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July 29

“The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

Let’s break this apart.

We all look to Him. He gives, He provides. He satisfies. Hopeful. Due Season. Desires.

When we look to our Father, our heart must be hopeful that He can, and will, provide. Yet, it’s so easy to get impatient, worried, afraid... and we try and do it on our own. He provides for us in due season; this means He gives us what He wants us to have in His time... not ours.

Finally, our desires must be pure... they must be His desires for us.

When I stop and reread the above passage, I am reminded how good He is... how perfect His timing is... and how lovely the desires of my heart are when in line with His perfection.

My Father truly has, does, and will continue to provide all the needs and wants of my heart.

And He will do the same for you. Entrust this to Him. Have faith He will provide. And let go.

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July 28

“I had rather one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”

“No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

These are two of my favorite verses in Scripture (I know I say that a lot), and how perfectly do they go together!

Getting to spend one day with our Lord supersedes any day anywhere else; so how important is it that I make sure the garden of my heart is full of wheat... and not weeds! You see, what we do matters; who we are matters; how we treat others matters.

Our actions are a reflection of what we believe. If we truly believe He is who He says He is, then we are who He says we are— His people. Thus, our actions should reflect that.

Let’s keep in mind how beautiful our days with Him will be, because of how beautiful they currently are. And while we are at it, let’s live it!

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July 27

Four choices:

A. The seed sown on the path B. The seed sown on rocky ground C. The seed sown among thorns D. The seed sown on rich soil

I remember reading this passage years ago and thinking I was for sure living as if I was the seed sown among rich soil; how could I not be?! And then God started to pull up the roots... and I realized I was no where near rich soil. And He replanted me.

Our lives are full of opportunities to explore where we are. Every day is a new opportunity to dig and replant. Looking at the root is so important. We cannot fully become all we were created to be if we are not planted deep in rich soil.

Reread the Gospel tonight, and ask our Lord where you are. Then, ask Him to uproot you, and plant you amongst the most fertile of soil. Then, watch Him water the garden of your soul. You’ll be blooming in no time!

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July 26

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.”

If you look back over your life, do you recognize the presence of God at work even in challenging times? When you stop to appreciate how far your spiritual journey has led you, do you see how much more wisdom you have today than years before?

There’s a real virtue in wisdom and to be able to know our Lord’s voice is a grace. How often we should attune our ears to hear that voice throughout the day!

If you were to make a list of three things in your life that our Father has let you see, what would those be? Now, what about the things He asks of you, but you pretend to not hear? What changes does He want you to make in order for you to truly know how blessed you really are? Open your eyes and your ears- He is calling out to you! Oh, how much He loves each of us, as if we were the only one!

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July 25

“Everything indeed is for you.” There’s so much wisdom in today’s reading from 2 Corinthians. My favorite line, though, is above: “Everything indeed is for you.”

In reflecting on the anniversary of Humanae Vitae and how special this very day is to me, I am filled with gratitude knowing that my dear Father has and wants to give me everything. All He asks in order for me to receive this most precious gift (you know, everything) is for me to simply die to myself and allow Him to take over.

This applies so much to today. Within the sacrament of marriage, our Father wants us to give to our spouse all of us without holding back. It’s the same He asks of us in our own individual lives- trust Me with all of it, every single detail, and put it all into My hands. How beautiful it is for us to let go completely, to release every ounce of our grip and let Him take over. And within marriage, we are to trust Him with everything together, embracing the knowledge that His life within us is so much greater than simply our life without Him.

His gift of everything waits outstretched in the palm of His hand. All we have to do is to reach for it.

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July 24

“Will you not instead give us life; and shall not your people rejoice in you? Show us, O LORD, your kindness, and grant us your salvation.”

How beautiful this hope is: our Lord gives life, and we are to rejoice in it! And what a wonderful week to hear this in preparation for the anniversary of Humanae Vitae tomorrow. How does He give us life? From the moment of conception throughout the ENTIRETY of our lives; He shows up and continues to pour life into us. And we are to REJOICE! How tough, though, it is to rejoice when life is a struggle; yet, we need to be reminded to keep rejoicing! Why? Because He wants us to, He tells us to, and He is giving us life even when it doesn’t feel like it. Our entire life is in His hands. What a profound truth!

Tonight, think of your life, and write down one thing you remember God having done for you. And remember to... REJOICE!

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Johnnette addresses Women of Grace Retreat participants

by Anne Gerard

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July 23

“You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

At first glance, one may think this reading from Micah seems too easy to be enough; yet, after prayerful consideration, it really is that simple. It’s us who complicate it.

What about us interferes with the ease with which God calls us to obey? Well, everything, because of original sin. Think of Adam and Eve. Y’all, they had it pretty easy out there in the Garden. As long as they did what they were told, life was literally perfect. But they got greedy, and selfish, and distrustful. And boom, here we are, struggling to “do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with [our] God.” But how much more relieved do you feel knowing that this isn’t supposed to be so tricky and scary and tough? Really... all He wants is obedience, trust, and well, everything. And why not give it to Him? What in the world can we do without Him?! Let’s all take a pause and ask God this simple request: Lord, may You increase, and I decrease, so I get out of the way, and You can take over. Amen!

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July 23

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July 22

There are two parts of the Gospel today that really spoke to my heart: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” and “When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” Although these lines don’t follow one after another, they can easily be read together.

Basically, in order for us to teach others and evangelize according to His call, we have to make sure our own spiritual cup is full. Meaning, we cannot help anyone if we haven’t first taken care of ourselves.

How do we do this? Practically speaking, we actually rest, just like Jesus tells His disciples to. We make sure every bit of our health is taken care of- we eat healthy, we sleep, we exercise, we pray. Now, for us to be able to really evangelize and lead others to God, we have to know and love Him ourselves first! And part of resting is resting “in Him”. We must retreat each day, even if for a short period of time, to allow Him to fill our hearts and souls. We must study His life, we must communicate with Him, we must invite Him on this journey. Finally, ask Him who He is calling you to encounter and walk with. Each soul requires a unique form of loving. But if you listen, He will tell you exactly what He wants you to do at just the right moment.

Then, and only then, can we truly help those who are lost, with Him as our shepherd.

Amen!

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