Joy In The Journey

  We just finished our first newsletter and are excited to share an invitation to join us on a weekly journey of faith.   We wrote this newsletter to share our faith, hope, hearts, and our trust in the Lord and His unfailing goodness and grace, even when we haven't been able to see it at the time. Maybe its something that resonates with you, maybe it not. Either way it's our hope and our prayer, that sharing the lives of the Saints, prayers, reflections and stories is a reminder of how God's goodness and grace is all around us always, in people, places, nature, in the quiet and in the chaos and difficult times. And every day we continue to be reminded at how present He is in every circumstance bringing hope, joy, peace, comfort, conviction and sweet remembrances, often in unexpected places along our journey. This link Hearts Rosary Newsletter  will bring you right to the newsletter. If want to receive future newsletters in your inbox, you can subscribe on the websit...

  I was thinking back to when I was a kid in my parents kitchen and the many different kinds of foods that to me were just the fixings for another meal, but as I got older learned that was not the case for many of my friends.   When I was a kid, after it rained my mom would go out in the yard and look for snails, and at least one a week she would to out and forage chicory and dandelion greens.  I recall one afternoon some friends and I were playing outside in the yard and my mom came out and she was picking chicory and dandelion greens and putting them in the fold of her apron as she bent over and pull the greens from the ground. My friends were so curious, with wide eyes they asked what is your mom doing? I responded nonchalantly, getting stuff for making salad.  That was common place in our Italian kitchen, no so much for my friends. But my young friends who were open and adventurous loved whatever my mom and dad served at our table.  I was never a big fa...

One of the readings I did this morning reminded me of 1 Chronicles 16:11 "Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His presence continually." In this season of my life, and my recovery journey I am reminded every moment of every day how much I rely on Jesus and seek His presence daily in joy and in pain.    It was a rough night I got about 2 1/2 hours sleep and was up at 1:30 am and I was unable to get back to sleep.  I was hoping to make the sunrise, but I am moving a bit slower these days and ended up missing the sunrise by a 7 minutes. But what a blessing when I opened the around 6:20 am to a beautiful cool morning breeze.  And I am so grateful that I got to enjoy that cool breeze in the Backyard Oasis with my readings and meditations and a  delicious iced espresso. I got in a little PT with a light walk around the vegetable garden, grape arbor and rose gardens and picked our first roma tomato and a few roses for the Blessed Mother.   A start to a beaut...

  These are pictures from an afternoon visit to the Eremo di San Bartolomeo in Legio (The Hermitage of San Bartolomeo in Legio) a place I dream of returning and brining my beloved to share the experience with me. The afternoon we visited in 1998 my heart was heavy with grief from the loss  of my mother, my best friend who went to glory less than a year before. Grief that was hard to work through because I was also dealing withe reality of a difficult and dangerous situation at home.  Being in Italy with my family was a brief respite from the situation I was dealing with at home.  I don't mean to be cryptic, that is a story in itself for another day. i traveled from Boston to Rome and my dad, my two sisters, each with one of their daughters and my sister-in-love and her and my brothers son all few in from Texas.  We were going to visit our family in Italy and to make a family pilgrimage in honor of my mother who recently passed to her and our family's patron Sain...

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis It is hard for me to imagine what Jesus endured when he was sent back to Pilate and the crowd was given the choice of Barnabas or Jesus and they chose our innocent Jesus yelling "Away with him, Away with him, Crucify him"  Thomas Kempis writes "Lord Jesus Christ, my Friend, in your abundant charity I ask you to enkindle in my heart the grace of genuine compassion for your sufferings." And today that is my prayer too!   Today's reading from "Jesus Listens" by Sarah Young also resonated with me today and I love the last line of her sharing "Lord, teach me how to trust in you at all times and in all circumstances."  It reminds me of Job and it's my recurring theme in my continuous rounds of the Surrender Novena!!

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis In this chapter, Jesus is brought before Herod who was once fascinated with Jesus and wanted Jesus to perform a miracle and when Jesus didn't comply he threw a tantrum and sent Jesus back to Pilate.  Can you even imagine what our Lord endured. I can't. He was interrogated, mocked and brutalized suffering through so much pain, hatred and evil treatment and all the while conducting himself with so much humility and patience.  

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis Gave myself some grace yesterday, I was having a tough day, my back and the pain radiating down my leg was more intense than usual. I think my nerves ae starting to wake up and some days are better than others and yesterday not my best. So I decided not to post on my vlog and to do reflections on both chapters today! This book is drawing me in and helping me to see our Lord’s Passion in a way I’ve never experienced before. The details are graphic in ways we don’t often read or experience Jesus’s Passion, His love, His sacrifice and all that He endured for me is overwhelming and makes me want to draw closer and closer to His Sacred Heart that burns with love for me. And at the same time it wounds my soul that people can be so cruel and heartless to have treated Jesus they way they did. Fear, pride and insecurities ruled them and it makes me pause to examine my own fears, insecurities ...

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis I was mulling over what to say, lost for words after reading Chapter 9, and heartbroken at what Jesus endured for love of me/us. When I shared what I was reading and Jesus's example of meekness and humility in the face of such malice, hatred and brutality my beloved reminded me of a quote from St. John of the Cross "Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent." That my friends says it all!

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis Saint Peter denied Jesus three times as Jesus foretold.  The takeaway I got from this chapter was that when Peter fell, he quickly rose again.  That is key for me, I fall all the time, I fail all the time, but the key is to acknowledge my failings, repent when I have done or said something that I shouldn't have, hold myself accountable and quicky make things right asking the Lord for His grace.  Sometimes I can get caught up in self-doubt and insecurity and dwell in the muck, that's not what Jesus wants for me.  He wants me to take responsibility, make amends, brush it off and rise back up quickly keeping my focus on Him.  His grace is abundant!

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis How do I respond when met with accusations, lies and cruelty. Today's chapter 7 reflects on Jesus before Annas the high priest gives me a clear model to follow. Jesus ever calm in spirit and speech is gentle in his response to such cruelty. it is a reminder to me to some soul searching on how I react and my response when I’m met with tribulations, unkindness and cruelty. This journey with Thomas Kempis is challenging in a tough but good way, as it has me questioning my responses and is encouraging me to examine things I don't necessarily think about but that are helpful in my journey towards self knowledge. It is also difficult to read in that it paints the unsensitized and brutal picture of what our Lord endured for my sake at the hands of those He created.

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis I’m only on Chapter 6, but the deeper I get into this book, the more my eyes are open to Jesus and His Passion in a way I have never experienced before. Thomas Kempis has a way of writing and sharpening the lens of focus on the Lords Passion that gives way to different perspectives and insights that I had never thought of. And the more I read the more I find that this book is the perfect accompaniment for me this Lenten season.

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis One of the thing that really jumped out at me in this chapter is how compliant, meek and humble our Lord is to those who are treating him so horribly. Jesus chose to suffer such cruelty to give us an example of meekness and to fulfill Isaiah’s clear prophecy in Isaiah 53:7

Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis I am loving my walk this Lent with this book.  Today was about the betray of Jesus by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane.  And a powerful reminder to me of the model Jesus has given me in bearing with my trials and with those who have betrayed, slandered and hurt me and the ones I love.  The take away for me today is praying for greater patience, His patience and His grace to have the desire to endure even greater trials for love of Jesus.

  Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis I received so many nuggets of wisdom in today's chapter.  Trust, surrender seeking the Lord in all things and striving to follow His Will.  I am still mulling over it and I'm praying for His grace to lead me and help me follow and to redirect my path when I veer off course.  

  Musings "On the Passion of Christ" According to the Four Evangelists by Thomas Kempis My take away from today's chapter is that Jesus experienced sorrow and fear.  He is good Shepherd and in this way, he is modeling a way for us to follow Him in every step of our sorrows, trials, anxiety and whatever we come up against, to dive deeper into His great love for us, so that I and we can find a healing remedy for our souls.

  It's Ash Wednesday and this year I am praying for a consistent walk through these 40 days! I am reading the " On the Passion of Christ " by Thomas A, Kempis and already in the first chapter I am convicted of how much I need to ask Jesus to instill the virtue of meekness in my heart in greater abundance. Without Jesus's grace, His peace, His love, His joy, I cannot have true peace of heart and soul and love as He loved. So day 1 and found my first virtue to work on - Meekness. And I was also reminded me to be more consistent in praying the Hearts Rosary Prayer where on the Our Father beads we ask " Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Your Heart, and have mercy on me ." My friends, I have learned and am learning still on my journey to ask, to seek and I will find. Last year I started out reading this book and I got a few chapters in and stopped so I was committing myself to start and finish it this Lent . Last year I didn...

I am  grateful for this time of recovery from my surgeries, it’s given me an opportunity to be still and to find ways to draw closer to Jesus!! Through the pain, hardships and challenges His grace, peace, love and joy have helped me to be more mindful of keeping my focus on Him from whom all good things come!! Because when I take my focus off of Jesus and put it on the storms of life, there is no peace. It is in Him that I find peace and the strength to weather the storms.

Today is the Feast day of our Lady of Lourdes!! I’ve ben celebrating since 3:33 am. I didn't plan it that way today. But all I can say is that one of the fruits of this long recovery and challenges I’ve had from these two spine sugeries has been a beautiful opportunity for me to draw closer to Jesus and His mother. Truly it Is His grace. So this morning I woke up looked at the clock and wanted to turn around and go back to sleep but something stirred in me and so I put on my prayer routine on Hallow and snuggled back under the warm covers to listen and pray and accepted that I might just fall back asleep and I was okay with that. But that's not what happened. At the end of my first routine I pray the Rosary. And as I have been doing, I go to Lourdes Live TV and the grotto to pray the rosary and since it was the last day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes I planned to do my novena there as well. Since our pilgrimages there last year I have been going Live to Lourdes and M...

" but he said to me, “ My   grace   is   sufficient   for   you ,  for   my  power  is  made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of  my  weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For  the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities;  for  when I am weak, then I am strong. "                                                                                                                 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 I received a reminder this morning when I picked up the calendar that I have had for years called Jesus Today by Sarah Young that has a ...

  The nuggets from Sunday's Gospel from Matthew 5:13-16 and the reflections from the homily's I heard  were about wasted potential and being who I was created to be, a bold and authentic witness to the to the glory of God.  Boy do I have a long way to go, but just diving deeper into His word, ruminating on what I read and heard yesterday has been with me all day today as well.  Lots of food for thought for me for sure, and maybe some changes that I can work into my Lenten journey next week.....

  My second go to aside from the Holy Bible is "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas Kempis. There is so much wisdom in those pages!

  Today's ruminating reminded me to snuggle up next to Jesus when I'm feeling anxious, worried or afraid and soak in His peace

  Ruminating today on what I heard on Hallow this morning about St. Magdalena Son So-Byok, a Korean mother and martyr who declared "My life is not mine, I cannot deny my God to save my life" and has also been quoted as saying “If I have to die for God, who decides life and death, I will gladly die. But I cannot betray him”.

  Nothing like  an major snow storm to start my day in the wee hours of the morning Anyone else having a busy snow day….in my work there is no such thing so I got an early jump on the day and now I’m taking some time to share what I needed to hear to slow my roll, before I head back into snow day madness!! Maybe someone else needs to hear it to!!

Walk by Faith, not by sight