monroe, asking others to call us out, suffering for the good of others, and angels. You just never know where…
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Day 71 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 270-272. Sister Faustina gets laughed at by a stand-in confessor. It’s not a laughter of joy but one of disbelief. It causes her to falter. This made me think of an essay I had read by a female author from the turn of the 20th century. It was…
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Day 70 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 266-269. Sister Faustina writes about a difficult prayer session. She has to give it a go for three hours until she finally starts to feel graces. Our faith life will require this same kind of perseverance. Not every prayer time is going to be great, there are going…
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Day 69 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 261-265. Sister Faustina has made it Vilnius, the next stop for her. Things are different and she has to learn to embrace new changes. It can be hard to embrace change; we often want to go back to the familiarity and comfort of what we’ve left behind. I…
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Day 68 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 255-260. Sister Faustina is getting ready to leave Vilnius. She is stepping out on the next part of her journey. One thing she talks about is the desire to “hide from people’s eyes whatever good” she does. We struggle with doing this. As humans, we desire pats on…
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Day 67 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 251-254. Sister Faustina says that when she walked into a chapel, God’s presence enveloped her. Isn’t that so true about our Catholic Churches? When we go in, because Christ is physically present, we are enveloped by Him. It’s so magnificent. How blessed we are to be able to…
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Day 66 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 246-250. Sister Faustina is a disciplined woman and I admire that. If we want to have a fruitful and wonderful relationship with Christ, we must be disciplined people. This is very hard to do in our world which encourages self-indulgence and instant gratification. But, a life without disciplined…
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Day 65 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 241-245. Sister Faustina desires to be helpful, to refrain from speaking about others behind their back, defending people’s good names, rejoicing in the success of others, and praying for those that humiliate us and being thankful they give us that chance. Whew, boy, I struggle with so many…
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Day 64 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 239, starting at May 1, 1933 and through to the end of 240. We read about Sister Faustina taking her vows today. She has a powerful prayer. We are going to pray it ourselves making it relatable to our current times. …
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Day 63 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 234-239. Stopping at May 1, 1933. Does God find Heaven in our hearts like He finds in Sister Faustina’s heart? For this to be true, God must be our number one priority. Realizing that our spouses or children aren’t to be our number one priority can make us…
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Day 62 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 229-233. Sister Faustina is getting ready to take her perpetual vows and she’s all a flutter, just like a new bride. I think it’s a good idea to talk about what vows are and how powerful they are. Vows made to or made with God as a witness…
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Day 61 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 225-228. Sister Faustina gives us a list today of things that she struggles with, some of her sins. They seem so minor to things that many of us struggle with, but I think her list gives us good things to reflect on and evaluate where can get better…
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Day 60 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 220-224. There’s a lot of people, even Catholics, that don’t believe the reality of the Blessed Sacrament. “It’s too much,” we say. But, who are we to limit God? If we believe in the Resurrection, the many miracles of Christ, and all the miracles God worked through other…
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Day 59 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 214-219. Sister Faustina comes full circle. She is back in Cracow where she entered the novitiate. Now, she is getting ready to take her perpetual vows. This got me thinking about my spiritual journey. What if we could look back and see where we took our first steps…
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Day 58 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 209-213. How do we combat the drab life? Is the answer self-love and focus on entertainment? Nope. Sister Faustina shares with us that the key to living a lively faith is to not totally focus on yourself. This is contrary to what the world teaches. I would, also,…
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Day 57 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 202-208. Have you ever thought about your sacrifices are like flowers thrown at Christ’s feet? So, often, we think our sacrifices have to be huge to matter, but this isn’t true. Even small sacrifices are sweet to Christ. I tell my story of being at Calvary and sticking…
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Day 56 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 196-201. Christ’s words today are a little confounding. As I sat and thought about what He said to Sister Faustina what came into my mind was The King and I. Using a very imperfect analogy, I use a scene from The King and I to explain my understanding…
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Day 55 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 190-195. Sister Faustina is willing to toil, suffer, and sacrifice for souls that needs help. In fact, she desires to do so. I can’t say that I’m one of those people that desires to toil and suffer for people outside my family and friend circle. But, what if…
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Day 54 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 182 (starting at Christmas Eve) to 189. Christ gives Sister Faustina one of the comforting prayers of the Divine Mercy Chaplet in our readings today. I love this prayer and it always calms my soul so much. Something we have to remember is that when trying to bring…
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Day 53 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 180-182. What do you do with souls that vex you? One of the hardest things to do is deal with them in a charitable way. Sister Faustina shares a short account of another sister that is trying to vex her. Sister Faustina handles it with great grace. I…
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Day 52 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 176-179. We do not worship a distant or aloof God. We worship a God that desires to be close to us in intimate relationship. It doesn’t matter if we feel worthless, miserable, unworthy, or pitiful, Christ wants to shower mercy on us and heal us. He wants us…
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Day 51 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 170-175. The closer we grow to Christ, the more Satan is going to work to make us stumble in our walk towards Christ. Satan doesn’t need to worry about souls sunk in sin, they are right where he wants them. Make no doubt that as we strive for…
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Day 50 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 164-169. Day 50! Whoop, whoop! It’s so important for us to remember that if God asks something of us or if He sets a mission before us, He will help it to happen. If we are open to His Will, He will remove road blocks and snares for…
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Day 49 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 160-161, skip 162, and then start back up at 163. We get a beautiful prayer to Mary today. I highly encourage marking this page and returning to this poetic prayer to Mary on feast days for Our Lady. The last part provides a great examination of our faith…
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Day 48 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 154-159. Would you change things if you knew souls depended on you? Would you be more inclined to follow God’s Will if you knew that if you didn’t, you’d have to answer for the souls that would have benefitted from you following it? Christ speaks a lot to…
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Day 47 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 150-153. So often we miss the context of a situation and judge wrongly. It’s so important that we take the time to get the context and afford people the opportunity to explain things to us. Sister Faustina, also, paints a very vivid of picture of the two paths…
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Our Letters To President Biden
Here is the promised blog about how to write our letters to President Biden. First, some context: A while back, a fellow Catholic Pilgrim, private messaged me. She asked what we can do, as Catholics, to stop the bled out from many of Biden’s policies. “Should we write the bishop, the pope? Do we need…
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Day 46 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 146-149. Think those that become saints never struggle with prayer? Think again. Sister Faustina shares with us some of her prayer struggles both external and internal. At one point, she is in the infirmary and is struggling to prepare her meditations because of a lack of light. Christ…
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Day 45 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 142-145. There is so much packed into today’s readings. There’s lots of talk about grace and the peace of Christ. What Christ says today in 143 is an answer to a prayer of mine. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have read what He tells…
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Day 44 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 138-141. So often we all want to see ourselves doing something “big” in this life. We forget that pure love is “capable of great deeds.” Most of us are not going to do “big” things that will make us a household name. But, if we do everything in…
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Day 43 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 133-137. What if our name became “Sacrifice?” Would we feel like we have lost our freedom? If we choose to follow our will, our lives will be very self-serving. If we choose to say “yes” to Christ, our lives will be focused on others and Christ. Many would…
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Day 42 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 129-132. Sister Faustina just wants answers. She just wants a confessor to tell her whether she is truly following God’s Will. She’s worried that she’s being deceived by illusions. We all feel these kinds of doubts at different times. So often we want straight-forward answers. “Just tell me…
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Day 41 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 125-128. Sister Faustina has to endure many judgmental eyes on her in her convent. Many of her fellow sisters believe her to be hysterical, a fantasist. She chooses to just remain silent, much like Our Lord when he was questioned by the Pharisees. Growing in holiness can be…
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Taking Back Our Culture
As per usual, after an election and an inauguration take place, one side of the political aisle is rapturous and the other side is licking its wounds in the corner. Right now, we are hearing all the talk about how Biden is going to unite us, and right wrongs, and blah, blah, blah. Four years…
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Day 40 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 120-124. Our readings today give us so much to discuss. We go over fighting spiritual battles and how the saints are able to do that, spiritual directors, and how people will not understand a soul growing in holiness. The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero.…
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Day 39 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 116-119. The tongue is one of the greatest weapons. It can be used for such good, but more often than not it is used to wound. It is so hard for us to be still, be silent, and listen. I struggle with holding my tongue and it is…
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Day 38 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 113-115. “I just don’t feel anything anymore with regards to my faith?” Ever heard that one? I know that it’s a common complaint among many Christians. It can even cause some to leave the faith behind. Sister Faustina shares with us that there is a level of spirituality…
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Day 37 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, number 112. Sister Faustina gives us some great thoughts on what can hinder a soul in confession. She’s got three points and I think a lot of us will be able to relate to what she shares with us. The show today is sponsored by My Saint My Hero…
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Day 36 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 106-111. Our readings today made me think of my track days. My coach was very hard on me making me run hills and do extra workouts when the other sprinters were left to lighter workouts. I felt like my coach was punishing me and trying to single me…
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Day 35 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 101-105. Are we afraid to be made saints? We know that growing in holiness means that weakness and sin have to be burned off. This will involve a certain amount of suffering. I think our fear of suffering or being made saints can keep us from going out…
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Day 34 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 98-100. Sister Faustina, again, gives us a vision of what a soul in hell experiences. As our world moves farther and farther away from God, we see people’s souls in a state of despair. Our calling, Catholic Pilgrims, is to assist these souls. It will be frustrating and…
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Day 33 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 95-97. The readings for today remind me of the movie “Neverending Story.” In that movie, the main character must face a mirror gate that reveals to him who he really is. There comes a point in our spiritual life when we will be forced to face a spiritual…
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Day 32 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, finishing up 93-94. Religious takes vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Today, we will be talking about the virtues of chastity and obedience and how all Christians are called to live out these virtues. Sadly, they are seen as dirty words in our world. We will be encouraged to…
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Day 31 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, number 93. Stop at the heading, “The Vow of Chastity.” Our readings are different today. Instead of reading intimate diary entries, we will be reading about the vows that the Religious make. Our focus today will be on the vow of poverty. Also, today is my birthday! Please pray…
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Day 30 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 91-92. Sister Faustina shares with us her love for the Eucharist. She reminds us that it sustains us, gives us courage, and “assures us that we will win the victory.” I love to talk about the Eucharist as there was a time when I didn’t receive it and…
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Day 29 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 87-90. Check out the Ostra Brama gate from today’s readings here: https://ausrosvartai.lt To check out the Original Image of Divine Mercy Documentary here: https://www.originaldivinemercy.com/movie/the-original-image-of-divine-mercy-documentary-film-on-dvd Our show today is sponsored by the My Saint, My Hero jewelry company. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com …
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Day 28 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 79-86. How often do we just praise God in our prayers? Do we spend time just adoring Him? Sister Faustina gives us some great prayers of praise to God and Mary. It really got me thinking about how often I offer pure prayers of praise. …
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Day 27 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 77-78. Trials in life can make us throw up our hands and give up on God. But, either way, trials will come in this life. You will either face trials with God or without Him. Without Him, you will have lost the only thing that can give meaning…
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Day 26 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 74-76. Many times doubts prevail in our lives. We doubt about what we are doing; we doubt about the help of confession; we doubt God. I talk about my doubts after eight miscarriages and my doubts about trying to have more children. I tell the incredible story of…
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Day 25 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 71-73. Sister Faustina prays for “poor sinners.” She wishes she could do so much more to save them. She begs mercy for them. Her prayers for sinners really convicted me. I discuss a sin that I struggle with which was highlighted by her writings. Our show today is…
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Travel with Catholic Pilgrim to The Church of Mary in Ephesus, Turkey
Travel along, Catholic Pilgrims, as we visit the Church of Mary ruins at the ancient city of Ephesus, Turkey. A very important ecumenical council was held here in 431 AD presided over by St. Cyril, bishop of Alexandria. Thank you to Schola Magdalena for the Ave Maria music. www.scholamagdalena.ca…
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Day 24 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 67-70. Too often in our lives, we want to jump ship when things stop feeling good. When our marriages become too hard, we want to leave. When we have to fight to accomplish something, we quit. When our faith doesn’t feel good, we doubt that we should believe.…
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Day 23 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 65-66. Sister Faustina struggles with a seemingly small task–draining potatoes. She is frustrated that she can’t do it well and so she tries to avoid the task. It’s important to remember that Christ wants to be present in even small things. God delights in helping us in the…
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Day 22 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 62-64. Sister Faustina talks about how eyes of faith make each hour different, new, and fresh. Why do we lose this childlike wonder? There comes a time when life just seems to become “dull and monotonous.” Our show today is sponsored by the My Saint, My Hero jewelry…
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Day 21 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 58-61. Sister Faustina is visited by another Sister that had passed away. Is this a visit by a ghost? What is the Church’s stance on ghosts? We talk about this and I appeal to Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin’s study on the matter. To further listen to Mr. Akin’s…
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Day 20 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 56-57. Why do souls avoid Jesus? There are so many reasons why: Never evangelized, angry with God, had a bad experience, etc. Each soul needs to be brought to Christ but sometimes that seems like an impossible task. The show today is sponsored by My Saint My Hero,…
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Day 19 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, number 55. Sister Faustina gets some great spiritual advice from several people. I think they are a great guide for how to be a good person. I’ve asked many times, “What does it mean to be a good person?” Barely anyone can give me an answer. I think we…
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Day 18 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 52-54. Sister Faustina is struggling with the hard things that Christ is asking of her. The reality of our Christian Faith is that God will ask hard things of us. Just living the Christian faith obediently and faithfully is a hard thing to do. We can be assured,…
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Day 17 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 47-51. Christ tells Sister Faustina that He wants her to paint a picture of showing His Divine Mercy. He wants it to be venerated in her chapel and then the whole world over. At the bottom, He wants the words, “Jesus, I trust in You.” Christ stresses how…
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Day 16 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 44-46. Christ’s conversation with Sister Faustina reveals that He is displeased with what is going on in the convent. Sister Faustina makes reparations and Christ does not leave. I use this conversation to encourage us to explore whether our homes are places where Christ does dwell or where…
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Day 15 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 42-43. Whenever we run from God, we are unsettled. Apart from God, we won’t feel complete. We read a very interesting passage today. Sister Faustina tries to flee from an interior meeting with God. As she tries to leave, Christ tells her, “Go ahead, but I’m taking…
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Day 14 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 39-41. St. Faustina is asked to pray for her country to save it from chastisement. She prays for seven days and obtains pardon for her country. Everybody needs to pray for their country. There is no country that isn’t in need of prayers. Any country that turns…
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Day 13 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 36-38. Why must we suffer? In our world, most of us try to avoid suffering at all costs–only comfort and pleasure are sought. We are even seeing people take their lives if they experience any amount of suffering. This is understandable when suffering seems to have no point.…
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Day 12 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 31-35. We discuss a lot of different things from today’s readings. I touch on the vision that St. Faustina experiences at church. Christ talks of Mary, His Mother, to St. Faustina and encourages her to include her in her prayer life. Christ also encourages her to “Make…
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All We Have Is Right Now
Well, 2021 is shaping up nicely, isn’t it? Since March of 2020, we all waited with bated breath for 2021 to get here so the clock could be reset and life could go back to normal. Even though we lived through it and even though we don’t want to relive it, let’s take a stroll…
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Day 11 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 28-30. Be sure, Catholic Pilgrims, that along our spiritual journey we will meet naysayers. There will always be people that try to bring us down or get us to doubt ourselves and our relationship with God. Another takeaway from today is that we can never think that…
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Day 10 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will come from Notebook 1, numbers 26-28. What’s a hairshirt, you ask? Well, we talk about that today as I discuss what mortification and penance have to do with hairshirts. Also, in our readings today, we hear Christ speak some amazing words of comfort to her. It’s a good reminder that each one…
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Day 9 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 24 thru 25. Our readings for today are very heavy. St. Faustina is experiencing some very dark torments. While most of us don’t like to talk about Hell, it’s important that we do talk about it from time-to-time. Too many live in this world as if Hell…
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Day 8 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, starting with the second paragraph of number 23 and finishing through to the end of 23. We hear today about the darkness of the soul that St. Faustina experiences. She feels rejected by God and she can’t feel Him in her soul. Many Christians have felt this way…
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Day 7 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 21 thru the end of the first paragraph of 23. It’s so important for us to pray for those that have asked us to pray for them. Sometimes, we get a lot of prayer requests and it’s difficult to handle all these prayer requests. Also, in these…
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Day 6 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, third paragraph of 19 thru 20. Sister Faustina has a vision of purgatory. We get a glimpse into what purgatory is like and why it is so important to pray for the souls there. I briefly discuss purgatory and explain what it is and what it isn’t. Growing…
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Day 5 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, 16-19. St. Faustina shares with us her unrest over not being able to be as pious as she desires once she finally enters the convent. She even wants to leave, however, Jesus wants her to stay. I relate this back to a time when I was trying to…
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Day 4 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, 12-15. At every step of our faith journey, we need to invite God into our lives through prayer. It is so important to bring God into our daily lives and talk to Him about what He wants us to do. Sometimes, God will ask us to wait and…
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Day 3 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today’s readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 7-11. Many times, we all do a good job of trying to block out God’s call for our lives. However, this always brings unrest and dissatisfaction. God will try to find a way to get our attention. Today, we will listen to St. Faustina tell us about…
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Day 2 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Today the readings will be from Notebook 1, numbers 3-6. Continue to follow along as we make our way through St. Faustina’s Diary by reflecting on it through small readings. Today we will be thinking about the reality of living in a world that has forgotten to adore and praise its Creator. …
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Day 1 with St. Faustina’s Diary
Travel with me, Catholic Pilgrims, for one year as we read through St. Faustina’s Diary. Every day, I will do a short reading from the diary that brought us a deeper understanding of Christ’s Divine Mercy.  Afterwards, I’ll give a short reflection on what we’ve read. Today’s readings are found in Notebook 1, Numbers 1-2. …
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I Don’t Want To Go Back To The Way Things Were
Well, here we are at the end of 2020. Many of us have been clamoring for this day to come so that a sort of hypothetical clock can be reset and we can all go back to the way things were before Covid hit the scene hard in March. But, I’m here to be the…
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But What Does Surrendering To God’s Will Look Like?
One morning, when I was back home visiting my family in Kansas, my mom and I were sitting having coffee together. We got on the topic of trying to do God’s Will in our lives. I said to my mom, “I’ve always been afraid that if I completely surrender to God and do His Will…
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The Weight of All My Shame
When I was preparing to start my new podcast, “Journeying With the Saints,” where I spent one year going through St. Faustina’s Diary, I came across this quote from her at the very start of her notebook recordings. “It is no longer in my power to change, correct or add to the past; For neither…
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How Uncomfortable Are You Willing To Get?
So, after my blog last week, I had a few people ask me what they can do to help make a change in our country. I sat for many days thinking and praying on this question. I came up with all things that you would think to say: We need to go to Mass, we…
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Christians, It’s Time To Get With It
Walk with me for a second through history. I know, I know, some of you hate history but quit your eye-rolling and walk with me. 😉 The Roman Empire. At its peak, it was unstoppable. While no civilization is perfect, the Roman Empire had a lot going its way: It was wealthy, it was strong…
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Natural Disasters Have A Way of Bringing Out the Best In Us
This past Friday, my family went through a pretty intense 7.0 earthquake. My kids and I were sitting on the 15th floor of our high-rise apartment here in Izmir, Turkey and we started to feel the building move. At first, my brain couldn’t process what was going on, but within a few seconds, I realized…
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The Smothering Expectations of Modern-Day Feminism
All throughout my 20s and some of my 30s, there was a great war being fought within my mind. It was an unnecessary battle but one that had been waging since my college days. The war was between two Amys: Amy 1 felt it was her moral duty to get out in the workforce and…
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Why We Can’t Just Pass the Eucharist Out On Street Corners Like Candy
Strange title? Yeah, I know. So, a Catholic I know was having a conversation with a Protestant. This particular Protestant has come a long way and says that she actually believes that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. However… She feels the Catholic Church would be more effective if the Church presented the Eucharist…
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Please, No More of the Virtue Signaling Wars
Enough is enough. When I was a kid and was driving my dad crazy, he would say to me, “Amy, you are driving me to the hilt of Gannilt.” It was his way of saying that I’d pushed him to the limits of his sanity. Lol. And now, I say it to my children. Well,…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling To Ephesus
Before my husband told me about the job in Turkey that he was trying for, I knew literally nothing about Turkey. Okay, I knew that Istanbul was once Constantinople, but that’s it. You all can now freely sing the song, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).” You’ll get it stuck in your head and that’s a promise. When…
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Watch Yourself: Don’t Become What You Say You Hate
Have you ever read the book Animal Farm by George Orwell? Well, if you haven’t, I’ll give you a very quick run-down. At the start of the book, there is a farm–Manor Farm. The animals on the farm are dissatisfied with their lives because living under the farmer–Mr. Jones–is laborious and meager. They are not…
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Don’t Be A Kill-Joy Christian
Awhile back, I was doing some fact-checking and I came across a Catholic group that gets a lot of followers. I’m not going to name them because I don’t want to draw too much attention to them, but a lot of you will probably figure it out. Anyway, I was watching a video by them…
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That Time When Our Blessed Mother Was Compared To A Donkey
On the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, I posted one of my all time favorite religious pictures. It’s a stunning depiction of Mary being carried into Heaven by four angels. It’s one of those paintings that’s too beautiful for words. But, you always gotta have the Negative Nancys and Nates come along and spoil…
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Thinking About All The Times I Have Kneeled
When I was sixteen, I had a tumultuous relationship with my first boyfriend. I’ve written about our relationship in other blogs, but to sum it up, it was toxic. I was always desperately trying to find ways to make him love me and he was always trying to find ways to destroy my self-esteem. Even…
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The “Woke” Crowd: The Judgiest Judges That Ever Did Judge
Travel with me, if you will, back in the near distant past to that time when no one was allowed to judge. Do you remember those not-so-distant times? Boy, I do. Ah, those were the days, weren’t they? When if you tried to point out a bad action, immediately you were shamed into silence with…
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As Catholics, We Should Affirm That Black People Matter. Supporting the BLM Organization Is Another Story, Though.
As many of you know, my professional background is working in the area of sexual violence. When I got my Master’s in Applied Behavioral Science, I chose to specialize in sex crimes. Not the most uplifting topic, but one that I feel is extremely important to shine a light on. As one who has dealt…
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So, the Catholic Church Keeps All These Relics of Saints. What’s Up With That?
My maternal grandfather was a carpenter. Mostly he built houses, but he could pretty much make anything out of wood. One day, when I was in my early 20s, he took me down to his workshop because he had a piece of furniture he wanted to give me. It was a beautiful antique vanity that…
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To All My Fellow Catholics. Yes, Even You Lukewarm Ones.
This has been a year, hasn’t it? If we’ve learned anything from the past few months, it’s that the ground is crumbling out from under our feet. One tragedy after another seems to be hitting and it’s now become the joke to say that the end of the world is upon us. But, whenever it’s…
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For All Her Faults and Failings, I Do Not Believe That America Is Inherently Racist
Yes, I am aware that I am a white woman giving my opinion on a touchy, heated subject. Yes, I understand that a lot of people don’t want to hear that opinion because of the color of my skin which is highly ironic. Yes, I understand that many will see my opinion as coming from…
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Look, If I Don’t Agree 100% With You On Everything, I Will Delete You From My Life
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that the start of my blog was in response to an old friend of mine becoming an atheist. We had met in college and were instantly friends. She had this smile, this electricity about her that attracted you like bees to honey. We had…
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What Do I Do If My Kids Stray From the Faith?
Last week, I set aside a day of prayer to pray for the intentions of my followers on my social media accounts. I thought that I would be offering a lot of prayers for relief from Covid-19 but, instead, I got numerous–mostly private–messages from mothers asking me to pray for their child that has strayed…
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An Authentic Catholic Life Will Include Risk
For my 40th birthday, my husband surprised me with a night away to Cincinnati an hour from our home. When he told me, I panicked. The reason I did was that I was scared to leave our kids home alone. Mind you, one of my kids was seventeen at the time and is fully capable…