When the Bills Came Due I burst out sobbing in the bedroom. Not the kitchen where I'd opened the correspondence. I couldn't stay there. Couldn't let my husband see what his inattentiveness had just cost us—how easily he'd blown through money I'd fought for, stretched for, hours of meal planning and cooking and trying so damn hard to make it work. I froze mid-breath. Turned. Right. And half-collapsed on the bed, my head hanging heavily between...
Evening’s Sacred Dissolving I face my mirror in the evening’s sacred hush, where familiar contours of self begin to blur at the edges. Here, in this liminal light, I feel clothed with a veil...
The Weight of Morning Mist In the soft morning light filtering through stained glass, I stood at the threshold of our church, heart full of carefully crafted welcomes and thoughtfully woven prayers....
Am I worthy? Picture a lonely creature in the vastness of a cathedral, her feet making no sound on the cold marble floor. Like a scolded puppy seeking reconciliation, she inches toward the altar –...
THRESHOLD CALLING Standing at the threshold, draped in crimson silk that speaks of both flesh and life, I challenge my own assumptions: What does a woman called by God look like? This dress speaks...
Oil and Holy Water Try rolling these words around your tongue: “Independent Catholic Female.” Feel how they clash and dance, like oil and holy water attempting to mix. For some, it tastes of...
QUICK REFERENCE December 21, 2025 | Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)Liturgical Color: Violet/Purple (Rose may have been used on Gaudete Sunday)Fourth Advent Candle: Angel's Candle / Love CandleUSCCB Readings for December 21, 2025 One-Sentence Theme: At the threshold of Christmas, we encounter two fathers—one who refuses God's sign through control, one who receives it through surrender—and discover that Emmanuel comes anyway, calling us to...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 7, 2025Liturgical Season: Second Sunday of Advent, Year AReadings: Isaiah 11:1-10 | Psalm 72 | Romans 15:4-9 | Matthew 3:1-12Theme: Baptism calls us out of hiding to...
Entering the Season of Threefold Coming Advent begins. But not as our culture often imagines it - not primarily as a countdown to Christmas, not as premature celebration with nativity scenes and...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)Readings: USCCB Lectionary #162 One-Sentence...
"Ordinary" doesn't mean "less important." It means ordinary as whole—encountering Jesus complete, not through a seasonal lens. QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 16, 2025Liturgical Season: 33rd Sunday...
The Pharisee isn't a cartoon villain. He's exhausted. He's been showing up faithfully for YEARS while others flake. He fasts twice a week—do YOU? He tithes on everything—do YOU? His resentment...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Placement: Beginning of liturgy, replacing standard penitential riteDuration: 4-5 minutesMinister's Note: Read slowly, with long pauses. Model stillness and groundedness. This is about creating space, not filling it. For the full theological and scriptural foundation of this practice, especially understanding the story of Ahaz’s refusal to receive the sign from God and St. Joseph’s receptiveness and to dig deeper into Jesus’ lineage, see...
A guided body prayer for post-Communion reflection. Second Sunday of Advent (Year A) - Experience CONTEXT & BACKGROUND This meditation emerges from today's Gospel (Matthew 3:1-12), where John...
A guided somatic meditation for post-communion adoration or personal Advent practice Introduction (spoken by the leader or read privately): In our Advent waiting, Christ invites us to keep watch...
TWELVE NAMES FOR JESUS: CHOOSING HOW TO ADDRESS HIM THIS WEEK Introduction This is the last Sunday we will see Jesus in his wholeness for nearly two months. As we prepare to meet him next week as...
FOR THE LEADER: We're doing this practice WITH the community, not TO the community, so let us use "we" language throughout. Let us warm, even playful tone at the beginning. This isn't heavy...
Post-Communion Reflection - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) We have just received the Body of Christ. We did nothing to earn this gift - Christ came to us freely. He placed himself in our...
Reflection for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Running in the Dark The city empties under evacuation orders. Every screen flickers blue against abandoned streets while mechanical voices...
Reflection for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C What if the most dangerous thing in the world isn't nuclear waste that stays lethal for 100,000 years, but a Gospel that stays troublesome for...
A Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C There are crossroads in this world that even biblical fathers never dared to leave behind, purposedly settling down between grief and...
A Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C What if Abel, the "good" brother in the Bible's first murder story, was actually disobeying God's instructions? What if Cain, the "bad"...
A Reflection for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time What Do We Remember from Our Baptism? I was three months and four days old when I was brought to the church for my baptism. Like most of us, I have...
Context These intercessions flow from deep exploration of this Sunday’s readings. For the full theological and scriptural foundation of these themes, especially understanding the story of Ahaz's refusal to receive the sign from God and St. Joseph's receptiveness and to dig deeper into Jesus' lineage, see the Biblical Resources for this Sunday. Celebrant Introduction: Brothers and sisters, as we prepare to welcome Emmanuel—God with us—we...
Context: These intercessions flow from the Sunday's deep exploration of baptism as present tense reality, the peaceable kingdom as the world we're baptized into, and the call to stop hiding behind...
Presider: As we begin this season of watchful waiting, let us bring our prayers before the Lord who comes to us in light. For Pope Leo and all who keep watch over the Church: that they may lead with...
NOTE FOR LITURGY PLANNERS These intercessions are offered as a complete set, but you are invited to choose 4-5 petitions that resonate most with your community's current needs. Select the prayers...
NOTE FOR LITURGY PLANNERS These intercessions are offered as a complete set, but you are invited to choose 4-5 petitions that resonate most with your community's current needs. Select the prayers...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, Moses raised his hands in prayer and his arms grew heavy, yet with the support of Aaron and Hur, Israel prevailed. A widow persisted in her cry for justice and was...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, Abraham left the crossroads of his father's journey and completed the path to God's promise. With the faith of those who know they are chosen and beloved, let us...
Celebrant: Brothers and sisters, we have learned that our life is hidden with Christ in God. With confidence in our Abba Father, let us bring our prayers before the One whose breath sustains us. For...
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C Celebrant: Like Abraham, we approach our loving God with bold confidence, bringing the needs of our world to the One who delights in our every prayer. Reader:...
QUICK REFERENCE December 21, 2025 | Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)USCCB Readings Readings: First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6. Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7 Gospel: Matthew Matthew 1:18-24 One-Sentence Theme: Two fathers in the Davidic line—one who refuses God's sign and destroys his son, one who receives God's sign and adopts a son not his own—reveal what makes us capable of receiving Emmanuel....
Third Sunday of Advent: When & Where We Are in the Scripture Sunday, December 14, 2025 | Third Sunday of Advent, Year A The Readings First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10Responsorial Psalm: Psalm...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C) Readings: First Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3...
If there were no Sunday obligation this year—no hell threat, no requirement—would we still come? Would we still show up to encounter God in our emptiness, or are we mostly trying to look like a...
There's a question haunting this Gospel: What happens Monday morning? The tax collector went home justified. And then what? Did he go back to the booth, back to neglecting widows and orphans, back...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9 The Night That Changed Everything When & Where: Written around 50 BC by an Alexandrian Jew reflecting on the Passover...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? A Jarring Shift: After last Sunday's tender invitation to call God "Abba, Daddy" in the Lord's Prayer, this week's readings might feel like spiritual...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? After last week's readings following Moses through the desert, this Sunday takes us on a dramatic leap backward—almost 2,000 years before Christ—to...
Why are we still doing the same thing? So you've done the reading. You understand your attachment style, your patterns, why you react the way you do in relationships. You can name it, explain it, trace it back to where it started. So why are you still doing the same thing? Here's what so many therapeutic approaches miss: your relationship patterns aren't stored in your understanding. They're stored in your body. Think about learning to walk....
What do you do when your wallet is empty? When you've shaken out the last coins and there's nothing left? What if that emptiness - that total letting go - is exactly where grace begins? My throat is...
"Ordinary" doesn't mean "less important." It means ordinary as whole—encountering Jesus complete, not through a seasonal lens. QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 16, 2025Liturgical Season: 33rd Sunday...
Shaking Before the Feast Tomorrow is the Feast of the Assumption, and I'm struggling. Here I am with a blog called "Full-of-Grace," somehow connected to Mary, and yet as this huge feast approaches,...
A reflection on relationships found and lost on pilgrimage, and the beautiful journey to finding true love Walking Toward Truth Instead of Escape Six years ago, on what started as an ordinary June...
Three Mothers at the Heart of Resurrection Today I'm traveling back to Poland on Mother's Day – May 26th in our Polish tradition. As I journey home, I'm reflecting on three mothers who have shaped...
Airport musings after a shortened Camino The Comedy of Errors Picture this: a peaceful pilgrim, fresh from three nights in Santiago de Compostela, checking out of their hostel before 10 AM with the...
A Santiago Pilgrimage Reflection Faith is often less about movement and more about stillness. Today, my second day in Santiago de Compostela, I discovered this truth through four hours spent within...
Santiago de Compostela - Day 15 Today I write from Santiago de Compostela, not having walked the complete path as planned, but arriving nonetheless with a heart full of wonder. The pilgrimage called...
Cardañuela-Riopico to Burgos - 8 kilometers I woke in the albergue to the most restful sleep I've had in two weeks. Perhaps it's the lightness that comes with a difficult decision finally made -...
The Unexpected For days, the question has followed me like a shadow on this Camino journey: Should I continue to Santiago or listen to my body's increasing protests? The recurring infection, the...
Searching Gentleness Last night, as darkness settled over Grañón, we gathered in the choir of San Juan Bautista church. Through a secret passage from the albergue, we entered the silent sanctuary,...
Morning Challenges Morning broke in Najera with the weight of yesterday's mistakes still lingering. The sun had not yet fully risen as I set out, my feet speaking their own language. A new blister...
The Joy of Return to the Camino The morning sun rose with promise as my feet carried me forward along the Camino. After three nights of forced rest in Logroño, battling illness and fever, my body...
Fever Recovery in Logroño and Finding the Pilgrim Spirit Once More The drenched pillows speak of fever's night visit – my body, a furnace that consumes itself. Sweat-soaked blankets twisted into...
Unexpected Pause on the Camino Frances Today, I am writing from the same place as yesterday—a hotel room in Logroño. This was not the original plan. Yesterday, I barely managed to walk those few...
A personal reflection from the pilgrim's path Today, I lie in a hotel bed with fever, my walking pilgrimage temporarily paused. Yet somehow, in this enforced stillness, I feel closer than ever to...
Los Arcos to Logroño - A day of listening to my body's wisdom Today marked my seventh day on the Camino de Santiago, a day unlike any other on this pilgrimage. Not for its beauty or challenge, but...
Discovering Our True Journey In walking the Camino de Santiago, I've been reflecting on what it truly means to be a pilgrim. Along the ancient stones of The Way, where countless feet have worn...
A Morning of Mindful Beginnings I woke naturally at 5:15, before my alarm, but embraced a new approach today: not rushing. I remembered Lizzie, a colleague with whom I worked in a nursing home in...
Early Morning Struggles and the Pilgrim's Call to Transcendence I woke before my alarm today, at quarter past five, my body somehow knowing the journey ahead demanded these early stolen moments....
From Dawn's First Light to Detours: Pamplona to Zariquiegui The fourth day of my Camino journey led me from Pamplona to Puente la Reina, a day marked by detours, reflections, and an unexpected...
Restless Beginnings There's something deeply humbling about walking a path that millions have trodden before. As I make my way through the third day of my Camino journey, I'm reminded that some...
The darkness surprised me as I set out at 6:10 this morning, a stark contrast to my June Camino of 2019 when the early hours were already bathed in light. Thankful for the small lamp affixed to my...
First Day on the Camino Frances: Crossing the Pyrenees The Scent of the Camino: Memories Reawakened What struck me in the morning was that familiar scent—the fragrance of aloe vera mingling with...
The Pilgrim Returns: Beginning the Camino Francés Again The Camino begins again, though in truth, it never really ended. Today I stand in Saint Jean Pied de Port, the traditional starting point of...
Walking Unbound They say the Camino begins the moment you close your door behind you, not when you reach Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port. So my pilgrimage started with a flight from Olsztyn Mazury Airport...
What do you do when your wallet is empty? When you've shaken out the last coins and there's nothing left? What if that emptiness - that total letting go - is exactly where grace begins? My throat is tight as I write this. There's also a squeezing sensation, that familiar tightness in my abdomen that signals anxiety trying to take root. The problems are piling up - financial pressures mounting, difficulties multiplying - and I can feel despair...
Why are we still doing the same thing? So you've done the reading. You understand your attachment style, your patterns, why you react the way you do in relationships. You can name it, explain it,...
"Ordinary" doesn't mean "less important." It means ordinary as whole—encountering Jesus complete, not through a seasonal lens. QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 16, 2025Liturgical Season: 33rd Sunday...
Shaking Before the Feast Tomorrow is the Feast of the Assumption, and I'm struggling. Here I am with a blog called "Full-of-Grace," somehow connected to Mary, and yet as this huge feast approaches,...
A reflection on relationships found and lost on pilgrimage, and the beautiful journey to finding true love Walking Toward Truth Instead of Escape Six years ago, on what started as an ordinary June...
Three Mothers at the Heart of Resurrection Today I'm traveling back to Poland on Mother's Day – May 26th in our Polish tradition. As I journey home, I'm reflecting on three mothers who have shaped...
Airport musings after a shortened Camino The Comedy of Errors Picture this: a peaceful pilgrim, fresh from three nights in Santiago de Compostela, checking out of their hostel before 10 AM with the...
A Santiago Pilgrimage Reflection Faith is often less about movement and more about stillness. Today, my second day in Santiago de Compostela, I discovered this truth through four hours spent within...
Santiago de Compostela - Day 15 Today I write from Santiago de Compostela, not having walked the complete path as planned, but arriving nonetheless with a heart full of wonder. The pilgrimage called...
Cardañuela-Riopico to Burgos - 8 kilometers I woke in the albergue to the most restful sleep I've had in two weeks. Perhaps it's the lightness that comes with a difficult decision finally made -...
The Unexpected For days, the question has followed me like a shadow on this Camino journey: Should I continue to Santiago or listen to my body's increasing protests? The recurring infection, the...
Searching Gentleness Last night, as darkness settled over Grañón, we gathered in the choir of San Juan Bautista church. Through a secret passage from the albergue, we entered the silent sanctuary,...
Morning Challenges Morning broke in Najera with the weight of yesterday's mistakes still lingering. The sun had not yet fully risen as I set out, my feet speaking their own language. A new blister...
The Joy of Return to the Camino The morning sun rose with promise as my feet carried me forward along the Camino. After three nights of forced rest in Logroño, battling illness and fever, my body...
Fever Recovery in Logroño and Finding the Pilgrim Spirit Once More The drenched pillows speak of fever's night visit – my body, a furnace that consumes itself. Sweat-soaked blankets twisted into...
Unexpected Pause on the Camino Frances Today, I am writing from the same place as yesterday—a hotel room in Logroño. This was not the original plan. Yesterday, I barely managed to walk those few...
A personal reflection from the pilgrim's path Today, I lie in a hotel bed with fever, my walking pilgrimage temporarily paused. Yet somehow, in this enforced stillness, I feel closer than ever to...
Los Arcos to Logroño - A day of listening to my body's wisdom Today marked my seventh day on the Camino de Santiago, a day unlike any other on this pilgrimage. Not for its beauty or challenge, but...
Discovering Our True Journey In walking the Camino de Santiago, I've been reflecting on what it truly means to be a pilgrim. Along the ancient stones of The Way, where countless feet have worn...
A Morning of Mindful Beginnings I woke naturally at 5:15, before my alarm, but embraced a new approach today: not rushing. I remembered Lizzie, a colleague with whom I worked in a nursing home in...
Early Morning Struggles and the Pilgrim's Call to Transcendence I woke before my alarm today, at quarter past five, my body somehow knowing the journey ahead demanded these early stolen moments....
From Dawn's First Light to Detours: Pamplona to Zariquiegui The fourth day of my Camino journey led me from Pamplona to Puente la Reina, a day marked by detours, reflections, and an unexpected...
Restless Beginnings There's something deeply humbling about walking a path that millions have trodden before. As I make my way through the third day of my Camino journey, I'm reminded that some...
The darkness surprised me as I set out at 6:10 this morning, a stark contrast to my June Camino of 2019 when the early hours were already bathed in light. Thankful for the small lamp affixed to my...
First Day on the Camino Frances: Crossing the Pyrenees The Scent of the Camino: Memories Reawakened What struck me in the morning was that familiar scent—the fragrance of aloe vera mingling with...
The Pilgrim Returns: Beginning the Camino Francés Again The Camino begins again, though in truth, it never really ended. Today I stand in Saint Jean Pied de Port, the traditional starting point of...
Walking Unbound They say the Camino begins the moment you close your door behind you, not when you reach Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port. So my pilgrimage started with a flight from Olsztyn Mazury Airport...
Third Sunday of Advent: When & Where We Are in the Scripture Sunday, December 14, 2025 | Third Sunday of Advent, Year A The Readings First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 146:6-10Second Reading: James 5:7-10Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11 This Sunday - Gaudete Sunday, "Rejoice Sunday" - stands as the rose-colored candle in our Advent wreath, a flicker of joy in the midst of purple penitence. But what kind of joy? What kind of...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C) Readings: First Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3...
If there were no Sunday obligation this year—no hell threat, no requirement—would we still come? Would we still show up to encounter God in our emptiness, or are we mostly trying to look like a...
There's a question haunting this Gospel: What happens Monday morning? The tax collector went home justified. And then what? Did he go back to the booth, back to neglecting widows and orphans, back...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9 The Night That Changed Everything When & Where: Written around 50 BC by an Alexandrian Jew reflecting on the Passover...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? A Jarring Shift: After last Sunday's tender invitation to call God "Abba, Daddy" in the Lord's Prayer, this week's readings might feel like spiritual...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? After last week's readings following Moses through the desert, this Sunday takes us on a dramatic leap backward—almost 2,000 years before Christ—to...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 7, 2025Liturgical Season: Second Sunday of Advent, Year AReadings: Isaiah 11:1-10 | Psalm 72 | Romans 15:4-9 | Matthew 3:1-12Theme: Baptism calls us out of hiding to inhabit the impossible—a world where God's breath fills everything and no one has to pay the cost anymore. WHERE ARE WE? In the Foreground: Isaiah's Impossible Vision Wolf with lamb. Baby at the cobra's den. The lion eating straw like an ox....
QUICK REFERENCE December 21, 2025 | Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)Liturgical Color: Violet/Purple (Rose may have been used on Gaudete Sunday)Fourth Advent Candle: Angel's Candle / Love CandleUSCCB...
Entering the Season of Threefold Coming Advent begins. But not as our culture often imagines it - not primarily as a countdown to Christmas, not as premature celebration with nativity scenes and...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)Readings: USCCB Lectionary #162 One-Sentence...
"Ordinary" doesn't mean "less important." It means ordinary as whole—encountering Jesus complete, not through a seasonal lens. QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 16, 2025Liturgical Season: 33rd Sunday...
The Pharisee isn't a cartoon villain. He's exhausted. He's been showing up faithfully for YEARS while others flake. He fasts twice a week—do YOU? He tithes on everything—do YOU? His resentment...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: December 7, 2025 Liturgical Season: Second Sunday of Advent, Year A Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10 | Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 | Romans 15:4-9 | Matthew 3:1-12 One-Sentence Theme: Baptism calls us out of hiding to believe the impossible—that we can inhabit a realm where no one has to pay the cost anymore, where God's breath fills everything, and death itself is undone. THE READINGS IN CONTEXT First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10...
Third Sunday of Advent: When & Where We Are in the Scripture Sunday, December 14, 2025 | Third Sunday of Advent, Year A The Readings First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10Responsorial Psalm: Psalm...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: November 23, 2025Liturgical Season: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C) Readings: First Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3...
If there were no Sunday obligation this year—no hell threat, no requirement—would we still come? Would we still show up to encounter God in our emptiness, or are we mostly trying to look like a...
There's a question haunting this Gospel: What happens Monday morning? The tax collector went home justified. And then what? Did he go back to the booth, back to neglecting widows and orphans, back...
QUICK REFERENCE Date: October 19, 2025 (Note: Date will vary each year) Liturgical Season: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 | Psalm 121 | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 | Luke...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9 The Night That Changed Everything When & Where: Written around 50 BC by an Alexandrian Jew reflecting on the Passover...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? A Jarring Shift: After last Sunday's tender invitation to call God "Abba, Daddy" in the Lord's Prayer, this week's readings might feel like spiritual...
Quick Overview: Where Are We in the Bible? After last week's readings following Moses through the desert, this Sunday takes us on a dramatic leap backward—almost 2,000 years before Christ—to...
