Journeying With The Saints: Recent Episodes

Amy Thomas

Journeying with the Saints is a podcast that picks a Saint for a year to walk with through their writings. Each week, there will be a short reading and then a reflection. This podcast helps to move through the writings of the Saints and understand how their wisdom applies to our lives today. Each Saint has a unique insight into living out the Catholic Faith well and a deep understanding of how to draw closer to Christ. This podcast offers a great opportunity to learn from them.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Another short reading on time and it's a continuation of what we read about yesterday.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Sixteen on page 266.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, is a little bit longer reading and it's not complicated, it's just that St. Augustine is going to say past, present, and future a lot. What he is saying, though, is very interesting, so don't get scared off. Just take in what he is trying to convey.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Fifteen on page 264.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine is going to get very philosophical on us today when it comes to thinking about time.

And now is the time to read from Book Eleven, Chapter Fourteen on page 263.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine wants us to be very clear that there is no time for God. He is outside time.

Let's here his thoughts as we read from Book Eleven, Chapter Thirteen on page 262.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Short reading today on how to handle people that are asking questions about God.

We will be reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Twelve on page 262.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for coming to join me today. We are going to be hearing more about eternity and in my reflection, I'm going to have to appeal to people smarter than me.

First, though, let's read our short reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Eleven on page 261.

Jimmy Akin Article

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Before time began and space was created, what was God doing? Relaxing? Pondering? Drawing up the diagram for creation? The answer—none of these. St. Augustine is going to talk about how it's wrong to think of God in this way.

Let's open to page 261 to read from Book Eleven, Chapter Ten.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine is going to talk today about how it is the Lord that rescues us and, so, that is what we will discuss.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Nine on page 260.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Today, St. Augustine will touch on one of the teachings of our faith that I find the hardest to wrap my mind around. That is—how Jesus is the Word.

Let's see what we can learn by opening to page 259 to read from Book Eleven, Chapter Eight.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. The things that St. Augustine is talking about in this book are the things that just fascinate me. Those things being what was going on before time and space. What actually is eternity? When God speaks, what does that mean exactly?

All fascinating things which we are reading about today in Book Eleven, Chapter Seven on page 259.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. When God speaks, things happen and that's what we are going to hear about today.

Please open to Book Eleven, Chapter Six on page 258.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another really important reading today. We need to talk about the Big Bang Theory and, no, I'm not talking about the TV show.

Let's get started by opening to Book Eleven, Chapter Five on page 257.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are gonna nerd out just a bit on St. Thomas Aquinas. Don't panic. Hopefully, I can explain things in laymen's terms, but it's good to stretch our minds a bit.

Let's read from Book Eleven, Chapter Four on page 256.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thanks for coming back and hitting play. We are diving into Genesis today, so I invite you to sit at the feet of teacher St. Augustine and learn something new.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Three on page 256.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Today, I want you to view our entire reading as a beautiful prayer, because, well, that is what it is. It is a prayer to the Father and it can be our prayer, too.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Two on page 253.

Well, hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to Book Eleven. There are 31 chapters in this book, so not as long as Book Ten.

This book will be an exploration of Genesis. Now, you may be thinking, "Oh, I've heard Genesis a million times. I know it." But, I encourage you to learn from St. Augustine and see what his mind can teach you.

With that, let's open to Book Eleven, Chapter One on page 253.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our last reading from Book Ten. This was a long book and I think you for hanging in there with me.

Let's finish out Book Ten by reading from Chapter Forty-Three on page 250.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope this is a good day for you. This is the second to last reading from Book Ten, so you've really come a long way. Nice job!

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Forty-Two on page 250.

Well, hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Okay, so another short day, which is good for all you busy people out there.

We will jump right into Book Ten, Chapter Forty-One on page 249.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are starting to wind down this Book, so some of what we are going to read about is St. Augustine summarizing a little bit, the path that he took purge away a lot of sins. The reflection may not be suitable for young ears.

Let's read from Book Ten, Chapter Forty on page 248.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. We have another short reading on the temptation to be self-complacent.

Please open to page 248 to read from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Nine.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. After a few days of longer readings, today is very short. It's a continuation of yesterday's reading on the praise of men.

Let's open to page 247 to read from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Eight.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Why do we like the praises of men so much? I think it's because we are communal beings and we desire to belong. St. Augustine is going to talk more about how hard it is to let go of desiring the praises of men.

Let's open to Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Seven on page 245.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. To be feared or loved by men. I think it's something that we all struggle with in some capacity.

Let's hear what St. Augustine has to say about it by reading from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Six on page 244.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. What is the sin of curiosity? Aren't we supposed to be curious? Well, let's see what St. Augustine has to say.

Please open to page 241 where we will be reading from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Five.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is about our eyes and our sight. Our discussion afterwards will not be kid appropriate, just as a head's up.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Four on page 239.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to hear a lot about music today in our reading. Everyone has an opinion on music, so let's see what St. Augustine has to say.

Please open to page 238 to read from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Three.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. We have a short reading today on page 237, reading from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Two.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Do you like to eat? I bet you do. And I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I do, too. Today's reading is all about gluttony.

So, grab your books and open to page 234 to read from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-One.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, St. Augustine is going to be talking more about overcoming his lustful ways, so I would caution about having young ears in the vicinity.

We must talk about these things, because they are real struggles and to ignore them is not helpful. We all know someone that struggles with lust.

So, let's turn to Book Ten, Chapter Thirty on page 233.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have another bite-sized reading today. Today's reading isn't too adult in theme, but I would maybe caution listening around young ears.

Let's open our books to page 233 and read from Book Ten, Chapter Twenty-Nine.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. How is your day going? It is crazy windy here and has been for days and, frankly, I'm tired of it.

Wind or no wind, we must carry on. We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter 28 on page 232.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we get to hear a short reading about one of the transcendentals—beauty.

Let's open to Book Ten, Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 231.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to another short reading today.

Let's open to page 231 and read from Book Ten, Chapter Twenty-Six.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine basically asks the question I asked yesterday. Where in the memory is God? How is the understanding of Him stored?

Let's hear about that on page 230, reading from Book Ten, Chapter Twenty-Five.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Another very short reading today.

Let's open to page 230 and read from Book Ten, Chapter Twenty-Four.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. If there is any chapter to take and use it as a litmus test for our culture, this is the chapter.

I'm anxious to get into it, so let's open to Book Ten, Chapter 23 on page 229.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today that is a continuation of yesterday's reading.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Twenty-Two on page 228.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Can people really find joy in shameful things? Some will say that they can, but we'll discuss on the other side of our reading.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Twenty-One on page 227.

Reading of "Hint of an Explanation" by Graham Greene

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are finally getting a glimpse into why St. Augustine has been talking so much about memory today. He's going to touch on happiness and how it is that we know what that is. Is it stored in our memory? It's a very very interesting reading and I think you're going to enjoy hearing his insights.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Twenty on page 226.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Nineteen on page 225.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Very short reading today on lost things.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Eighteen on page 224.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope all is going well out there for you and I hope that you are enjoying this book. I know I am and I'm so happy that we are reading it this season.

Let's get going and open to page 223 and read from Book Ten, Chapter Seventeen.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

St. Augustine is still contemplating memories and he is really thinking hard on all of this. I'm curious to see where he is headed with this in depth analysis of memories, but I do trust that he is going somewhere.

We are reading today from Book Ten, Chapter Sixteen on page 222.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Super short reading today, where St. Augustine is basically just going to summarize all that he's been talking about with regards to memory.

Since there isn't much new here to cover, we will just read and leave it there for today.

We will be reading from Book Ten, Chapter Fifteen on page 221.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Today is all about feelings held in our memory and I think you'll find it very interesting.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Fourteen on page 220.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have another super short reading today, which we will get right into.

Please open to page 219 to read from Book Ten, Chapter Thirteen.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Who likes math? You? Me? No, I'm not that big of a fan. My husband? Loves it. He loves numbers and greek letters and equations and all that math-y stuff.

We have a short reading today where St. Augustine talks about numbers.

Our reading is from Book Ten, Chapter Twelve on page 219.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Today, St. Augustine will expound more on the amazing abilities of humans. Our ability to hear sounds, that form words, and understand that those words have meaning is truly remarkable.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Ten on page 217.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have another interesting reading on memory again, focused primarily on having to re-learn things that we've neglected to think about for a time.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Eleven on page 218.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are hearing more about the incredible things our minds can do. This is important, because it shows the faculties that God gives us in order to help us come to know and understand Him, at least in some small way.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Nine on page 216.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. In continuation of yesterday, St. Augustine is going to be talking about how we humans have the amazing ability to hold things in our memory.

Have you ever thought about how fascinating it is that we have memories? Well, if you haven't thought about, you will after this reading.

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Eight on page 214.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a short reading today and we will go ahead and jump right in.

Please open to Book Ten, Chapter Seven on page 213.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. What does it mean to love God? We will discuss this after our reading.

Please open to page 211 where we are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Six.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome.

We have a short reading today all about self-knowledge.

Let's open to Book Ten, Chapter 5 on page 210.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope you are having a good day out there.

We are going to head right into the readings by opening to page 209 and reading from Book Ten, Chapter Four.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Can our conversion story help others? Sure it can. I have no doubt that St. Augustine's confessions have helped countless people. But, we aren't required to share it.

Let's read from Book Ten, Chapter Three on page 208.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Confession, confession, confession. That is our topic today.

Let's open to Book Ten, Chapter Two on page 207.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to Book Ten. If you have the reading schedule for this book that I made, you will see that Book Ten has 43 chapters. That may seem daunting, but most of the chapters are very short.

You've made it more than halfway, so just realize that you've come a great distance with this book, probably farther than most. So, I thank you for continuing on with me.

From here on out, we are going to be a lot of teaching from St. Augustine. That's important, because I think we need to see how far he comes in his understanding of God and the Catholic Faith. For the most part, it will all be in digestible pieces that I don't think will overwhelm.

With that said, let's read our very short chapter today by opening to Book Ten, Chapter One on page 207.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the last reading from Book Nine. This has been a full book: We've had the baptism of St. Augustine, he quits his job, his mother gets sick right before leaving for Africa, and then she dies.

Our reading today is the prayer of a son praying for his mom's soul, it's a beautiful reading.

Go ahead and open to page 203 where we will read from Book Nine, Chapter Thirteen.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me. We have a longer reading today where we will hear about how St. Augustine is trying to hold it together after his mother's death.

There will be a part in Latin that is an evening prayer written by St. Ambrose. Instead of me stumbling through it, I will play it being sung by a choir at a Benedictine Abbey in Germany. They do a much better job that I could ever do.

With that, let's read from Book Nine, Chapter Twelve on page 200.

Sung Ambrose Evening Hymn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjzwxCy-ksk

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will be at the deathbed of St. Monica as she declares her wishes to her sons. Yes, I said sons. We will be introduced to St. Augustine's brother.

We are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Eleven on page 199.

Article on the Basilica of St. Augustine

https://www.oursundayvisitor.com/praying-at-the-tomb-of-st-monica/

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we have an endearing moment between St. Augustine and his mom.

Let's hear what they are talking about as we read from Book Nine, Chapter Ten on page 196.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to hear more about St. Monica's good virtues today and there's lots to talk about, so let's get started.

We are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Nine on page 194.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a sad reading today, as we will hear that St. Monica has passed away.

We are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Eight on page 192.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Today, in our reading, it's almost like St. Augustine is just gushing with all the news of the day. We are going to get all kinds of information about what is going on in the Christian world of Milan. I think you'll find it very interesting.

We are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Seven on page 191.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is the day when we read about St. Augustine baptism. We are also going to hear about Adeodatus, St. Augustine's son. We haven't really heard much of anything about him, so I think you will be interested in this short reading.

We are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Six on page 190.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we hear about how St. Augustine is leaving his job and he reaches out to St. Ambrose for some advice on Scripture.

We are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Five on page 189.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have quite possibly our longest reading today in the book. It's not deep theology or anything like that, so don't be scared away.

Since it is quite long, for times sake, I won't give a reflection. It's pretty self-explanatory.

So, with that said, we are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Four on page 185.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We will hear today about St. Augustine's friend, Vercundus. He wants to be a Christian, but doesn't really feel like he can because he is married. He feels that his marriage keeps him from living a true Christian life.

So, let's talk about vocations, shall we? We are reading from Book Nine, Chapter Three on page 183.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will hear about how St. Augustine is trying to work out when is the best time to leave his position as teacher.

Let's see what he thinks by turning to page 182 and reading from Book Nine, Chapter Two.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to Book Nine. This Book only has thirteen chapters in it, so not too long.

So, let's kick off this book by reading from Book Nine, Chapter One on page 181.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, the battle is won. We will hear today how St. Augustine's conversion is complete. He's not baptized yet, but he is ready to let go of his sins and live for God. Hallelujah!

Let's hear about this in our last reading from Book Eight, Chapter Twelve on page 177.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to our second to last reading in Book Eight which is from Chapter Eleven on page 175.

Let's jump in.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to our reading today. We will hear a lot about wills in our reading and it can be a bit confusing. So, I thought we'd go over some important Catholic teachings before we read this in order to get our minds in the right place.

I will read today and then be done to keep things short. We are reading from Book Eight, Chapter 10 on page 172.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. A bit of a shorter reading today. We are reading from Book Eight, Chapter Nine on page 172. This episode may not be suitable for young ears.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Whew, boy, St. Augustine is struggling in our reading today. Struggling with a capital S. What you are going to hear is a true battle between the flesh and the soul.

Let's go ahead and open to page 170 and read from Book Eight, Chapter Eight.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. I'm not positive, but I would say that we have nearly reached the climax of St. Augustine's conversion. He is going to express some hard truths today about how he saw himself as he hears Ponticianus talk about monks and how they renounced the world for the sake of God.

This is a very hard-hitting chapter, so let's open to Book Eight, Chapter Seven on page 169 and hear all about it.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a long reading today, so let's waste no time.

We are reading from Book Eight, Chapter Six on page 166.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. How's your day going? Good? I hope so.

St. Augustine is struggling. Struggling to give up the sin of lust. It's become such a habit now, he doesn't really know how to break the chains of the habit.

We will talk about that after our reading from Book Eight, Chapter Four on page 164.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

Power has a way of keeping us from God, but why is that? We'll discuss on the other side. We are reading from Book Eight, Chapter Four on page 163.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. Our reading is all about the lost and the found and how God rejoices when a lost sheep comes back to the fold.

We are reading from Book Eight, Chapter Three on page 161.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a bit of a longer reading today, so I want to jump right in. We are reading from Book Eight, Chapter Two on page 159.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to Book Eight. This book has fewer chapters than most, so we will move through it pretty quickly.

Today, we are introduced to Simplicianus. He is going to be another spiritual mentor to St. Augustine and I find it interesting that we hear a lot about St. Ambrose helping to guide Augustine into the Church, but we don't really hear the name Simplicianus. He became Bishop of Milan after Ambrose died, so it's not like he was just an ordinary layman. Regardless, we will hear about him today.

We are reading from Book Eight, Chapter One on page 157.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our last reading from Book Seven. St. Augustine starts to read the letters of St. Paul, so it will be interesting to hear what he thinks. We are reading from Book Seven, Chapter Twenty-One on page 155.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Only two more readings from Book Seven. As we round out this book, remember that St. Augustine is walking us through the slow, oftentimes painful, path of how he finally comes to the fullness of truth in the Catholic Church.

With that in mind, let's open to page 154 and read from Book Seven, Chapter Twenty.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another great day to read from St. Augustine. We have a lot to talk about so let's get started by opening to Book Seven, Chapter Nineteen on page 152.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's reading is just beautiful. I sat and tried and tried to think of how to reflect on it, but nothing was coming. I decided this meant that it needs no words from me.

Our reading today is all about Jesus and St. Augustine's discovery of Him. Let's just listen and let it sink in. We are reading from Book Seven, Chapter Eighteen on page 152.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I'm glad to have you with me today.

Our reading can be found on page 151 from Book Seven, Chapter Seventeen.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine has been kind to you for the past few days in giving shorter readings. St. Augustine is still working out his new—correct—understanding of evil, so we will hear more about that today.

We are reading from Book Seven, Chapter Sixteen on page 150.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today is another short reading from Book Seven, Chapter Fifteen on page 150.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today. We are reading from Book Seven, Chapter Fourteen on page 149.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day. Thank you for joining me in these, I would say, more difficult passages.

We are reading today from Book Seven, Chapter Thirteen on page 148.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a dense reading today and to help us get our minds in the right place, I want to talk about it before we read it.

With that, let's read from Book Seven, Chapter Twelve on page 148.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is a big day! This is the 100th episode for Season Six. Crazy that we are already at 100. So, congratulations for showing up everyday.

We have a very short reading today, so let's get started by opening to page 147 to read from Book Seven, Chapter Eleven

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our reading today. Today's theme is all about light—specifically God as Light.

We are reading from Book Seven, Chapter 10 on page 146.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's reading is denser than others and I can see it being a hard one to get through if you don't know beforehand what you are reading. So, instead of my reflection at the end of the reading, I'll give it here to help you understand before we get started.

We will be reading from Book Seven, Chapter Nine on page 144.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. After some longer readings, we get a super short one today. So, let's jump into Book Seven, Chapter Eight on page 144.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine has dropped astrology, but he is still having a problem understanding the origin of evil.

Let's hear about this by reading from Book Seven, Chapter Seven on page 142.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. If you have your book in front of you, you know that we have a long reading today. And I have found that with these types of books, long readings can make you zone out. With novels, we can read many, many pages, but with theological books, we struggle to keep our focus.

Why is that? Well, because it's not riveting and there are no cliff hangers living you curious as to what happens next.

This is why I do my Seasons in bite-sized chunks. These types of books can't be devoured.

But, the good news is, is that this longer section isn't boring or tedious. At least, I don't think so. St. Augustine is going to explain to us how he came to leave astrology behind.

Let's get started by turning to page 139 and reading from Book Seven, Chapter Six.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, St. Augustine is struggling again with the problem of evil. It's a serious stumbling block for many people and not one we will fully understand in this life.

But, let's hear what he is thinking about in Book Seven, Chapter Five on page 138.

Welcome, welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. St. Augustine has got it right when he says that God is immutable, meaning unchanging. This is just one of the attributes of God.

We are reading today from Book Seven, Chapter Four on page 137.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Hello, out there. Hope you are are having a good day.

Why, oh why is there evil in the world? That is what St. Augustine is writing about today. Let's read on page 136 from Book Seven, Chapter Three.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Today, St. Augustine has a harsh name for the Manichees—frauds. We will talk about that after our reading.

We are reading from Book Seven, Chapter Two on page 135.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to Book Seven! There are Thirteen Books within "Confessions" and we are at Book Seven, which means that we are more than halfway through the Books.

Today is a bit longer, so let's get started by opening to Book Seven, Chapter One, on page 133.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome to our last reading from Book Six. Isn't that amazing? We are already done with six books.

Today, we will talk about Epicurus, a famous philosopher who lived from 270 BC to 341 BC. Let's hear about his beliefs by opening to page 131 and reading from Book Six, Chapter Sixteen.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. After yesterday's light-hearted reading, today is much more serious. Because Augustine is to be married, he has to let go of his long-time mistress. She goes back to Africa. And instead of trying to be chaste during this period of waiting, Augustine takes another mistress, which defeats the whole purpose of sending the other one away.

I imagine that these mistresses lived with him, especially his first mistress, because they had a son together. Because of the nature of the topic, I would caution having young ears around.

We are reading from Book Six, Chapter Fifteen on page 131.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine and his buddies are wishing to have basically a man cave in today's readings. This is a bit of a light-hearted reading and I think you'll get a kick out of a bunch of men, some married, all wanting to live in a space together so that they can have some peace.

We are reading from Book Six, Chapter Fourteen on page 130.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to hear how St. Augustine has proposed to a young lady in our reading today. Short reading today from Book Six, Chapter Thirteen on page 129.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope you are well wherever you are in the great wide world.

Today, I would caution about having younger ears around. We will be reading from Book Six, Chapter Twelve on page 128.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today in our reading, St. Augustine is going to let us in on the dialogue that went on in his head from age 19 to his present age of 30 here in Book Six. It's so interesting and I think you will find it very relatable. Just imagine Augustine with a cartoon angel on his right shoulder and a cartoon devil on his left.

We are reading from Book Six, Chapter Eleven on page 126.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you again for joining me. I hope you all know how much I love reading these works for you and for myself. It's truly a delight for me and I'm just grateful that you are listening.

Integrity is the word of the day so keep that in mind as we read from Book Six, Chapter 10 on page 125.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we are going to hear more about Alypius' story. If you remember yesterday, St. Augustine was telling us about how Alypius went to Rome before Augustine and he got caught up in the bloody arena spectacles. Today, we will go back a little further in time to when Alypius was still in Carthage. He gets accused of a crime and St. Augustine tells us the story.

We are reading from Book Six, Chapter Nine on page 123.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to hear more about Alypius today and his fall into grotesque entertainment. It can be tempting to listen to how he gets caught up in the bloody, immoral gladiator spectacles and think that we are safe from such debauchery. But…that's not true.

We will talk about this on the other side of our reading today from Book Six, Chapter Eight on page 121. Also, as a word of caution, today's reading is not appropriate for children.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Today, we hear the name of two friends of St. Augustine—Alypius and Nebridius. We will mostly hear about Alypius and how he became someone that St. Augustine wanted to rescue from a life of frivolous pursuits.

Let's hear about that in Book Six, Chapter Seven on page 120.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

God will often allow us to hit the bottom of the well before we can rise up out of it. That is exactly what you will hear about today in our reading. St. Augustine is at the bottom of the well, sunk in misery. He has chased all the things that he thought would make him happy and those things aren't working anymore.

Let's hear about this by turning to page 118, reading from Book Six, Chapter Six.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope the day is treating you well. Today, we hear from St. Augustine that he has come to prefer Catholic teaching. Yay! He's getting there. We hear about the conclusions he makes.

We are reading from Book Six, Chapter Five on page 116.

Blog on Christopher Columbus

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope all is well where you are. Today, we are going to hear about how St. Augustine had a lot of hang ups with Scripture because he thought all of it had to be taken literally. A lot of people believe this and it creates a lot of problems. So, that is what we will discuss on the other side.

Our reading today is found on page 115 and is from Book Six, Chapter Four.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, St. Augustine shares with us about how he was just looking for some time to spend one-on-one with St. Ambrose. Ambrose is a busy man, always reading, always receiving visitors, teaching, and preaching, and so, it's hard to find time to get an audience with him.

But, St. Augustine wants to and he goes and listens to his preaching and he finds that the Catholic Faith isn't what he had imagined in his head.

We are reading from Book Six, Chapter Three on page 113.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another great day. Today, we are going to hear about how St. Monica was told by St. Ambrose, who was bishop, to stop practicing a certain custom and she is obedient.

There's something really important about obedience that I want to talk about on the other side of our reading. We will be reading from Book Six, Chapter Two on 112.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have arrived at Book Six. Today, we are going to hear about how St. Augustine's mother, St. Monica, comes to Milan to be with him. She finds out that Augustine has left behind the Manichees and has been listening to Ambrose. She isn't super shocked by this news and continues to trust in God and have hope that He will lead Augustine into the fullness of the Catholic Faith.

We will be reading from Book Six, Chapter One on page 111.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we finish up Book Five. Again, congratulations on finishing another book. Progress is being made. At the beginning of Book Five, St. Augustine was in Carthage, then he moved to Rome, and we end this book with him in Milan. And it's in Milan that he meets St. Ambrose.

He gives us more insight into this initial thoughts on St. Ambrose here in the last chapter. We are reading from Book Five, Chapter Fourteen on page 108.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Ambrose shows up today! I think you are really going to enjoy this short reading where we hear about what St. Augustine initially thinks about St. Ambrose. We will be reading from Book Five, Chapter 13 on page 107.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Remember how St. Augustine wanted to teach in Rome because he heard that the students were less rowdy? Well, they are less rowdy, but they are quite dishonest and unscrupulous. Let's hear about this in Book Five, Chapter Twelve on page 106.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. After a couple of days of longer readings, today, we get a shorter one. St. Augustine has the desire to hear debates between Manichees and those that know Scripture well and, of course, that's a step in the right direction.

We will be reading form Book Five, Chapter 11 on page 105.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. So, St, Augustine heals up and lives to see another day. Remember, he is in Rome now and he shares with us how he is still lingering around with the Manichees, mostly because he just can't find any answers that are better. If you are confused by the beliefs he shares with us, well, I think that's the point. They are confusing. So, don't worry about trying to understand them.

We are reading from Book Five, Chapter 10 on page 103

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our reading today. St. Augustine has arrived in Rome and he is deathly ill. Let's hear about this by opening to Book Five, Chapter Nine on page 101.

Welcome Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will have read one hundred pages into the book, so congratulations on the milestone!

In our reading, we learn that St. Augustine is leaving Carthage for Rome, against his mother's wishes. Why is he leaving? Because of rowdy students. Yes, you heard that right. So, let's hear about this move to Rome by reading from Book Five, Chapter Eight on page 99.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It's a great day to read St. Augustine. We'll jump right into Book Five, Chapter Seven on page 98.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is such a good reading. So relevant to our times and it goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to humans and our struggles and the traps we fall into.

Let's go ahead and grab our books, open to page 96 and read from Book Five, Chapter Six.

Hello and welcome to another day. Again today, we are hearing about how things start to unravel for St. Augustine with regards to Manichaeism. We will find our reading on page 95, Book Five, Chapter Five.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to our reading today. Even if you know all the there is to know about the material world, can you be truly happy if you don't know God? St. Augustine says, "No" and I would have to agree.

We will be reading from Book Five, Chapter Four on page 94.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a bit of a longer reading today, so let's jump right in. We are reading from Book Five, Chapter Three on page 92.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for tuning in today. Have you ever been chased down by God after turning away from Him? Or do you pray that the "Hound of Heaven" will go after someone you love who has fallen away from the Faith? Well, if so, today's episode is for you.

We are reading from Book Five, Chapter Two on page 91.

Hound of Heaven Poem

Black Sheep Song

Welcome, welcome, to Book Five, Catholic Pilgrims. There are fourteen chapters in this book. We are going to hear about how St. Augustine moves to Rome, then he gets a professorship in Milan, and he will encounter St. Ambrose's sermons. So, that is going to be interesting to hear what he thought at first.

We are reading from Book Five, Chapter One on page 91.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome to our last reading from Book Four. You've completed four books and I hope that makes you feel like you are getting somewhere.

It's a longer reading today, so I want to go ahead and get started. We are reading from Book Four, Chapter Sixteen on page 87.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have two more readings from Book Four. Since time is precious and this is a little longer reading, let's get started. We are reading from Book Four, Chapter Fifteen on page 85.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It's another great day to read "Confessions." It's a bit longer today, so we are going to go ahead and get started. We are reading from Book Four, Chapter Fourteen on page 83.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are going to talk beauty and what it is and what it isn't. We will be reading from Book Four, Chapter Thirteen on page 83.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Imagine with today's reading, an older, wiser St. Augustine talking to a young person trying to show them the path to true happiness. We will be reading from Book Four, Chapter Twelve on page 82.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. How are you today? I hope you are well. Today, we are reading from Book Four, Chapter Eleven and we will find that on page 81.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, our reading isn't really a story about St. Augustine's life, it's more of an understanding of the reality of created things and how they all pass out of existence and on how are souls yearn for beautiful things. We will be reading on page 80 from Book Four, Chapter 10.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today. A bit of a continuation from yesterday's talk of friendship. We will be reading from Book Four, Chapter Nine on page 79.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine has moved to Carthage and things are starting to improve for him. We will be reading from Book Four, Chapter Eight on page 78.

Hello, my fellow Pilgrims. Welcome. St. Augustine's grief is overwhelming him and he is going to move from Thagaste to escape the pain of losing his friend. We will hear about this in Book Four, Chapter 7 on 78.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Our reading today is a good lesson on attachment and why it's harmful. We will be reading form Book Four, Chapter Six on page 77.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope the day is treating you well. We have a short reading today where St. Augustine talks about grief. We will find that in Book Four, Chapter Five on page 76.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It's good to have you with me today. We have a sad reading today. St. Augustine's good friend dies and the story is quite interesting. Let's hear about it by opening to Book Four, Chapter Four on page 75.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are going to hear about how, as a Manichee, St. Augustine was dabbling in astrology. So, once we are through reading, I thought it would be a good time to talk about what the Catholic Church teaches about astrology.

We will be reading from Book Four, Chapter Three and that is on page 73.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are going to hear for the first time about St. Augustine's mistress. I think that's one of the things most people know about him is that he had one and she bore him a son.

I think it will be good to hear about what was going on in his mind. Let's read from Book Four, Chapter Two which starts on page 71.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to Book Four. In this book, St. Augustine will be back in Thagaste his birth place and he becomes a teacher of rhetoric. What is a teacher of rhetoric you may ask? Well, rhetoric is the art, study, and practice of effective, persuasive communication through writing, speech, or images. This is a very Greek practice and we know that there was high hopes for Augustine to become a great speech giver. His parents were hoping for an excellent Ted Talker.

So, we will be reading from Book Four, Chapter One and that is on page 71.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Congratulations on finishing Book Three today! We are making headway and learning a lot from the Doctor. So, let's jump in by opening to page 69 and reading from Book Three, Chapter Twelve.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, St. Augustine is going to talk a lot about his momma, St. Monica. I know that many of you mothers out there have a deep devotion to her and I think you are going to enjoy hearing more about their relationship. We will be reading from Book Three, Chapter 11 on page 68.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. We have a short reading today that will make zero sense if you don't understand the teachings of Manichaeism. So, this is another one of those days where we are going to learn just a little bit before we read, so that you get what St. Augustine is saying.

Video:

https://youtu.be/IJJyuVn7nsw?si=20wKMPNKvQwCRZlr

Article:

https://www.monergism.com/manichaeism

Hello, my fellow Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we are reading from Book Three, Chapter Nine. Let's go ahead and open to page 66 and begin.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I get a lot of messages from people that have finished other seasons and they thank me for helping them to get through whatever book it is that they just finished. Most often, they tell me that they had tried to read the book before, but they had just sat down with it and tried to devour it and then got frustrated.

I completely understand this. It's how I felt when I first picked up St. Faustina's Diary. I just tried to hurry through it and nothing was sticking. I've found that reading these Saint books is like appreciating a fine glass of wine. You can't chug it, you need to sip and sit with it, enjoy conversation, think, ponder, and relish the complexity.

As we get into the book, the readings are going to get heavier, denser, more deep. We can't let that scare us away. Just trust the process of a little at a time, with a short reflection, and time to think.

Let's get started today reading from Book Three, Chapter Eight on page 64.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have such a good reading today. It's longer and meatier, but so very relatable. I don't want to waste time on this side, so let's get started by turning to 62 to read from Book Three, Chapter Seven.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to Book Three, Chapter Six. Today, we are going to do things a bit differently. I'm going to give my thoughts, or rather, a teaching, before the reading and not after.

The reason for this, is because St. Augustine is going to introduce us to his involvement with the Manichees and I think it's really important for us to understand who they were and what they were all about. If we don't understand Manichaeism this chapter isn't going to be vague and confusing.

Video on Manichaeism:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJJyuVn7nsw

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today is a very short reading, but we hear about how St. Augustine picks up the Bible to see what it's all about. We will be reading from Book Three, Chapter Five, and that is found on page 60.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are going to hear about a book that starts the change in St. Augustine's life. He is going to read "Hortensius" by Cicero, which means, "On Philosophy." So, it's a philosophy book. We'll talk more about it after our reading from Book Three, Chapter Four. Let's get started by turning to page 58.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome to our reading from Book Three, Chapter Three. Before we begin, I want to define a name that St. Augustine is going to use. He is going to call a group of people the "Wreckers." According to information on the internet, the Wreckers were "a group of rowdy, mischievous fellow students at Carthage who enjoyed harassing strangers and making fun of people for amusement, representing Augustine's youthful rebellious spirit and desire for belonging, even while he found their actions coarse. They weren't necessarily criminals but a gang of ruffians, the "frat boys" of their time, who reveled in breaking social norms and were a source of both shame and attraction for the young Augustine."

So, I just wanted to clear that up before we begin so that things make more sense. Let's hear about the Wreckers by turning to page 57.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our reading today. It's an interesting one, for sure. All about wanting to feel sorrow or pity. Let's hear what St. Augustine says by opening to page 55 and reading from Book Three, Chapter Two.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to Book Three. In this book, St. Augustine will share with us what happened when he went to Carthage. Let's open to page 55 and read from Book Three, Chapter One.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the final reading of Book Two. Congratulations on already finishing two sections of the book. We will be reading Chapter Ten on page 52.

Fellow Pilgrims, welcome. Today, we are reading from Book Two, Chapter Eight. Let's open to page 51 and begin.

Hello, and welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are reading from Book Two, Chapter Seven. That can be found on page 51.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, St. Augustine is exploring in more detail the reason why he stole the pears. Again, this is a great opportunity to look at sins we struggle with and ask God to open our minds as to why we cling to those sins.

We are reading from Book Two, Chapter Six. Please open to page 49.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome. Before we get started today, I want to give you just a quick bit of information so that the end of the reading makes sense.

Article on Catiline

Devil in the White City

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Well, today, we get the famous pear-stealing story. It's a short read, but we'll jump right into Book Two, Chapter Four by turning to page 47.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are getting a longer reading, but it's one where we really start to see how St. Augustine loses himself on the path of the world. We will read from Book Two, Chapter Three. Please open to page 45.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I'm glad to have you today. For this episode, I caution you about having sensitive ears present, as St. Augustine is going to talk about his fall into lust. We will be reading from Book Two, Chapter Two and that can be found on page 43.

Hello, catholic Pilgrims. Today is the last reading from Book One. I hope that you are enjoying reading "Confessions" so far. I know I am really enjoying it. It's not what I expected that's for sure. But, to finish Book One, let's open to page 40 and read Chapter 20.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Two more readings to go in Book One. What we will find is that St. Augustine starts to close down the time of his boyhood and begins the transition into the next book. We will be reading today from Book One, Chapter 19. Please open to page 39.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome. Today, we are reading from Book One, Chapter 17. A quick note on Juno before we begin, as St. Augustine will reference her. Taking from the internet, Juno was a hostile goddess and Aeneas's primary antagonist, driven by her long-standing hatred for the Trojans and her favoritism toward Carthage. She tries to prevent Aeneas from founding the city of Rome, which she knows will eventually destroy her beloved Carthage.

Hopefully, that will help put today's reading in context.

Let's go ahead and open our books to page 37.

Welcome, my fellow Catholics, welcome. Today, we are reading from Book One, Chapter 16. Let's open to page 36.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Another really short reading today. If you are hankering for the meatier stuff, just be patient, we'll get there. I promise. Today, we are reading from Book One, Chapter 15. Let's open to page 35.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. How curious are you to learn? St. Augustine shares a bit of insight into the fact that when we are forced to learn something, we lose our curiosity. Let's hear what he has to say by turning to page 35 to read from Book One, Chapter 14.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day with St. Augustine. Today, we learn that St. Augustine wasn't super thrilled to learn Greek. Can't say I blame him as it looks pretty hard. But, let's go ahead and hear what he has to say by turning to page 33 to read Book One, Chapter Thirteen.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Super short reading today and what we learn today from St. Augustine is that he did not like to study or do his lessons. Surprising coming from a Doctor of the Church. Let's go ahead and grab our books and open to page 32 to read from Book One, Chapter Twelve.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, St. Augustine is going to be telling us about how he was NOT baptized as a kid and that may be confusing to some of us given that his mother, St. Monica is a Saint. We will discuss it all on the other side of this reading. We are reading from Book One, Chapter 11 and we will begin on page 31.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is a short reading from Book One, Chapter 10. Let's go ahead and open to page 31.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to jump right in to Book One, Chapter Nine and we will find that on page 29.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We enter into St. Augustine's boyhood today where he talks about how he learned language. We'll be reading from Book One, Chapter Eight. Please open to page 29.

Welcome, my fellow Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. We will be reading from Book One, Chapter Seven, so let's grab our books and open to page 27.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are hearing about St. Augustine's infancy and he's got questions. Because, of course, he does. Let's grab our books and open to page 24 to Book One, Chapter Six.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are reading from Book one, Chapter Five. Go ahead and grab your books and we will begin on page 24.

Hello, hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Let's dive in today to Book one, chapter 4 and see what St. Augustine has to say.

CONFESSIONS READING SCHEDULE

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are reading from Book One, Chapter 3. Grab your book and open to page 22.

CONFESSIONS READING SCHEDULE

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are reading from Book One, Chapter 2. Please open to page 22.

CONFESSIONS READING SCHEDULE

Today, we are reading number one of Book one. Let's open to page 21 and begin.

CONFESSIONS READING SCHEDULE

Welcome to Season Six where we will be reading St. Augustine's "Confessions."

READING LIST

CONGRATULATIONS, Catholic Pilgrims! You finished Season Five with St. Frances Cabrini.

Thank you so much for joining along with me. It has been such a wonderful season and I couldn't do it unless people like you listened.

Today, I give my final thoughts and share with you who I will be reading for Season Six.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will read the Epilogue which happens to be the Catholic News report on Mother Cabrini’s death, life, and funeral.

We will simply read this news article about her today and just sit with the words and all that we have read this year. I won’t offer any reflection now, but will so in our final episode.

Please grab your books and open to page 347.

Well, Catholic Pilgrims, today we will finish the last letter. This has been a long one as we heard about Mother Cabrini’s travels around the western United States. It’s been interesting, at least for me, to hear about all the places she’s visited, because I’ve been to quite a lot of the same places. Currently, I live in California, not too far from Los Angeles. She’s, also, going to talk about Catalina Island in our readings today and my family went there awhile back to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.

But, after this reading, I’m going to give my reflection and I can’t ignore the elephant in the room anymore. Mother Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants. Immigration is a highly controversial issue right now in America and in Europe. So, we need to talk about it and we will at the end.

So, let’s go ahead and open our books to page 335 and start at the bottom paragraph.

TRENT HORN'S VIDEO

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. So, today we will read Part Two of our last letter. Mother Cabrini is filling in the students at the Teacher’s College in Rome about all that she has been up to and, man, was she traveling a lot.

This is a really interesting read and, for most of us, we will know a lot of the places she’s talking about. That is, if we’ve traveled much around the US.

Without saying much more, let’s go ahead and get started. We will begin on page 328 at the first full paragraph and end on page 335 at the end of the second paragraph. Let’s begin.

Alright, Catholic Pilgrims, this is the last letter. Since it’s longer, we are going to break it up into three parts. So, don’t worry, we still have five more episodes to go, including this one.

This letter to the Teacher’s College in Rome is twelve years before her death and three years before she is a naturalized citizen of the US. In what we read today, she’s going to talk a lot about her fellow Italian immigrants and you are going to hear some longing in her voice for her mother country—Italy. No matter where you roam, home is home.

What stands out to me about her writings today is that, oftentimes, we think the grass will be greener on the other side, and that obviously isn’t always the case. Sometimes it is, but not always.

We will begin Part One on page 321 and end for the day on page 328 at the first full paragraph. Grab your books and we’ll begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother Cabrini will finish telling the students in Rome about the opening of the hospital in Chicago. If you remember, last time, there was some worry it wouldn’t open on time, but it does. Lots of hard work went into making sure it opened on time, within regulations, and with everything being done well.

We will start on page 315 at the second paragraph. Let’s go ahead and begin.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we begin reading the second letter in the book to the Teacher’s College in Rome. This is written approximately one year after the last letter that we just read.

We are going to hear her describe the work being done on the hospital she founded in Chicago—Columbus Hospital. One of my followers on Facebook shared with us that he was born in that hospital. Sadly, it hospital no longer stands. Reading from online, “It closed in 2001 and was later demolished to make way for a high-rise condominium development called Park Michigan. The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, which was originally part of the hospital, was preserved and refurbished during the redevelopment and remains open to the public.”

So, if you are ever in Chicago, you can go visit the National Shrine of Saint Frances Cabrini. We’ve got three shrines dedicated to Mother Cabrini in the States—one in Colorado, one in New York, and one in Chicago. And, I’m sure there are numerous churches named after her.

Today, we will read Part One of this letter beginning on page 311 and ending on page 315 at the first full paragraph. Let’s go ahead and begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will be finishing up this first letter to the Teacher’s College in Rome, which means that I will have a short reflection when we are done.

Let’s go ahead and jump right in by opening to page 302 and starting on the second paragraph.

Catholic Answers Interview

EWTN Article

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Okay, today we begin reading the first of three separate letters written to the Teacher’s College in Rome.

I went to look up this college on the internet and here is some information that I found:

“Mother Cabrini established a Teacher’s College in Rome as part of her broader educational and missionary work. This college aimed to train teachers who would not only impart knowledge but also shape character and morals, reflecting her belief that education should reform manners and educate the heart.”

Today, we will read Part One of the letter, starting on page 297 and ending for the day on 302. Let’s go ahead and begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Last time, we read Part One of Chapter 14 and today we will read the second half. I mentioned last time that this was awesome for me to read, as I was just at Mother Cabrini's Shrine in Golden, Colorado.

I think you will like today’s reading; it has interesting bits of information about the conditions of the people in Colorado. After our reading, I will give my reflection, as this is the end of a letter.

Let’s go ahead and open our books to page 290 and start where it says “The diocese of Denver…”

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I’m glad to have you with me.

So, today, we are reading a letter that Mother Cabrini wrote to her daughters filling them in on the inauguration of the house in Denver. So, the Mother Cabrini Shrine right outside Denver is what she is referring to and it’s what I talked about yesterday in Episode 99.

I recently visited the Mother Cabrini Shrine and it is the site of the school and house that she started there. Like I said yesterday, it’s a very special place and if you get the chance, you should definitely go see it.

So, since this is a longer letter, we are going to break it up. Today, we will read Part One. Tomorrow, we will read Part Two. For today, we will start on page 285 and read to near the end of 290.

Let’s go ahead and get started by turning to page 285.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to the last reading from this voyage. This is actually the last letter we are going to read that is designated as being on a voyage from one place other than another.

Mother Cabrini is going to talk a lot about obedience. It’s something the Saints bring up pretty frequently. Humility and obedience are two of the virtues that Saints talk about all the time and it makes sense as they go hand-in-hand.

This particular letter, also, is incomplete, but we will end it and have a short reflection from me.

Let’s open to page 281.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims.

Fog has rolled in and the doctor on board feels terrible with seasickness. Mother Cabrini is not a sailor, she is an old pro on the sea. In fact, she’s told us many times that she feels best when on the sea, which is interesting for someone with a fear of water.

Let’s join her on this foggy day by turning to page 280.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Good to have you with me today.

After a short stop at a port in Ireland, Mother Cabrini is off to New York. Some of her Sisters fall ill to seasickness and, man, do I get that.

My family went to Catalina Island one year for our anniversary and you have to ride a boat to get there. So, we left the small port in LA and off we went. It’s about a 40-minute ride. Well, I was super worried that I was going to get sea sick, so I had heard that peppermint oil can help stave if off. There I was with my bottle of essential oil, just sniffing away at it. Whether it tricked my mind or it really worked, I didn’t get sea sick.

I even shared it with some other passengers. I wish I could give some to the poor Sisters in our reading today.

It’s a longer letter, so lets go ahead and get started. Please turn to page 274.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

Mother is in London and it just so happens that she is there right at the time when the ceremony for the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra is about to take place. Their coronation took place on August 9th, 1902, so you can see that she was there just days before. Naturally, the city of London is full of people.

King Edward and Queen Alexandra are the parents of King George VI who came after them. And, as we all know, King George VI was the father of Queen Elizabeth II who died three years ago at the time of this recording. She died in 2022. It’s crazy to think that much time has already passed.

Anyway, we have a short reading today and let’s begin by turning to page 273.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It is time to travel with Mother Cabrini from London to New York.

Today, in the letter, Mother Cabrini is going to make mention of persecutions happening in France to Catholics. I’m really only familiar with the French Revolution and the persecutions that happened then, but it’s 1902 in our reading for today. So, it can't be the French Revolution.

I went to look it up. Yes, between the years of 1900-1906, there was intense persecutions in France targeting the Catholic Church and specifically religious orders. It stems from a law passed in 1900 called the Associations Law of 1901. This law, passed because secularism was on the rise and anti-clerical sentiment, severely restricted the activities of religious orders, including requiring them to register as associations and limiting their ability to operate schools and other institutions.

So, based off what I found in researching this, many Catholic schools and institutions were closed. The Jesuits were expelled because they are a teaching order in many ways and the State couldn’t have that.

I wanted to bring this to you attention so that you understand the context of today’s letter. To be honest, the negative effects of the French Revolution and this persecution that Mother writes about can still be seen in France today.

Let’s go ahead and open to page 271 and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome!

So, we just finished up the voyage that brought Mother Cabrini to Buenos Aires and now we are starting one that takes her from Buenos Aires to Genoa.

It’s August of 1901, so about nine months from when she landed. This is just one letter. It’s unfinished, but there is only one date entry. That means we will read the whole thing today and then I’ll give my reflection. That’ll be the end of this voyage.

Mother Cabrini is going to talk about visiting a church called Our Lady of the Candelaria or more appropriately, La iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria. It’s in Rio de Janeiro. She talks about counting the candle sticks that are shaped like a pyramid. I went to go see if I could find pictures of the church and, sure enough, Mother Cabrini’s description is spot on. I’ll link it in the show notes.

So, let’s get started by turning to page 265.

Candelaria Church: https://www.candelariario.org.br/galeria-de-fotos/

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a long reading today and it’s also the end of a voyage…sort of. This letter and voyage are incomplete, so we never really hear about Mother Cabrini getting to Buenos Aires. Because it’s the end, we also have my reflection.

We’ve got a lot to cover today, so let’s get started by opening to page 258.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today in our reading, it is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1900.

Mother Cabrini has a lot to say about Our Blessed Mother Mary. It’s always a good day to honor her and stand in awe that she is the Mother of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s open to page 255 and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is a super short reading and there’s not too much to say.

So, let’s jump right in by turning to page 255.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a short reading today. Mother is sitting on the steamer near Cadiz, Spain, which is on the western side of Gibraltar. Malaga is on the eastern side, so that means that the steamer passed through the Straits of Gibraltar.

Mother Cabrini has a cold and she says she is curing it with milk. Tinned milk to be exact. I’ve never heard of that being a cure, but who knows.

Let’s go ahead and open to page 254 and begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to hear a lot about raisins today in our short reading.

Raisins are not my favorite and by that I mean I really can’t stand them. My favorite comedian is Brian Regan and he has a skit on raisins which pretty much nails my feelings on the matter. I’ll share the link in the show notes.

Anyway, this is a short and sweet reading, so let’s get started by turning to page 254.

Brain Regan: Raisins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FQXVt4Ns-4

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome back. As the steamer lifts anchor and begins the journey, Mother Cabrini has a bit of a reunion with two priests. At first, they don’t quite recognize each other, but then the pieces start to fall into place.

One of the priests is the Provincial of the Scolopi in Buenos Aires. So, Scolopi is a Religious order, also known as the Piarists. Piarists are the oldest religious order dedicated to education, specifically to children and youth. This religious order was founded by St. Joseph Calasanz in Italy in 1617.

So, just a small history lesson for today. I was unsure of what Scolopi meant, so once I found out, I knew I had to share it with you to help today’s reading make more sense.

With that, let’s open to page 252 and begin.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day in the Mediterranean Sea with Mother Cabrini. Today, in the readings, it is the feast day of St. Francis Xavier. Mother is very excited to celebrate because St. Francis Xavier is who she modeled her name after. Remember, St. Francis Cabrini wanted to go to the East, like he did.

St. Francis Xavier was born on April 7th, 1506, so he was born 344 years before Mother Cabrini. He was Spanish and is one of the founders of the Jesuits. He was encouraged to become a priest by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

He was sent to India because Portugal was colonizing India and the Portuguese there were losing their faith or not living up to it. So, St. Francis Xavier went as the Papal Nuncio to India in 1541.

It was not an easy time for him there. He had to deal with government officials that didn’t like him being there. He was upset by the poor moral lives of many Catholics living in the area. And he had to build a lot of churches which wasn’t easy. He died in China on December 3rd, 1552 from being ill with fever. He is buried in India.

He has a fascinating story as a missionary and he most definitely met with many struggles and hardships in his time. It’s not surprising Mother Cabrini looks to him as a model to imitate as a missionary herself.

Let’s hear about her time today as we turn to page 250.

Hello and welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Are you ready for another trip? This time, we are going from Genoa to Buenos Aires. Here we are in the year 1900. Think back to all Mother Cabrini has done in our time with her and we are just getting a taste of all her works through her letters. She did so much more than is written down here.

As we sail from the Northern Hemisphere to the South Hemisphere, we are going back to the mission field Mother Cabrini set up nearly four years ago in 1896.

So, let’s join her now as she boards the Alphonsus XIII by turning to page 247.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our last day of the this voyage from New York to Havre.

Maybe it’s just me, but on this voyage, I wasn’t really paying attention to the trip. Maybe it’s because we’ve done the New York to Havre trip with Mother Cabrini already, but I almost forgot she was cruising across the Atlantic. Sure, there were the storms and wind and such, but I wasn’t as keyed into that. It was more her thoughts.

Anyway, this is one of the incomplete letters, so we won’t get a report of entering the final port or a sign off. We will however get my thoughts at the end.

So, let’s open to page 246 and see this voyage out.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to a beautiful day at sea with Mother Cabrini. In our reading for today, it is September 8th and that is the day that we celebrate Mary’s birthday.

This got me thinking, “Why this day?” So, I went to look it up.

I'll read for you an answer from Catholic Answers.

With all that, let’s hear about Mary from Mother Cabrini by opening to page 244.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to another day at sea where the steamer is rocking around. It’s not because of the water today, but because of the wind.

Today, Mother is going to talk about grace. Grace was not something I understood until I became Catholic and started homeschooling my kids. The good ‘ole Baltimore Catechism teaches you all about grace. Essentially, grace is the Divine Life within you. There is Sanctifying Grace, Sacramental Grace, and Actual Grace. It is grace—the Divine Life—which enables us to do good things beyond the natural law.

Let’s hear about grace and gratitude as we turn to page 243.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today as the sea is rocking so badly Mother Cabrini can’t really do anything at all.

At one point, she calls a steward to ask if they should prepare for an emergency and he tells her in a calm and collected way to just ‘remain calm, everything is all right.”

It’s a good thing she didn’t get someone like me when she called because I would be freaking out. I’m not known for having a reassuring voice in intense times.

Let’s go ahead and open our books to page 242.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will hear about how fog rolls in, the air grows cold, the steamer is rocking pretty substantially, and there is an air of nervousness throughout the steamer.

Mother takes this time to speak about being thankful to Jesus. Something I’ve really been trying to do is to thank God when I can see that a prayer has been answered. Oftentimes, we ask God for something, but we forget to thank Him. I’ve been trying really hard to remember to give thanks.

Let’s see what is going on out in the fog near Newfoundland by turning to page 240.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

As we’ve traveled around with Mother Cabrini, you may have wondered how she handles leaving behind the things she has started up. How does she feel about starting something up and then leaving it in the care of others?

That takes a great amount of trust. I do think there are people who can handle starting something up and then once it’s up and running, moving to the next thing. My husband is that way. I am not. But, each of us have our role to play.

Mother will share with us how she handles this in our reading today. So, let’s turn to page 237.

Welcome to our 10th voyage with Mother Cabrini, Catholic Pilgrims. This voyage is from New York to Havre. We’ve made this voyage with her before but that was a decade ago. She has grown wiser and more experienced. I suspect that will show up in her writings.

Mother is plain worn out as she boards the steamer for this trip and she falls asleep as soon as she waves goodbye. Let’s join her leaving the port in New York, as we turn to page 235.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the end of another voyage.

Though it is the end of the voyage, you will find that the letter is incomplete. We get no sign off as is typical of the other letters. Who can say why? Maybe the letter was destroyed or lost over time.

Anyway, it will end a bit abruptly. Obviously, Mother will have made it to New York, but we won’t hear about that.

Since it is the end of a voyage, I’ll be giving my reflection at the end. Let’s open to page 231.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

It just dawned on me the other day that we started this book with Mother Cabrini in the year 1890 and now we are already in 1899. Nearly a whole decade has passed.

This writing during this voyage is very different. We only get small little snapshots about what is actually going on with the trip across the Atlantic. The rest of the time, Mother Cabrini is giving her Daughters the back story of what she was doing in Europe. The first voyage we went on with her, we got lots of information about the waves, the seasickness of the Sisters, the look of creation as Mother looked out over the ocean.

This time, we don’t get much of that. Maybe that’s fitting because she’s already spoken a lot about crossing the Atlantic.

Let’s go ahead and join Mother Cabrini on a calm day at sea by turning to page 224.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. If you ever thought Mother Cabrini was lazy (which I doubt you did), today will put those thoughts to rest.

Nearly everywhere she goes, she wants to open a school, a house for Sisters, or something to help bring the faith to people. Her energy seems endless.

Today, we will hear more about her time in Paris. Let’s open to page 219.

Bonjour, Catholic Pilgrims. Bienvenue. Welcome.

At the beginning of this letter, Mother Cabrini is again telling her dear daughters about what she was doing in Europe before leaving from Liverpool. We are getting up to speed, shall we say. Today, we will briefly hear about her time in Paris. Then, we will move up to the current voyage.

Let’s go ahead and open to page 216.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a super short reading, so today, we get a bit of a break from a longer reading.

As a reminder, this trip started on November 6th, 1899, but the date for today’s reading is August 25th. The reason for this jump back in time is that Mother Cabrini is filling her daughters in on what she was doing before heading out from Liverpool. So, yesterday, we heard about how she took a retreat. Today, she’s going to continue on with what she was doing after that.

Mother Cabrini gets to help do some preparation work for an upcoming pilgrimage to Lourdes that Monsignor Radini Tedeschi is taking. She doesn’t get to go on the pilgrimage, but she is still helping out for just a bit.

Let’s hear about this as we turn to page 215.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. As we’ve been traveling around with Mother Cabrini, you may have wondered, “Does this woman ever rest?”

Well, yes, she does. Today, we are going to hear about how she took a retreat when she was in Rome at the Mother House. She recognized that her body was wearing down and she just needed to be calm and rest for awhile. She understands how refreshing this is to the mind, body, and soul.

It’s true. If you’ve ever been on a spiritual retreat, it does help to calibrate you back into a place of harmony. Even if it’s only for a few days.

So, let’s hear about the benefits of retreats by opening to page 210.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, we are starting on a new voyage with Mother Cabrini. Two years have passed since her last voyage. This time she is leaving from Liverpool, that city made famous the Beatles. As you may know, all four Beatles’ members were born and raised in Liverpool.

Mother Cabrini is going to tell us that this is her seventh time leaving Europe and before she goes, she has an audience with Pope Leo XIII. At the time of this recording, we just got our new pope, Pope Leo XIV. The St. Francis Cabrini Shrine in New York, recently posted these thoughts from a fellow Catholic:

“The last Pope Leo the world knew, sent a woman named Francesca X. Cabrini to the United States to care for the poor, hungry and marginalized. He sent her to bring them the hope of Jesus. That very woman died in the city of Chicago after being a missionary spreading the love of God, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus to those in need…May the new Pope Leo XIV from Chicago, who has been sent to Rome, also be a missionary spreading the love of God to all, because we are all in some need. Amen.”

Those are some great connections for us to ponder as we turn to page 207 and begin our journey across the Atlantic.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome back. Today, we will read the second half of the letter for this voyage. Remember this is just one long letter for the Buenos Aires trip to Barcelona.

Since we will finish this letter today, I’ll be giving my reflection once we are done.

Let’s open to page 199 and start where it says, “We had no sooner left.”

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to our next voyage. We are headed with Mother Cabrini from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Barcelona, Spain. We are about 8 months removed from the end of the last voyage, so the year is 1896.

This reading will be a bit different than other ones. This letter is just one long big letter and to read it all would take a good long while. So, we are going to split it up. We will read from page 189 to the middle of 199.

It’s a longer reading, but we will get some info on what went on in Argentina, which will be insightful. So, this letter will take us just two days to work through and then that’s it.

Without any further delay, let’s open to page 189 and head to Barcelona.

Welcome back to the end of this voyage, Catholic Pilgrims. There is so much exciting stuff going on in today’s reading. We’ve got mule rides over foggy mountains, jumps across deep chasms, drunken men, and scant food and sleep for Mother Cabrini and Mother Chiara. We are reading an adventure tale today that could totally be a movie.

We have a lot to read, but you are really going to be amazed at what a Religious Sister is willing to do to save souls.

Let’s join her on the caravan by opening to page 176.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is a longer reading, but I invite you to sit back and just imagine Mother Cabrini traveling around off the coast of Chile. Her descriptions are really quite interesting. She’s going to spend some time in Antofagasta and if you go look at the city online, you will find that, other than modern day buildings, her descriptions are very accurate.

She has some choice words to say about a Protestant pastor that is on board and, as a former Protestant, I don’t blame her for her feelings on Protestantism. It has led millions away from the Eucharist and there’s just no benefit in that at all.

Since this is a longer reading, let’s go ahead and get started by turning to page 168.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we are going to get a major geography lesson.

I used to be horrible at geography—horrible. Once I became a military spouse, I started to get better, mostly because I was traveling a lot and I started really looking things up on a map and caring about what I was looking at.

I imagine that most of us listening to this book have not traveled down the west coast of South America. As Mother describes it, it sounds very, very different than what most of us are used to environmentally and geographically.

So, let’s settle in and hear about that part of the world through a missionary's eyes by turning to page 165.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a long reading today filled with all kinds of good information and descriptions. Even though it’s a longer reading, I think you are really going to enjoy hearing about Mother being in Peru.

Since, it will take more time to get through, let’s go ahead and get started by turning to page 158.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day at port near Peru with Mother Cabrini.

You can kind of imagine the first 3/4 of today’s reading a bit of a blog almost. Mother is describing what life at port in Peru in the late 1800s is like and it’s a real snapshot in time for us. She even talks about seagull guano today, which I never would have thought a Saint would discuss.

In the last part of the reading, she talks about obedience. As I’ve said before, obedience is one of the dirtiest words in our culture. Too many only want to be obedient to themselves and that’s a huge problem. As we can see when we look around.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims.

Today, we are with Mother Cabrini at the port of Piata in Peru. She is going to describe it as looking very desolate and it seems not much has changed. If you go look on google maps, it is a brown, dry desert. There is not much color.

The word Piata is not a Spanish word, at least not that I could find. So, I don’t know exactly what it means, but there is a port of Piata, so maybe it’s just a name.

Let’s hear about Mother Cabrini’s time now in Peru by turning to page 153.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

Before we begin our reading, I think we need a bit of background. Mother Cabrini is at port in Guayaquil which is in Ecuador. She is going to mention that she doesn’t want to go ashore because of the revolutions. What she is speaking about is the Liberal Revolution of 1895. The pro-Catholic, conservative president was assassinated and a liberal, anti-clerical man named Eloy Alfaro came into power.

So, I wanted you to be a bit more informed before we started. Let’s go ahead now and open to page 152.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

Yesterday, we got kind of the pep talk before the big trip. Today, same date, we get more of the play-by-play of the trip.

In the song “A Whole New World” from the movie Aladdin, there’s a line that says, “With new horizons to pursue (every moment red letter). I always thought they were singing, “With new horizons to pursue, every moment gets better.” When my girls were singing about the moment being red letter, I was confused. What the heck does that mean?

Well, a red-letter day is a very pleasantly memorable day and that is what Mother Cabrini is going to describe for us.

Welcome to another voyage, Catholic Pilgrims. So, Mother Cabrini got to Panama at the start of June of 1895 and she is already leaving in October of 1895.

Where is she headed? Over the Andes mountains and on to Buenos Aires, Argentina. That sounds like some serious traveling and, consequently, this voyage has a lot of information in the writings. She’s not just out on the open ocean waiting to get to a port.

So, I think we are going to get a real deep dive into some very interesting experiences. Today’s reading is like a pep talk to missionaries. Are there difficult parts? Yes. Are their scary times? Yes. But, all that a missionary does is worth it. Bringing souls to Christ is worth the difficulty and scary times.

Let’s start this voyage by turning to page 145.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, the final day of our voyage to Panama. As this is the last day, I will offer my reflection after our readings.

One thing to note: Mother Cabrini arrives at the port of Colon, which is in Panama. However, even though she’s there, she keeps talking about how she needs to get to Panama to see the house where the Sisters stay. Just to be clear, she is talking about Panama City in Panama, not in Florida where I used to live. So, Colon is on east side of the isthmus and Panama City is on the western side. Actually, though, if you look at a map, because of the shape of Panama, Colon sits in the north and Panama City in the south.

Without further ado, let’s turn to page 140.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. We have a long reading today, but a very interesting one.

Mother Cabrini is finally on the steamer and she has time to write. A couple of voyages back we went to Nicaragua with her and learned about how she was setting up a school.

Today, she is going to tell us about how the Sisters in Nicaragua were banished because of a rebellion. It’s called the Nicaragua Crisis of 1894-1895. So, I just wanted you to give you some context for today’s reading. A lot of her writings today will be explaining that whole fallout.

Since it’s a longer reading, let’s get started by opening to page 134.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Mother Cabrini is still in Costa Rica and the locals are trying very hard to make up for the distasteful way she was treated because of the Freemason.

While Mother appreciates their kind offers, she is anxious to be on to Panama and must decline their offer to stay longer in their country.

You know, something I learned living in Turkey was to meet each opportunity that is not quite going my way by being helpless and kind. Helpless in that I asked others to help me and, generally, people want to be helpful, especially to kind people. Every time I approached a difficult situation with the attitude of helpless and kind, I was always given special favors. Much like what we see here with Mother Cabrini.

Let’s see what is going on in Costa Rica by turning to page 132.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

Today is not a day that Mother Cabrini is interested in talking about her travels. Today is June 1, 1895 and she is interested in talking about the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

What could be better to hear about? So, let’s open our books to page 128.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. In our reading today, Mother Cabrini is still in Costa Rica waiting to go to Panama. She spends time explaining the weather, the views, Mass, and the people to her daughters.

She is trying to be patient, as she very much wants to get to Panama.

Let’s hear about her day as we turn to page 126.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I think you are really going to like today’s reading. Mother and the Sisters reach port in Costa Rica. At first, everything seems to be going well, but then…

A sneaky and cunning Freemason tries to sabotage Mother’s short visit. She handles it like a champ, as I’m sure you can imagine.

I’ll link to some information on Port Limon in the show notes, so you can read about it if interested.

So, let’s hear all about this as we open to page 123.

Port Limon: https://www.govisitcostarica.com/region/city.asp?cID=168

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we hear a lot about what it was like to travel around the Caribbean Sea. It’s very pretty, but it can be tough to navigate the sometimes shallow waters. Can you imagine how many things are at the bottom of the Caribbean?

I have this daydream that I often draw to mind of draining certain seas and parts of different oceans. After they are drained, I imagine myself walking on the bottom looking at all the interesting treasures and pieces of history. I think that would be wildly cool to do.

Mother Cabrini is getting close to Port Limon and she is anxious to get to shore to find someone to help her understand her swelling problem.

Let’s turn to page 120 to hear.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to another beautiful day at sea with Mother Cabrini.

One of the biggest hurdles for me to get over with Catholicism was the papacy. Truly, I believed all the misconceptions about the pope. I thought Catholics believed the pope was God, that he was perfect. I didn’t get the point of him. I didn’t have any clue about the biblical significance of giving the keys of the kingdom to Peter. I was truly ignorant and willfully so.

Mother Cabrini is going to talk a lot about the pope in our readings today. During 1895, Pope Leo XIII was pope and he is generally considered a good pope.

Let’s hear her thoughts by turning to page 116.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims! Mother Cabrini is feeling well. She’s got those sharp pencils and ruled paper and is putting them to good use.

It’s a longer reading today, so I want to jump right in.

Please open to page 111.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

Mother Cabrini is not feeling well, so we have a short reading for today, as she was unable to write much.

I’m continually impressed with how she accepts whatever comes her way without complaining. She explains her predicaments, but doesn’t wallow in misery. A good example for us all.

Let’s go ahead and open our books to page 110.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the start of another voyage. We left our last voyage in September of 1894 and now we are in May of 1895.

Mother Cabrini is headed to Panama and she’s leaving from New Orleans. At the time of this recording, I’ve never been to New Orleans, though I would like to go. I really, really want a beignet and I’ve heard that they have gluten-free beignets there and so I feel I need to test them out. You know, make sure they are fit for human consumption and all.

But, back to Mother Cabrini. The start of this voyage is a little rocky, or should I say, rainy. The rain is causing some traveling issues and delayed departures, but good and helpful people are there to help Mother and make sure she gets to the steamer.

Let’s start out for Panama by opening to page 109.

Welcome to the final day of this voyage, Catholic Pilgrims. I feel like this trip was quick. We’ve been all over the place with Mother Cabrini. We started in Genoa, sailed through the Mediterranean, steamed by the Balearic Islands, Gibraltar, Morocco, the Azores, and now we will read about Mother and her Sisters docking at Hoboken.

I went to look Hoboken up. It’s in New Jersey, which I didn’t know. It’s a terminal that has been used since colonial times. Today, more than 50,000 people come through that terminal daily, which is incredible. There’s lots of things there now, it’s not just a dock.

Since this is the end of a voyage, I will give my short reflection. Let’s go ahead and open our books to page 105.

Hoboken Docks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoboken_Terminal

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are nearing the end of this journey. I told my daughter the other night that Mother Cabrini has really made me want to travel with this voyage. There’s just so many places to see and so little time.

It’s funny, as I was reading through today’s letter, I realized just how far I’ve come in understanding our Catholic faith. Had you given me today’s letter to read when I was a Protestant, it would have sailed over my head. Words and phrases like, Holy Charity, Our Lady’s Mantle, Immaculate Mother, God’s attributes, were utterly foreign to me. I had never heard those topics spoken about once in the first 30 years of my life.

Now, after years of study and having been a Catholic for a little over 15 years, I have been gifted with so much richness and depth to the spiritual life. It’s something I’m eternally grateful for AND there’s still so much to learn!

So, let’s learn from Mother Cabrini by turning to page 102.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. As Mother Cabrini declares, it’s another gorgeous day at sea. Also, of note, we’ve read 100 pages of the book.

Mother Cabrini is going to talk about the Holy Souls in purgatory today and how it’s so important to offer prayers for them. Purgatory is actually a place of mercy. We know that Heaven is perfect and therefore nothing imperfect can enter Heaven. Most of us, when we die, do not have perfect souls and so we need to go and be purified of our venial sins and the stains of forgiven sins.

All those who are in purgatory will eventually come into the glory of Heaven. We need to offer prayers for those that have died to aid them in their time of purification.

Let’s hear what Mother Cabrini has to say by turning to page 100.

How are you today, Catholic Pilgrims? I hope well. I hope you are feeling better than the poor seasick Sisters on board the Fulda. Yes, as they’ve reached open ocean, the waves have picked up and so has the nausea.

One of the hardest things to be good at in the spiritual life is praying. You simply cannot get better if you don’t keep at it and discipline yourself. You also won’t grow in it if you just see prayer as a wish list. It is good to bring God our intentions, but we, also, need to do more than that in prayer.

Mother Cabrini is going to give us some spiritual guidance on prayer, so let’s turn to page 97 and see what she has to say.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Well, again, today, you are going to want to travel. The ship is steaming by the Azores and the description of them sound amazing.

They’re so amazing, in fact, that people on board are begging the Captain to stop off and let them explore for just one hour. Even Mother Cabrini admits that the sight of them does make one desire to “visit the charming islands.”

So, let’s enjoy this letter where we hear about all things beautiful by turning to page 95.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. I’m not going to say a whole lot here because we have a long reading today.

This reading is one part saint-pep talk and one part friendly letter. Both are valuable and offer us great insight into the spiritual life.

So, let’s get right into it by turning to page 89.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother Cabrini and a few of the Sisters get an opportunity to go into the city of Gibraltar for a few hours. Their hope is to get to Mass, but, unfortunately, the priests have all left for dinner.

What I didn’t realize is that Gibraltar is still a British Territory. If you were to look at a map of Gibraltar you would see that the port is on the west side of the city and that is likely where Mother Cabrini and the Sisters got off the ship. Right near the port there are quite a few churches, which makes sense. There are at least two that I found that were a possibility for Mother Cabrini to visit, as they were around at that time.

I’ll link in the shownotes the oldest one, which is Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned.

Let’s hear about Mother’s time in Gibraltar by opening to page 87.

Cathedral: http://catholic.gi/diocese/parishes/the-cathedral-of-mary-the-crowned/

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Oh boy, Mother Cabrini gave me the travel bug today. As she’s cruising through the Mediterranean Sea, she describes going by the Balearic Islands, the main one being Majorca. She talks about Liguria, Italy which is an area known for its beauty.

I went and looked all these places up and now I need to travel there. I’ll link to a few places in the show notes and you’ll see. Maybe you’ve been there. If you have, write and let me know about it.

Enough about me and my travel obsession. Today is the anniversary of Mother Cabrini’s profession of her vows. I tried to look up online to confirm the date, but I couldn’t find anything. No matter, it’s a beautiful day for her at sea.

Let’s hear all about it by turning to page 85.

Majorca: https://www.seemallorca.com

Liguria, Italy: https://www.italia.it/en/liguria

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. So, the year is 1894 and Mother Cabrini has been in Italy for two years. I’m assuming—I hope correctly—that she left Nicaragua and traveled back to Italy, where she has been the past two years.

The motherhouse for St. Francis Cabrini’s order is in Rome, so I imagine that is where she has been. Again, I’m going to assume, as we don’t have any letters between arriving in Nicaragua in November of 1891 and now being in Italy for two years.

Either way, Mother Cabrini is leaving from the port of Genoa, Italy and she is headed back to New York. You can tell that she is sad to leave, but she’s a missionary and missionaries must carry on.

Let’s hear about the start of this voyage by turning to page 83.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. There is so much going on today in our readings and they are longer, so I don’t want to take too much time upfront.

Though we have a longer reading today, you are going to get a detailed snapshot into life in Nicaragua for Italian missionaries in 1891. It really is like going back in time and I find it fascinating. Here we are, over a hundred years later, reading about her time on November 3rd, 1891. Could she have imagined such a thing?

Since this is the end of a voyage, I’ll give my reflections after the reading. Let’s go ahead and turn to page 76.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another great day with St. Francis Cabrini. Today, the steamer is sitting in the Gulf of Costa Rica which is on the western side of the country. They are there exchanging mail.

Mother Cabrini and her Daughters get a visit from the Bishop and they are very happy to receive his blessing.

Let’s hear about this visit by turning to page 75.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. After a few days of waiting to go, Mother Cabrini and her Daughters will head north on the Pacific Ocean towards Nicaragua’s western coast.

Mother Cabrini lets us in on one of her weaknesses today—the sea. While they are still waiting around, some of the Sisters want to go visit the nearby islands and explore. Mother Cabrini wants nothing to do with it because she’s afraid of the sea and if the adventure has nothing to do with a holy motive, she’s not interested.

She’ll traverse the sea to live out God’s Will, but not for entertainment. She’s a woman who knows her limits.

Let’s hear about their day by turning to page 74.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Well, today, Mother and her Daughters have entered the port city of Colon, Panama. Now, this is not their final destination, but this is where they are getting off the boat, moving into a train to go across the land to Panama City, and then get on another boat.

It’s a longer reading today, but I really think you will enjoy hearing all Mother Cabrini has to say. She gives great descriptions of the land and the environment. Just try to imagine her in the late 1800s making her way through a foreign country such as Panama. You can tell that she is thrilled with the adventure of it all.

Let’s get started by opening to page 70.

Colon, Panama: https://www.tourismpanama.com/places-to-visit/portobelo/places-to-stay/colon/

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We’ve got a bit of a longer reading today, so I don’t want to take too much of your time here on the front end.

Today in the readings, it’s the feast day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who is widely known for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This would be why Mother Cabrini most definitely mentions her, because Mother’s order is the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

So, today, we are going to hear about St. Margaret Mary, we are going to get some spiritual guidance, and we are also going to hear just about what is going on, on board the ship.

Without further ado, let’s turn to page 66.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today’s letter is a continuation of what happened on October 15th.

Because I’m a history nut, you get another history lesson today. Mother Cabrini is going to describe steaming past “Fortune Island.” This is Long Cay Island located in the Bahamas. It’s a tiny thing and today it only has roughly around 50 people living on it. It was named “Fortune Island” by Christopher Columbus because he found a conch shell there.

I’ll link a website to Long Cay in the show notes.

Mother then describes passing another island called Castel or Castle Island. This island is directly south of Long Cay. It doesn’t look inhabited today from what I can see, but it does have a lighthouse that reportedly was the hideout location of pirates looking to attack ships that passed by.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I think it’s super cool and I think it puts us back in time with her. She is describing real places that she saw and I think that helps connect us to her through all the years between us.

But, enough with the history lesson, let’s hear Mother Cabrini by turning to page 64

Long Cay Island: https://www.bahamas.com/en/plan-your-trip/things-to-do/long-cay

Castle Island: https://bahamasgeotourism.com/entries/castle-island-lighthouse/978e9218-643a-4cb1-9f05-ed6bd788b38f

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It’s October 15th, 1891 and it’s the Feast Day of Season Three’s saint—St. Teresa of Avila.

As I’ve been doing these five seasons now, it’s been so wonderful to see Saints talk about Saints. Mother Cabrini valued what insights and witness St. Teresa brought to the world and I think that shows her great humility.

The steamer that Mother Cabrini and her Sisters are on is getting closer and closer to the equator which means it’s hot and if you are a religious sister, its not like you can just go put on some shorts and a tank top. This is just another example of the way these holy women suffered for the sake of souls.

Let’s open to page 63 and begin.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother and her Sisters will be off for Nicaragua. Everything is going well, until at night, a serious storm hits.

Mother Cabrini describes how the waves are like mountains and the steamer is in deep valleys. For me, that is one of the most terrifying experiences I can think of, but what does Mother Cabrini and the Sisters choose to do? Pray. They pray fervently.

I think the last line of today’s letter is the most important to focus in on. She likens the terrible storm to a soul agitated with remorse and pride, but that never finds God.

Let’s here all about the start of this voyage by turning to page 61.

*Ave Maris Stella preformed by the Benedictines of Mary

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back to another great day with Mother Cabrini.

If you happened to look at the dates for this voyage things may seem a bit messed up. The voyage starts out on the date October 15th, but then the next letter is dated September 21st. Then it moves to October 10th and then back to October 15th. So, probably what happened is that she wanted to catch her Sisters up on what happened before they set sail and that is reflected in the back and forth with the dates.

What you’ll find is that Mother wants to share with the Sisters about new postulants entering the order. Also, side note: The feast day she is speaking of is the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle. So, let’s hear about that as we turn to page 60.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the start of our 4th voyage with Mother Cabrini. This time she is traveling from New York to Nicaragua.

Very briefly, I want to give a short history lesson. Today, Mother is going to talk about visiting Manresa and I want you be clear on what she means by that.

If you saw the movie, you saw Mother Cabrini buy a big home that had been abandoned by Jesuits. She got it for a good price because it lacked fresh water. In the movie, the Sisters dig tons of holes looking for a well, but that is not an accurate description as to what happened. Mother pointed out pretty quickly where the well should be dug and it was a correct spot.

Anyway, Manresa is the name of the property and home that Mother bought. Why the name Manresa? Well, the property was owned by the Jesuits and the Jesuits were founded by the Spaniard St. Ignatius of Loyola. Manresa is a city in Spain and a sight of pilgrimage because of St. Ignatius’ time there. Manresa doesn’t translate into anything in Spanish, it’s just the name of a city.

So, I will provide a link in the show notes from the Cabrini Shrine in New York that gives some more information on Manresa and the finding of water there.

With all that, let’s begin our next voyage with Mother to Nicaragua by turning to page 59.

https://cabrinishrinenyc.org/a-new-home-for-the-orphans/

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. This is the last day of this voyage. Mother and her Sisters will be in port very soon.

Today, we will get another roll call from Mother. She will give an account on how the different Sisters on board are doing. It’s easy for us to think of these women almost like fictional characters in a novel, but they were very real and did very real work.

Since this is the end of the voyage, I will read and then give a short reflection. So, let’s head into New York with Mother by turning to page 56.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are only 55 pages into this book and already Mother Cabrini speaks directly to my heart.

She is going to talk today about how we, as Catholics, need to be bold in speaking the truths of our faith. We can’t worry about offending people. We do worry about that, though, and we need to ask why? We don’t need to be off-putting offensive people, but we can’t be afraid to let people be offended by the truths of our faith.

I think most often we are afraid because we care so deeply as humans about being accepted and liked. But, when we refuse to tell people the truth—not all forms of Christianity are right—we leave them ignorant and in danger of losing the inheritance of Heaven.

Let’s learn from Mother Cabrini as we turn to page 55.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are on the 5th day out at sea and things are going pretty well. We will get a bit of a roll call and hear how some of the others Sisters are doing. Mother will stress the importance of humility, so be sure to take note on that.

There is a lot in our readings today. Mother clearly is feeling good because she has a lot to say and write about. This is a longer one, so let’s jump right in by turning to page 51.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a bit of a longer reading today, but its packed with great spiritual direction. Mother Cabrini was writing to her daughters, but it’s pertinent to all of us.

She focuses on prayer and obedience. Prayer is one of those things where we want immediate returns on our investment. What if that doesn’t happen? Mother Cabrini will touch on that.

And obedience. Quite possibly the dirtiest word in the modern age. We pride ourselves on being independent, self-willed people, but that does not make for a faithful Christian. We must, even if it goes against modern culture, be obedient to Christ and His Will.

Great thoughts are packed into our readings today so let’s hear all about them by opening to page 49.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I’m glad to have you join me today.

Our reading today is from the Feast of the Nativity of Mary in September 1891. There are five priests on board the ship, but Mother Cabrini writes that none of them can say Mass. The only thing I can think is that they are all too seasick to get up and say Mass. So, spiritual communion is what Mother has to be content with.

Today, we will hear beautiful words written about Our Lady. She is a wonderful mother and role model for us all.

Grab your book and open to page 47.

*Salve Regina music provided by Harpa Dei

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a very short reading today. I think since Mother and everyone else is feeling better she just wants to enjoy the fresh air and the sights.

This is a good reminder to us that all difficulties eventually pass, though when you are in the moment, it seems they will never end.

Let’s open to page 47.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. The boat is out at sea and pretty much everyone is sick.

The poor Sisters. I’m telling you, I would be sick right there with them. I am not good with movement on the sea. If I had been one of Mother Cabrini’s Sisters, I would have been down for the count, too.

So, what started out as a trip full of beautiful seas and blue skies has turned into one of misery as they fight to not feel like they are dying. I think we should all take a moment to appreciate what they were willing to endure for the sake of souls. How much are we willing to endure? That’s a good question to ask ourselves.

Let’s open to page 46 and see how they are faring.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother Cabrini and the Sisters are aboard the ship. They sleep on the ship the night before it sets sail and they wake early in the morning to go to Mass before leaving port. After Mass, they head back to the ship and have breakfast.

So, if you can just imagine as we read, they are off again steaming through the English Channel. England is to their north and France to their south. It’s a beautiful day, so let’s turn to page 45 and hear about the start of this voyage.

Hello, fellow Pilgrims. Welcome to our third voyage with Mother Cabrini.

Mother is getting ready to leave to head back to NY. It’s been a year since the last voyage. Before leaving for America, she gets to visit Montmartre which is a well-known hill in Paris. It’s a district in Paris and at the top of the hill in this district sits the beautiful Sacre Coeur Basilica. In English, this means, Sacred or Holy Heart. So, a perfectly fitting place for Mother Cabrini to visit.

Also, Mother Cabrini is going to speak of a saint whose work we have read here on the podcast: St. Francis de Sales. Isn’t that amazing? I love it when my little bevy of saints come together.

So, let’s start this third journey with Mother Cabrini by turning to page 43.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Mother Cabrini has landed in Havre and is on her way to Paris.

This is a very short reading today, but since we are at then end of a voyage, I will be offering my reflection.

Please open your books to page 41 and let’s begin.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother Cabrini is on her last day at sea for this particular voyage.

She spends time in reflection on the gift of the Holy Eucharist. This is something that all Saints have in common—their love for the Eucharist. They come from different walks of life, different missions, different personalities, and different struggles, but they all love the Eucharist and understand it’s significance and importance.

Let’s listen to Mother Cabrini as we turn to page 40.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

So, last time, we read an entry that was marked August 21st and, today, we will also be reading from an entry marked August 21st. What I’m guessing is that Mother Cabrini wrote at two different times during the same day.

What I would love for you to do today is imagine receiving these words from Mother Cabrini. Imagine that she has written to you. I know that most of you aren’t religious brothers or sisters, but still place yourself as the receiver of these words. She has excellent advice for all of us.

With that, let’s open to page 39.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I’m so happy that you decided to join me and Mother Cabrini today.

Growing up Protestant, there was only one path you could really take in life and that was to get married. There is no vocation of the religious life in Protestantism. Funny enough, I interviewed an ex-atheist years ago and one of the things that converted him was those in the religious life. He said, “I knew I couldn’t take Protestantism seriously because it lacked religious. If you don’t have people who are willing to give up nearly everything for God, how could I take you seriously?”

That was very striking to me. I think sometimes we pity those in the religious life because we feel they are missing out. As you’ll hear from Mother Cabrini today, she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out at all.

Let’s open to page 38 and look to the August 21st entry.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today in our reading, we find Mother Cabrini still at sea and still conversing with the Protestant woman.

The other day I was telling my husband about Mother Cabrini and her interaction with the Protestant lady. I explained how she had simply gone up to pet this woman’s dog and that was her in. Then, I told him that I wished I could have more of these conversations, but they never seem to happen. He laughed and said, “Well, sounds like you need to pet more people’s dogs.”

I do think that religious garments open the door more readily. When people see a nun in her habit or a priest in his collar, they sense authority. I think this makes it easier for religious to have religious conversations, because people just naturally understand that you are probably going to talk about God and faith.

Makes one wonder what we as lay people can do to open that door a bit more. Let’s see what Mother has to say today by turning to page 38.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are on day three of Mother Cabrini’s trip back across the Atlantic from New York to Havre, France. Seas are calm and this trip, so far, seems less eventful.

Back in 2015, my family attended the World Meeting of Families in Philly. I went to a talk given by a woman professor, I think. The only thing I remember from that talk is that she said that Catholics should stop wasting their time trying to convert Protestants. “They love Jesus and we should focus our attention on those who have no faith.”

Well, I was not pleased with this line of thinking, especially as a former Protestant. The best thing in the world that ever happened to me, aside from marrying my husband and having my kids, was being converted to Catholicism.

I’m with Mother Cabrini on this. She is trying to convert a Protestant woman on board the ship and I get why she would be desiring to do so. If you really love people, you want them to experience the fullness of the faith—not a watered-down faith full of heresies.

So, with that said, let’s open to page 37.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Mother Cabrini isn’t feeling particularly well today as we will hear in her writings. I think something to keep in mind as we travel around with her is that she had very frail health. She was born prematurely and, being born in 1850, that set her up for a life of struggling with her health being as the medical care isn’t what we have today.

Then, as a young girl, she almost drowned, which is where she got the fear of water. If you saw the movie, the drowning is depicted. So, this would have only added to her fragility. And yet, through all this, she carries on.

Today, Mother Cabrini is resting and taking some time for meditation as she sails on the ocean. Let’s open to page 36.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Who’s ready to sail back across the ocean with Mother Cabrini? My gosh, it’s only been a little less than four months and Mother Cabrini is headed back across.

It’s now August of 1890. She just got to NY at the end of April 1890, so very little time has passed. This voyage is from New York to Havre, France. I went to look up Havre and it is a major port city, which makes sense seeing as Mother is boarding a ship. It sits right on the English Channel across from England and is almost directly below London on a map.

You may be saying to yourself, “But we just got to New York! I need a rest!” But, there is very little rest in a missionary’s life and, so, we must go with Mother Cabrini and her Sisters back across the ocean.

Let’s open to page 35 and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, we made it to the end of this second voyage to NY. There have been some delays, icebergs have threatened, the engine broke, and many of the Sisters struggled through seasickness, but they made it and soon they will make landfall.

After today’s reading, I will give a short reflection about this second voyage to NY.

Let’s open to page 33.

Download: Reading list

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to the Feast Day of the Patronage of St. Joseph in 1890. Mother Cabrini really laments not having a priest on board. If you are a priest listening, just know how much we need you.

The rest of Mother’s letter today could be written about our times today. She pulls no punches. We often think that our faith life and the way we talk about Jesus must be super sugary and nicey-nice, but, no. People need to hear that their actions and behaviors aren’t gaining them anything other than a soul dead in sin.

Just as a FYI, Mother uses the word Belial and its a Hebrew word that means wicked or is used as a synonym for Satan. I just wanted you to have that context.

Let’s hear Mother’s admonishment of those who have “forgotten their Catholic Religion.” Please open your book to page 32.

Download: Reading List

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Fog has set in and Mother thinks she has a rare skin disease on her face. Thankfully, on both accounts, things aren’t as bad as they could be.

Mother has a few different conversations today, one with a Protestant and one with a Milanese man, who sounds like he has either lost his faith or never had it to begin with.

What is striking in today’s reading is that Mother Cabrini is tempted with a seemingly harmless invitation to some entertainment on board and she declines. Religious don’t go to such things and that’s that. When you are utterly focused on Christ, most temptations can be awfully easy to swat away.

Let’s hear about her eventful day by turning to page 30.

Download: Reading List

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. We are still out on the Atlantic Ocean with Mother Cabrini and her daughters. Even though ice bergs are floating around, it’s hot.

Today, we get a good glimpse into the life of prayer Mother has and, also, her constant focus on Christ.

Let’s join her on the sea as we turn to page 29.

Download: Reading List

*Ave Maris Stella sung by the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, as I mentioned at the end of the last episode, icebergs are all around in the water. This is some 22 years before the Titanic sinks because of hitting an iceberg. What’s crazy is that Mother Cabrini is sailing in April of 1890 and the Titanic sunk in April of 1912. Watch out for icebergs in the North Atlantic in April.

These icebergs are slowing down their progress and Mother Cabrini is anxious to get to port. Why? She’s desperate to receive the Eucharist. Let’s hear her tell us as we turn to page 28.

Download: Reading List

Land Ho, Catholic Pilgrims. Mother Cabrini spots Newfoundland which is on the far east side of Canada. Most of the daughters are down for the count given the roughness of the ocean. These poor ladies, they have had a rough go of it. Mother Cabrini takes this time to give a beautiful reflection on the ocean’s image of God’s grace.

Let’s open to page 27 and see how things are out on the ocean.

Download: Reading List

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims.

Dear Mother Cabrini is worn out and tired today in her writings. As we read along, you will see exactly why. She and her daughters have quite a night.

Please turn to page 26.

Download: Reading List

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Well, it was bound to happen as Mother and her daughters are at sea—a storm hits and it’s rough waters. Everyone is sick.

Notice as we read how Mother Cabrini strives to maintain a positive attitude.

Let's open to page 24.

Download: Reading List

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to another day at sea with Mother Cabrini. Today, she is going to give us just daily insights to what it was like traveling across the ocean.

Then, she’s going to move into spiritual talk with regards to God, creation, and the ocean of God’s love. So, open to page 22 and let’s begin.

Download: Reading List

Welcome aboard, Catholic Pilgrims.

Today, Mother Cabrini and some of her daughters set sail for America. As you can imagine, there’s some seasickness along the way. We are only a few readings in and I hope that you can see just how faithful and prayerful Mother is.

Download: Reading List

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we arrive in Paris with Mother Cabrini after an eventful train ride.

Grab your books and turn to page 20 for Mother’s entry titled, "Arrival to Paris."

Download: Reading Checklist

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the start of our journey with Mother Cabrini.

We start today with her second voyage to New York. The year is 1890. There are twelve separate entries for this letter, some are short, some are longer. Today, we will read the first entry.

Download: Reading Checklist

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to Season Five!

This season we are going to be journeying with St. Frances Cabrini. She is the first missionary that we’ve read here on the podcast, so I think this season is going to have a very different flavor. Which is good. We need to see and learn from saints that were doing different things and living vocations and callings.

So, how was it that I settled on Mother Cabrini?

Download: READING LIST

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the concluding episode of Season Four. Congratulations are in order for those that have made the journey through this book. I know that it can be hard to be methodical and take things slowly as we learn from the Saints, but it’s important that we do so.

To purchase the book:

From Catholic Treehouse

From Amazon

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Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to our final reading from “Introduction to the Devout Life.” We still will have the concluding episode, but today, we will finish the book.

The other day, I was thinking about how when I was younger, I thought holiness was lame and boring. I, also, didn’t think it was for people like me. It was for people like Mother Teresa or St. Paul. Remember, I didn’t grow up with Saints being talked about nor was sainthood something to strive for. Growing up for me, you believed in Jesus and that was enough, and when you died, you became an angel.

Now, though, I understand what the purpose of life is—it is to be a saint. This isn’t bragging, this is recognizing that we were made for greatness and to use our gifts, in our unique way, to bring God’s light and love into the world. What an amazing adventure.

So, let’s hear St. Francis’ final thoughts as we open to Chapter Eighteen of the Fifth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our third to last episode for this season.

Today, St. Francis is going to answer two objections to his Introduction, meaning, this book.

The first objection is that if we were to do all the things contained in this book, we would never do anything else and would have to give up “all other occupation.”

The second objection is that St. Francis assumes that anyone reading this book possess the gift of mental prayer. I’m not really sure what the argument is here other than maybe to say, one couldn’t possibly do all this unless they were wrapped in mental prayer all day and were just that connected to God.

St. Francis has answers for both of these, so let’s open to Chapter Seventeen of the Fifth Part to hear what his answers are.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Including today, just four more. Four more times together with this book. As always, I get a little sad when the end is drawing near.

This is a very short reading and it’s basically St. Francis telling us how to retain our feelings after the reflections that we’ve just been through.

There isn’t a whole lot for me to add, so I will read it and leave it at that. So, let’s open our books to Chapter Sixteen of the Fifth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Only five more readings to go.

I want to take this time to remind you that next season—season five—we will be reading the book, “Letters from the Voyages of St. Frances Cabrini.” I think you are really going to enjoy hearing Mother Cabrini write to her daughters—the women under her direction—as she travels the world setting up hospitals, orphanages, and schools. Since learning about Mother Cabrini, I have been so impressed with her stamina and her ability to basically do it all. With God’s help, of course. So, anyway, get your book. I’ll link it in the show notes and join along with me for next season.

Today, is the conclusion of the reflections and St. Francis is going to answer the question, “Now what?”

So, let’s open to Chapter Fifteen of the Fifth Part.

To buy the book: https://catholictreehouse.com/products/letters-from-the-voyages-of-st-frances-cabrini/

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Only six more readings to go.

One of the things that I love to do to is think about all the ways things had to work out for me to be born.

I think it’s so cool to see how the “stars aligned” to use a common phrase. But, it isn’t really star alignment, it’s Divine Providence.

Today, on this fifth and final reflection, St. Francis is going to talk to us about God’s eternal love for us. He has never not known your soul. That is an incredible thought.

Let’s turn to Chapter Fourteen of the Fifth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Including this one, we only have seven more readings to go.

Today, St. Francis asks us to reflect on Jesus’ love for us. There are many different religions out there and many different gods have been proposed up and down the millennia. But, none of those religions propose a God that loves you and would die for you except Christianity.

Let’s open out books to Chapter Thirteen of the Fifth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Only eight more readings to go.

Growing up Protestant, I didn’t grow up with Saint stories, unless you count strictly those people found in the Bible. Even then, they weren’t called Saints. Mary wasn’t called a Saint, the Apostles, Stephen, Timothy, or Paul. Nobody was called a Saint.

This is just tragically sad.

When I looked around the church that I grew up in, I saw very few people that lived out the Christian Faith well. I hate saying that, but it’s true. Of course we are all sinners, but looking around, I didn’t really see how the Christian Faith was helping. Part of that is that Protestantism doesn’t require a whole lot of self-reflection, because "once saved always saved.” Another part is that Christianity is not easy to live out well, because of the constant battle with the flesh, the world, and the devil.

Once, though, I became Catholic, it was like a whole world was opened to me in reading about the Saints. Here were men and women who did live out the Faith well and their lives were impressive.

St. Francis is going to talk to us about the examples of saints today in our reflection, so let’s open to Chapter Twelve of the Fifth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thanks for joining me today. I hope you all know how much I appreciate you following along with me.

Today, is another short reading and we will be reflecting on the excellence of virtue.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter Eleven of the Fifth Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. We only have ten more readings together, if you can believe that.

Today, we start a series of short reflections which are designed to help us renew our resolutions to God.

So, let’s hear what St. Francis says by turning to Chapter Ten of the Fifth Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to the shortest reading in the book.

Essentially in this reading, St. Francis is saying, “Okay, you did the examinations that I just laid out. You looked at the state of your soul. Hopefully, you saw growth in devotion to God, in humility, in your relations to others, and, now, it is time to renew your devotion.”

So, the reading is just a preamble to the next five readings which will be on making good resolutions.

It’s very short today and there isn’t really much I can add, so I’ll read his words and then that will be all for today. With that, let’s open to Chapter Nine of the Fifth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to a very short reading.

For the past seven readings, we’ve been examining the state of our souls with regards to different things: To God, to ourselves, to others, etc.

Today, St. Francis is going to tell us what to do now that we’ve done these examinations. So, let’s turn to Chapter Eight of the Fifth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are narrowing down our days, for sure. There are hardly any pages left here at the back of the book. It’s looking pretty skimpy.

My son and I were talking the other day about the rich, young man that comes to Jesus and asks what he needs to do to order to inherit eternal life. Jesus ends up telling him to sell his stuff, give the money to the poor, and follow Him. Sadly, the young guy can’t do it and walks away sad. His affection for his worldly goods is such that it takes the place of his affection for God.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about our soul’s affections, so let’s open to Chapter Seven of the Fifth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We’ve got a super short reading today and we’ve got some more soul searching questions.

St. Francis has asked about the state of our devotion to God, he’s asked about how we view ourselves, and, today, he’s going to ask us about our souls with regards to our neighbors.

So, let’s turn to Chapter Six of the Fifth Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Only 15 more readings to go, can you believe it?

Today, we are asked more questions. This time with regards to ourselves. Last time, St. Francis asked a lot of questions that probed deeper into our relationship with God. Today, he’s going to probe into our how we think about ourselves.

Just like last time, these are excellent questions to really and truly answer. Take these questions into your prayer time, take them with you to Adoration, or if you are the journaling type, write down your answers.

So, let’s go ahead and open to Chapter Five of the Fifth Part.

Welcome to another reading, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are going to get asked lots of questions.

St. Francis is going to ask us questions in order to examine the state of our souls. They are different than most questions from, say, like an examination of conscience.

These are questions that don’t need a lot of reflection from me but that we do need to seriously ask ourselves. So, I would encourage you to answer them honestly and sincerely. Give them their due reflection.

With that, let’s open to Chapter Four of the Fifth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. How’s life treating you out there in the big wide world? I hope well, but if you are struggling right now, I pray that God blesses you with many graces to hang in there.

When I was a young teen, after I was baptized, I pretty much thought that was the pinnacle of my spiritual life. Now, I hadn’t read the Bible yet and I didn’t pray too much, but I believed in Jesus and I knew He died on the Cross and rose again at the Resurrection. What more did I need?

Now, of course, this was a naive teen talking, but it’s a common thing for many believers to stop accessing their spiritual life.

There is one key thing, one very key thing you need to do in order to access your spiritual life and that is what we are going to talk about after the reading. So, let’s turn to Chapter Three of the Fifth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back to another great day of learning from St. Francis.

Last time, we heard about how we need to renew our devotions to God, at least once a year. We need to look thing over to determine how we are doing. Have we neglected things in our spiritual life? Have we given up on things that we pledged to do? If so, why? What’s kept us from our pledged devotion to God?

I think those are important questions to ask ourselves. St. Francis is going to talk about our pledges to God, so let’s open our books to Chapter Two of the Fifth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to the fifth and final part of the book. We only have 19 more readings left together in the season. The whole Fifth Part is about renewing our souls in devotion, which makes sense as the the book is called, “Introduction to the Devout Life.”

So, let’s go ahead and open our books to Chapter One of the Fifth Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to the last reading from the Fourth Part.

If you remember, the Fourth Part has been all about temptations. Last time, we talked about dryness and barrenness in the spiritual life. There is a real temptation when we feel dryness to think that God has utterly abandoned us and that nothing we do makes any difference. We think this because we don’t feel anything. We like to feel consolations in our relationship with God and when we do good works we like to feel full of fire and passion when we do them.

However, sometimes we don’t and the temptation is to give up. Today, we are going to hear about a person who came into the faith full of zeal and then the dryness set in. St. Francis is going to give us examples of what to do and what not to do during periods of dryness.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter Fifteen of the Fourth Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, our topic is on spiritual dryness, something that most of us feel at one time or another. It’s also something many of the saints dealt with in their lives.

I belong to a book club and we recently had our October meeting to discuss the book “All That Remains.” It’s a book by a forensic anthropologist. Our group had a great discussion, but towards the end, one of the ladies brought up a controversial topic that was in the book—“doctor” assisted suicide.

I didn’t think anyone was going to bring it up and I had actually kind of forgotten about it being in the book. The author is all for it, btw, something that I strongly disagree with.

Anyway, each of the ladies there were mostly supportive of it, except me. So, I knew that I had to speak up.

What does “doctor” assisted suicide have to do with spiritual dryness? Well, I’ll reflect on that after we hear from St. Francis. Let’s open our books to Chapter Fourteen of the Fourth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our 100th episode of Season Four! It’s really amazing if you think about it. So, since it’s our 100th episode and that’s quite a milestone, I thought I’d share with you who I am reading for Season Five.

But, you’ll have to hear about that after our reading. I know, I know, I’m terrible, aren’t I?

Today’s reading is the longest one we’ve had. Because it is so long, I am just going to read it and not offer a reflection.

It’s on spiritual consolations and if you listened to me read St. Teresa’s Interior Castle last season, a lot of this is going to sound familiar to you.

Now, just because it’s long doesn’t mean it’s not worth listening to and giving it our time and attention.

So, with that, let’s open to Chapter Thirteen of the Fourth Part.

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Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining along today.

There are five people in my family and I am the only one with a melancholic personality that manifests itself sometimes.

My oldest daughter barely lets anything get her down, my middle finds a way to keep smiling through adversity, my son can turn a frown into a smile pretty quickly, and my husband rarely, if ever, lets sadness overtake him.

Then there is me.

It’s not as if my other family members don’t get sad, they do. They just have been trained by their father to not wallow in sadness. They don’t let sadness overtake their lives and because they don’t, they don’t struggle with the anxiety that so many face. They are aware of bad things, they aren’t utterly sheltered, they don’t live fakely happy all the time, but they do know how to manage sadness well.

It’s impressive and through their witnesses, I have gotten better over the years.

Last time, St. Francis talked to us about anxiety and if we are anxious about all the bad things we can’t fix or impatient over the good things we want, we will grow sad. Let’s hear what he has to say by turning to Chapter Twelve of the Fourth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today we are going to read about an issue that we hear all over the place—anxiety.

Even though we are the most counseled, self-helped, medicated people in all of history, rates of anxiety are not going down, they are increasing at alarming rates. My daughters’ generation—Gen Z—is the most depressed and anxious generation that has ever been recorded.

Could it have something to do with all the screen time? Yes, I believe so.

Could it have something to do with a lack of faith in God? Yes, I believe so.

Could it have something to do with a hyper-focus on the self? Yes, I believe so.

But, I think there is also another important factor to add to this that combines all three of the ones I’ve already mentioned. We’ll discuss what that is after our reading.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter Eleven of the Fourth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Including today’s reading, we only have 25 readings left from this book. Isn’t that crazy? We will be done before we know it, but it’s been wonderful having this time to get to know St. Francis and learn from him.

So, with 25 readings left, we still have much to learn. Today is the last day where St. Francis will focus on temptations and it’s another short reading. Let’s open our books to Chapter Ten of the Fourth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome to another day.

We have another short reading today on temptations and, if you remember, that’s what this whole fourth part is about—temptations. So, it’s clearly a topic that St. Francis sees as important to discuss from many different angles. Temptations are the path that sin starts on. If we resist the temptations, we’ve committed no sin. But, if we give into those temptations…well…we’ve just consisted to sin.

So, it’s vitally important that we learn a thing or two about temptations. Today’s reading is short and sweet and so let’s open our books to Chapter Nine of the Fourth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day where we are learning about resisting temptations. Today, though, St. Francis is talking about resisting small ones.

It’s another short reading today. Lately, we’ve had a few quick and concise readings, so let’s go ahead and jump on in and open our books to Chapter Eight of the Fourth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, thank you for joining me today.

When I was growing up, most people tried to be pretty quiet about their sins or their temptations. There was a real push to seem perfect or as if you didn’t really struggle with anything.

We all know that we struggle, but we just didn’t want to appear like we did.

Today, we have almost swung clear over to the other side, where people openly talk about they are tempted to do and, not only do people listen, but they encourage indulging. This is because we live in a hedonistic environment.

Neither one of these are good responses to temptations.

St. Francis is going to discuss with us today remedies for great temptations. So, let’s go ahead and open our books to Chapter Seven of the Fourth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back to another great day to learn from St. Francis.

When my girls were little, Taylor Swift broke onto the scene. Taylor’s first cd played almost non-stop in our house and my car for months and months. Some songs were fun, some were sad, but all-in-all they were harmless. They were just a teenage girl singing about the ups and downs of teenage life.

The next cd that came out was “Fearless." It was fine. Then “Speak Now,” again, pretty much fine. “Red” came out the year my husband came back from his deployment. There was one line in one of the songs, that made me flinch and really start to pay attention to the fact that maybe Taylor was going down a path that had a bad message attached to it.

What was that one line? Well, you’ll have to wait until after today’s reading to hear it. Let’s turn to Chapter Six of the Fourth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome back to another great day.

When I was Protestant, growing in holiness was never really something that was talked about. Just being a believer made you righteous in the eyes of God, so that was really all there was to it.

I didn’t grow up learning about how suffering can be redemptive or how we can sacrifice to show love. Jesus’ sacrifice was all that was focused on, which is good and important, but what happens when major suffering comes our way, or we are asked to sacrifice in big way, or God permits you to be tempted in difficult ways, like St. Catherine of Siena, who we heard about last reading?

For me, when suffering came my way, I bailed, because I thought God would protect believers from any suffering or difficultly. When, in fact, it’s usually the opposite. If you are going to be made into a saint, well, you don’t get there by taking the easy path. Saints are forged in trials, temptations, and suffering.

St. Francis is going to give us some encouragement if we are facing temptations, so let’s open our books to Chapter Five of the Fourth Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. I’m very glad that you have joined me today.

Last time, we heard St. Francis talk about how feeling tempted is not the same as yielding to temptation.

Today, we are going to get an example of what that looks like through the experiences of St. Catherine of Siena.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter Four of the Fourth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back.

Just to refresh our memory, this Fourth Part of the book is all about remedies to temptations. The first thing we heard about in dealing with temptations is to not really care what the world thinks about us when we try to live a more devout spiritual life. The second thing we have to have is courage—courage to say no to temptations.

Today, St. Francis is going to tell us that it’s not a sin to be tempted. The sin lies when we delight and yield to the temptation.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter Three of the Fourth Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for pressing play and joining me.

When we start out on the path to become more devoted to Christ and our Faith, we usually have to leave a lot of things behind. We realize that we need to shed certain sins that have become habitual and in our new fervor, we initially find that very easy to do. Then, however, those old temptations may start to creep back up into our minds.

We used to like those sins and those vices that once gripped us and the devil is always whispering that it might not be so bad to go back to them just for a little bit. Just this once.

But, we must have courage to say no.

St. Francis is going to remind us that we must be of good courage, so let’s turn in our books to Chapter Two of the Fourth Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the Fourth Part of our book. I don’t know if you’ve looked at our progress in the book lately, but we’ve definitely covered a lot of ground.

The Fourth Part is about “needful remedies against ordinary temptations,” which is an area where we can all use some guidance.

To kick us off in this area, St. Francis is going to talk to us about not giving heed to what the world says about our spiritual life.

So, with that, let’s open our books to Chapter One of the Fourth Part.

Hello, my fellow Pilgrims, welcome back. Today, is our last reading in the Third Part and it’s a short one. We’ve had some pretty long readings lately and, today, you get a bit of a break.

St. Francis is going to be giving a word to the unmarried, so let’s open to Chapter Forty-One of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to our second to last reading in the third part.

This is a hard one for me, I’m going to admit it. Mostly, because I feel I have an opinion about this topic that nobody else on planet earth has. I’m not saying my opinion or feelings on the matter are right or anything like that, but it is the way I feel.

Mostly, I keep my opinion on this topic to myself, because everyone thinks I sound like a heartless meaner when I do voice my thoughts and so I just keep them to myself.

The topic: Widows

Let’s hear what St. Francis says in Chapter Forty of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome to another great day. Today, St. Francis is going to continue on with his talk for married couples, but he’s going to be speaking about the intimate side of marriage and, so, if you have little ones around, you may want to chose to listen later.

He doesn’t get graphic or anything like that, in fact, he uses eating food as a metaphor for the marital act, which might sound funny until we get into the reading.

The first time I went to Ephesus, our tour guide took us all over and explained many of the structures that we were seeing. One of the structures that we came across had these open holes, but they were kind of out in the open, so they weren’t for using the bathroom. Let me just say, there were many things that were particularly hard about being a woman in the ancient world, but the public bathroom situation was way better for women than men. Men just sat, basically in a big room together, sitting on open holes, and discussing politics and other matters while using the John. That is just the grossest thing ever.

Anyway, back to the other open holes. These holes were used for throwing up. The ancients, the well-to-do’s, at least, would have feasts, and they would gorge themselves, throw up, and then go back to gorge some more. Utter gluttony and no self-control.

You probably felt a bit disgusted hearing that, as I did, and we should. That’s a horrible thing to do. So, what about sexual relationships with our spouse? Should we engage uncontrollably and with no discipline?

Let’s see what St. Francis has to say as we turn to Chapter Thirty-Nine of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims and welcome to our reading on advice to married couples. This is a long reading, but, it’s really, really good and what I have to say afterwards is important.

So, let’s jump right in by turning to Chapter Thirty-Eight of the Third Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It’s a great day to be together with St. Francis.

Today, we are going to be talking about desires. Some desires are good and some are definitely not. Sadly, we live in a world that says, “Whatever you desire is fine.” This isn’t true and it gets us into a lot of trouble with temptations and sins.

I think this reading today points very closely to the last two of the 10 Commandments: You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife and you shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

We can’t desire things that aren’t ours to desire, are fruitless to desire, or are bad for us to desire.

With that, let’s open our books to Chapter Thirty-Seven of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome back to another great day with St. Francis. Today, I’m going to get political because, well, what I have to talk about fits the reading so well.

I’ve told you before that I am a very black and white person. What’s wrong is wrong and what is right is right. I’m not super interested in gray areas. I’m a very justice-minded person. I believe in giving people what they are due whether that be good or bad.

I’m, also, very interested in using our reason—not emotions—to guide us. Even though I’m a pretty dramatic person and you would be think that I’d be ruled by emotions, I’m very much guided by logic and reason. If you have an incoherent, illogical, unreasonable argument, I’m pretty much done listening to you. I don’t care how convincing your “lived experience” is. This is why for nearly eight years, I fought with my husband on Catholicism. I didn’t shut off because I found all his arguments coherent, logical, and reasonable. It frustrated me to no end to argue with him, but I could not prove him wrong. Consequently, I am Catholic now.

Today, St. Francis is going to talk to us about the necessity of a just and reasonable mind.

Let’s open our books to Chapter Thirty-Six of the Third Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I truly appreciate when you join along with me here on the podcast.

Over the years, my husband has talked pretty consistently with our kids about working out your discipline muscle. This relates very well to today’s topic which is on being faithful in small and great things.

Let’s jump right in today and turn to Chapter Thirty-Five of the Third Part.

Hello, fellow pilgrims. Welcome back. We’ve got a super short reading today, a bit of a continuation from last time’s reading.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself that St. Francis doesn’t want us to have any fun—no dancing, no games of chance, recreation needs to be super limited.

I think it’s important to remember that St. Francis isn’t saying that we can never dance, or never go to a ball, or never play poker or bingo or never buy lottery tickets for stocking stuffers. I’ll admit, that is one of my favorite stocking stuffers to buy.

His point in bringing all this up is that he wants us to discern, to be moderate, and not allow our indifferent recreations become occupations, as he puts it.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter Thirty-Four of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. We are still learning about how to live virtuously here in the third part of the book.

I will start today by saying, if you have sensitive ears around, this may not be the podcast for them. So, just to warn you before we get started.

If I would have read today’s reading back when I was in high school, I would have considered St. Francis the biggest stick in the mud there every was. If I would have read it in my twenties, I would have waved him off as some kill joy. Even into my early thirties, I would have thought that he was a guy who never had one bit of fun ever and I would have had a hard time taking him seriously.

Now, though, that I have some maturity and experience under my belt, I can appreciate the point he is trying to make. He is going to talk to us today about balls and dances. He says they are lawful, but they are dangerous. Let’s see why he thinks that as we turn to Chapter Thirty-Three of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. I have a feeling today’s reading is going to make some roll their eyes or disregard it because of the subject matter.

When I was first reading it, I thought, “Oh, boy, St. Francis is going to have a hard time convincing people of the problem with dice and gambling card games.”

But…but…as you read or listen to what he is saying, he makes a very compelling point AND after having lived in Las Vegas, I know exactly what he is talking about.

So, today, we are going to hear about forbidden games and I encourage you to just hear out St. Francis. Let’s open our books the Chapter Thirty-Two of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope that your day is starting well or ending well. Or, hey, maybe you are in the middle of your day and, if so, I hope it’s going well.

Everywhere we turn, we hear about stress. People are constantly saying that they are stressed about this and stressed about that. Headlines talk about how stressed everyone is and how our society is one of the most anxious, stressed, and depressed on record.

To add to that, people tell me pretty frequently that they don’t have time for anything. They are soooo busy. Swamped, in fact. When I ask what is keeping them so busy, no one can tell me clearly. They hem and haw around, but I’m never left with a clear picture of what is packing their day so tightly that they have no room to breathe.

I know people work and people take care of their kids. I, also, know that some people are in school and that keeps people pretty busy. But, overall, I think there is a bigger culprit—wasted time.

People work or go to school and then they spend hours upon hours glued to some screen. Before they know it, they look up and realize that laundry needs to be done or homework needs to be done, the kitchen needs cleaned, and the kids put to bed. Time has condensed because of all the screen time and then people feel pressured and stressed to get stuff done.

To add to this, they aren’t enjoying any amusements which refresh the mind and relax the body. Screen time does neither of these.

St. Francis is going to talk to us about the importance of lawful amusements. Let’s open our books to Chapter Thirty One of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are back to learn more and reflect more on how we can better live a devout life.

The point of this book is not for us to just listen and then think, “That’s nice. I sure do agree.” The point of the book is for us to put into practice what we are reading about here. Obviously, we can’t put all of these into practice all at once and 100% perfectly, but we do need to be actively thinking about what St. Francis is teaching us. If somethings he says makes us uncomfortable, well, that’s probably an area we need to work on.

Today, St. Francis gives us a short reading where he just gives a few more pointers to think about when it comes to having conversations with people. So, let’s open our book to Chapter 30 of the Third Part.

Welcome, fellow Pilgrims, to another reading from our wise St. Francis.

One day, I was thinking about our current political circus and I thought to myself, "If my husband ran for president or if I did, what dirt would they try to dig up in my past to ruin my reputation?"

Thank God, I grew up before cell phones, but there are still things that people could dig up about my past that would cast a dark shadow over me. In our cancel culture today, people wickedly relish in digging up embarrassing and ugly things from people’s past so that they can say, “See! See! This person once said this! Or look at this picture of them from when they were 15! Look! Look how bad they were!”

Then the internet mob descends like a female black widow from her lare, ready to strike and kill her prey. Nobody checks to see if they’ve changed as a person. Nobody is forgiving in any capacity. Nobody asks any questions. It’s just, “We see this bad thing from long ago and now we will destroy your reputation.”

It’s horrible and such an grave sin, because it has quite literally ruined people’s careers, families, their good name, their safety, etc.

Today, St. Francis is going to talk to us about avoiding detraction, which is the sin of purposely seeking to destroy someone’s reputation with malicious intent. So, let’s turn to Chapter Twenty-Nine of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thanks for hitting play and joining me.

Today, we are going to be talking about rash judgment. Boy, oh boy, is judgment a hot topic. On the one hand, you will have people tell you that we can never judge. And then on the other hand, we have the internet mob that will judge you right, left, up, down, and sideways.

You wouldn’t believe the lengths I have to go to sometimes to make sure people don’t judge me in my pictures on my page because I don’t veil, or I don’t wear skirts to my ankles, or I wear jeans now and then.

I’m a huge rock and roll fan and a band I like a lot is Rush. I remember years ago, I was talking about my favorite Rush song on my Catholic Pilgrim page and this lady showed up and scolded me for listening to “Satanic music” and she said, “Isn’t Rush a bunch of drug users and womanizers?”

I had to laugh, because clearly she was making rash judgment and knew nothing about them. Rush is a clean band. The late drummer, Neil Peart, lost his wife and she was so beloved by him that when she died, he took a very long time off from the band to travel the country by motorcycle and mourn her death. Hardly a womanizer. The band is not just some typical sex, drugs, and rock and roll band, but she quickly judged them as such.

I think what is important is that we understand that we all judge, we must or we would put ourselves and our children in danger. But, I think what we need to do is focus in on the word rash. Rash judgment is bad and there’s a few more things I want to flesh out on the other side of the readings.

So, let’s open our book to Chapter Twenty Eight of the Third Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are having a good day.

When I was a teenager, I pretty much watched, read, and listened to whatever I wanted. Because I am naturally draw to beautiful expressions of art—be that music, movies, or books—for the most part, I entertained myself with mostly okay things.

However, I still engaged in whatever entertainment I wanted and it negatively affected me. I spoke like a sailor and I was crude. Entertainment influenced me whether I would have admitted it or not.

When I was 18, my then boyfriend and I rented the movie “Faces of Death.” If you don’t know what that is, they are a series of movies that document real life death situations. You see a person get shot. You see a person get hit by a train. It’s truly a horrific thing to have out there and it sickens me that I ever watched it.

My dad happened to see that we were going to watch it and he said to me, “Amy, this isn’t something you want to feed your mind with.” I brushed him off, but deep down I knew he was right. The intent of the show was to desensitize death and make money off of people’s tragedies. It was and is poison.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about modesty in conversation and making our lives reverent. Let’s open our books to Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today is a super short reading, but a good one nonetheless.

One of the things about being on social media that is extremely important to me is that I never sound different than how I really speak. I’m not a “keep it real” potty mouth, but I’m also not someone that sounds like a cheesy TV evangelist. If you were to ever talk to me in person, you’d find that my writing style aligns fairly well with the way I speak to people.

I don’t think you need to set a low bar in how you talk about God in order to appeal to the “unchurched” or younger generations, plus, that’s just not me. I, also, cannot stand when people act like they are always caught up in rapture with the way they talk about God. It’s disingenuous even though its meant to convey a deep faith life. You know the people I’m talking about: The ones that speak breathily and have a “praise Jesus’ after everything you say.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about conversations concerning God. How should we talk to others about God? Let’s hear what he has to say as we open our books to Chapter Twenty-Six of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. What a great day to read St. Francis together. I truly love meeting you hear to read his words.

I’ve been told that I’m an old soul. If I had to pick a decade from the 1900s that best suits me it would be the 1940s. I love the dresses that the ladies wore. I love the way men wore suits everywhere. I like the music, the aesthetics, in general, I like the vibe of the 40s.

When I look at pictures of my grandparents from that time period, I’m always captivated by how put together everyone is. Women went out with their hair done, their make-up on, and clothes that were dignified. Men were groomed and well-dressed. I know not everyone was this way and I know that there were very poor people that couldn’t dress to the nines, but there was still a sense of dignity in the way that people presented themselves.

We all know that, as Catholics, we should dress modestly. In our day and age, modest dress is unpopular, but so is being well-groomed and that is what we are going to talk about today after we hear St. Francis speak on propriety in dress. Grab you book and open to the Twenty-Fifth Chapter of the Third Part.

Fellow Pilgrims, welcome back. Today, we hit 70 episodes for this season which is amazing. I have felt that this season is flying by and before we know it, we will be starting season five. Five seasons. That’s crazy.

I do know who I’m reading for next year, but I’m not ready to disclose yet. I’ll just let your curiosity drive you nuts. :)

The other day I saw a video of a new restaurant in, I think Japan, could be Korea, but, anyway, the point of the restaurant was to appeal to introverts. Patrons would come in, seat themselves in like a telephone booth-styled box, order food on a screen, and then a train thing delivers the food. You are closed off from other people who are dining. This was praised as a great restaurant for introverts, but, no, this is weird. This is called being socially awkward and having a disdain for fellow humans and we should not encourage it. Full-up solitude forevermore is not good.

Then I listened to another video where people were dogging on people who just sit in silence on airplanes. They ask, “How can they do it? What kind of weirdo just sits there and doesn’t watch a movie, play on their phone, or listen to music?” In a world filled with constant noise, drama, entertainment, and constant interaction (usually over devices), we can get to the point where we don’t know how to be in silence. This isn’t good either and we shouldn’t encourage constant distractions.

What is better is to cultivate a healthy life that is balanced by society and silence. That’s what St. Francis is going to talk about today. Let’s open our books to Chapter Twenty Four of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today as I read St. Francis’ words. We’ve moved out of the section on friendship which was excellent and today we are reading about external mortifications.

This is a longer reading, but an important one as a lot of people are freaked out by external mortifications and in a world that preaches self-indulgence, mortifications are utterly foreign to many.

My daughter was recently in Miami for just a bit and she said to me, “Mom, I’ve never seen so much plastic surgery in my life. It’s insane.”

What’s interesting is that we have, on the one hand, in our culture, an obsession with getting all kinds of plastic surgeries to stave off old age and enhance certain parts of the body and then, on the other hand, we see people over-indulge in food. I know it isn’t popular to say but our country has a real problem with obesity.

External mortifications—fasting, labor, abstinence, sacrifices—are ways that we try to correct vanity and gluttony, but we must remember that the health of our soul—the internal part of us—must be full of Christ, for any mortification to be effective.

So, let’s hear what St. Francis has to say by opening our books to Chapter Twenty-Three of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to our last reading on friendship. Today, I’m going to say some hard things to hear, but I think they must be said.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say, “Yes, but Jesus ate with sinners.” I get this in response to people trying to defend abortion, LGBT ideology, and the like. They are trying to make the point that since Jesus ate with sinners, we should ipso facto eat with them, too. They take it a step further because what they really want to say is that we should eat with them and tolerate the choices and lifestyles of those engaging in those particular sins.

It irritates me because they neglect to remember that Jesus didn’t eat with sinners because He wanted to encourage them in their sin or pat them on the back and tell them that He was an ally. No, He called them to repentance and transformation. He calls us all to holiness. And so, yes, we may need to “eat with sinners,” which means literally anyone we eat with, but if we are a good friend, we should never, ever watch them perish in their sin.

St. Francis is going to give us just a few more thoughts about friendship today, so let’s turn to Chapter 22 of the Third Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Friendship is our topic again for today and today we are focusing solely on evil friendships. (Dracula laugh in the background.)

Why is so hard for us to give up a friendship or even a romantic relationship that is not good for us?

I think a big part of it is that we all think that we are a good judge of character and we just can’t imagine that we would pick a bad friend. So, that’s part of it.

Another part is that we all struggle with letting people go…because there is the “what if” in the back of our mind. What if they get better? What if they change? What if I’m overreacting?

One more reason to touch on is that in our day and age, the judging police have done a sufficient job in making people think that they can never judge another person’s character whatsoever. If you do, you are labeled a moral snob or some equivalent of that label. We think that maybe we are ungrateful for the friend and we are just judging them wrongly.

Nope! God gave us a moral compass for a reason and if we can’t use it to judge bad character and bad actions then what the heck is it for?

St. Francis wants you to drop bad friendships like a hot rock and we will hear about it as we turn to Chapter 21 of the Third Part.

Fellow Pilgrims, welcome back for another great reading from St. Francis de Sales. We are still on the topic of friendship and like I said in a previous episode, St. Francis really covers this topic very thoroughly. This is good because not enough people talk about healthy and holy friendships.

In fact, I think it’s a topic that we don’t talk about with our kids enough. Oftentimes, we wait until its too late to discuss friendship. When our kids are little, we steer them away from other kids we don’t see as good influences for our children. We often don’t tell them why, though. We just draw a boundary line.

Then, when our kids move into their teens and they get around friends we don’t find good for them, we try to get them to end the friendship, but they buck against us. We haven’t taught them what to look for in a friend and how to pick up on warning signs.

Most people believe that a good friend is just someone that you share interests with and that is like-minded in beliefs. That’s not what makes a good friend.

I’ve had really good friends that I’ve dumped because they tried to charitably correct my behavior and they didn’t agree with everything I was doing. I thought this made them a bad friend because they weren’t “on my side.” I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I’ve also been on the flip-side of this where I tried to call a friend to higher standard and it was not well received. We’ll talk about that after we hear St. Francis talk about the difference between true and false friendships. Let’s open our books to Chapter Twenty of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to another reading that covers the topic of friendship. Today, specifically, we will be hearing about true friendship. As you know, my daughter is a Focus Missionary at Berkeley. Most people turn up their nose when they hear that she is a missionary there, writing off the students as utter loss causes. I was worried about her safety when she first told me she was going to be sent there. But, we can’t only go into places that are healthy and be missionaries. Christ said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

One of the things that has been striking to my daughter as she serves in this mission field is how little people understand what true friendship is. Most have never had a true friend, one that desires your good, raises you in virtue, and shares special memories with you.

So much of what she has done is to teach them how to be in friendship with one another.

Let’s hear what St. Francis has to say by turning in our books to Chapter Nineteen of the Third Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day of talking about friendship. Today’s topic is an interesting one, but I’m glad St. Francis is discussing it. It’s about flirtations.

The other night, my family was watching the more recent Jumanji, the one staring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black.

In the movie, five high schoolers get sucked into the video game version of Jumanji and when they end up in the video game, they are all completely different people than who they are in real life. In real life, Dwayne Johnson’s character is this super skinny germaphobe who is very introverted. In the game, he’s this big muscled-up guy. In real life, Jack Black’s character is this self-absorbed high-school beauty who is addicted to her phone.

They all have their personalities, just their external bodies are completely different from what they really are. It’s pretty funny at certain parts.

Anyway, at one point in the video game, the five players have to make it past some bad guys and they come up with a plan to have the only girl in the group go and flirt with the bad guys so as to distract them. In real life, this girl is very shy and very awkward and so she’s never flirted. Jack Black’s character gives her a lesson in flirting and it’s hilarious because all you see is a short, overweight man trying to teach the girl how to flip her hair, bat her eyes, and walk in an attractive way. Anyway, it doesn’t go well, but it’s pretty funny.

There is power in flirtation and so we must be careful with it. That’s what St. Francis is going to talk to us about today. Grab your book and open to Chapter Eighteen of the Third Part.

Hello, fellow Pilgrims, my friends. Today, we start the first of six readings on friendship, so clearly this is something that St. Francis considers an important topic and not one that we often hear about.

For anyone that currently has or has had teenagers, you know that your kid can be heavily influenced by their friends—for good or for bad. Because acceptance is so important to humans, it is not unusual for us to become friends with someone just because they may accept us, even if they aren’t necessarily good for us.

We teach our kids lots and lots of things, but often times, we neglect to teach them the truth of what a good friend is: A good friend is not just simply someone who accepts you. A good friend is someone who truly wills goodness for your life.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about bad and frivolous friendships. So, let’s turn to Chapter Seventeen of the Third Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have another day where we are hearing about riches and poverty.

Many of you have heard my earthquake story that occurred when we were stationed in Turkey. If not, in summary, on October 30th, 2020, Izmir, Turkey was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that went on for 45 seconds. That is an eternity in earthquake time. My children and I happened to be on the 15th floor of our apartment high-rise and feeling the building sway and roll for that length of time was one of the most unsettling feelings you can possibly imagine. I figured at any minute the building was going to come down on us.

When the earthquake finished, I told my kids to run out of the building. I just wanted to get them out. So, we ran out with no shoes on and flew down the 15 flights of stairs to get out. What I didn’t know at the time was that our building was designed to move that way to keep it flexible during an earthquake. It was designed by Japanese architects.

My husband’s squadron was told to get to higher ground because there was fear of a tsunami coming (Izmir sits right on the Aegean Sea). And so, a group of Americans marched through town to higher ground. My kids and I, though, didn’t have shoes.

I’ll reflect on what happened when we got to higher ground as it pertains to our reading today. Let’s turn to Chapter Sixteen in the Third Part.

Fellow Pilgrims, it’s time for another reading. Something I wanted to note last time but forgot is that we hit the half-way mark in the book. That is cause for celebration. It’s hard to believe we are already half-way through the book, but when you stick with things and you show up, even in little spurts, you can make it through anything.

I’ve never been what you would call a rich person. Growing up my parents struggled to get by but they did the things that needed to happen in order to advance their placement in this world. So, I grew up with not much and I’ve never been rich. I feel rich in that I have my health, my faith, my family, friends, and all my needs and wants met. I’ve never desired a fancy car or a huge house. I do like money for traveling, if I’m being honest.

There was one time in my life where I did feel rich and that’s when I lived in Turkey. How did my husband and I handle that? Well, I’ll explain on the other side of St. Francis talking to us about how to preserve real poverty while being actually rich. Let’s turn to Chapter Fifteen of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is another great day to read and learn from St. Francis.

Thomas Sowell, a great American economist, philosopher, and political commentator, writes and says many excellent things. He is truly a brilliant man. One of my favorite quotes of his, is, “I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.”

We hear pretty consistently that the rich are bad and that the government should take their money and give it to others. I hate this notion for several reasons:

We need the wealthy to create jobs. Taxing them to death kills innovation and business growth.
You remove charity when you force people to be “charitable.”
Nobody wants their money taken from them and forcibly given to others, yet, we demand the rich not only do it, but we call them wicked if they don’t love having their money stripped from them.

Is it wrong to be rich? No. Can being rich lead you to being greedy? Yes, but so can poverty. Greed doesn’t become suddenly okay if you are poor. It’s always wrong to want to strip from others what is rightfully theirs and what they have rightfully earned.

Our topic for today is on having a poverty of spirit in the midst of wealth. So, let’s turn to Chapter Fourteen of the Third Part.

Hello, hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Last time we talked about the virtue of chastity and why its so important. Today, St. Francis is going to share with us the rules for preserving chastity. As like with last time, listener discretion is advised.

It is hard in this day and age to cultivate the virtue of chastity. A big reason for that is because of the devices we all carry around in our pockets.

We are going to read what St. Francis says and then discuss how we deal with this in the present age.

Let’s open our books to Chapter Thirteen of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to another beautiful day with St. Francis.

Today, we are covering chastity, so you may want to be wary of younger ears being present.

’ve mentioned before that my Masters is in Applied Behavioral Science where I specialized in studying sexual violence crimes. It would be an understatement to say that I have dealt with unchastity on unprecedented levels.

It isn’t pleasant I can tell you that. Sexual impurity has always been around, so its nothing new. What is new is the level at which chastity is scorned and ridiculed. In fact, being impure is not only encouraged, but celebrated and promoted on levels we’ve never seen before.

Consequently, this means that I had to deal with the fallout and rarely do people have to deal with the fallout and so they brush it off. Most people do not have to deal with the lives that have been destroyed by a world that has encouraged people in sexual impurity. One of the reasons that people don’t have to deal with it is because our culture tells people these lies and then when people are broken and battered because of believing the lies, we don’t want to listen or help because it makes us uncomfortable.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about chastity and it’s a subject very near and dear to my heart. Let’s open to Chapter Twelve of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are talking about obedience, which has become a very distasteful word in our culture.

There’s a scene in the "Ten Commandments" where Moses says to Ramses, played by Yule Brenner, “Here His Word Rameses and obey!”

Ramses looks at Moses and says, “Obey?”

I just love how he says, “Obey.” Such classic Yule Brenner.

There is this general feeling that if we are obedient to anything (other than our chosen political party) that we are somehow shackled and oppressed.

People complain about having to obey Church laws.

People complain about having to be obedient to the Pope or any superior, for that matter.

At the core of all of this, is a prideful independence. We only want to do what we want to do and obedience, it seems, is forced.

St. Francis is going to talk to us about obedience today, so let’s open to Chapter Eleven of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Ahhhh….gotta love things that make you feel nostalgic.

If you grew up in the 80s and 90s there seemed to be this huge push to be a multi-tasker. People took great pride if they felt like they could multi-task well. Books were written on it and ways to successfully multi-task were touted.

Even in my younger years, it never seemed like a real thing. I never thought that people could actually multi-task. Like you can’t cook dinner, read a book, and write up an email all at the same time. You may cook some food, then move over to reading a book while the pot is boiling, and then put the book down, and write an email. You simply can’t do it all simultaneously and really accomplish anything.

Yet, people still strive for this and it leaves them anxious and their able to do things very well. Not to mention, it leaves us extremely unfocused and then we get stressed out and we don’t enjoy anything we do.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about being careful in our business without overeagerness or solicitude. So, let’s open to Chapter 10 of the Third Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. I’m so glad to have you with me.

If you are a devout Catholic, you know that we are to be striving for holiness. Sainthood is the goal. You, also, know that as a devout Catholic, we all fall short sometimes. And while I’m not one to listen to excuses or give an easy pass, it is important that we be gentle with ourselves as we travel down the road to sainthood. Not gentle, as in we excuse away our faults and failings, but gentle in that we don’t beat ourselves up and allow that to turn us into bitter, crass human beings.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about being gentleness towards ourselves, so let’s open our books to the Ninth Chapter of the Third Part and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are going to dive into one of the things I struggle with the most and that is anger.

Anger is an emotion that I’ve struggled since I can remember. I have gotten better, I will say that, but it’s a work in progress. Early on in my life when people would try to tell me that my anger was getting the better of me, I would get angry and tell them, “This is just who I am, okay? I can’t change this about myself.”

But, that was a cop-out. The truth was, was that I didn’t really want to work on it because it had become a coping mechanism and it made me feel powerful. Once I started to realize that it was hurting my husband and others I loved, I knew that I needed to own up and admit that, to be angry or not, is within my control.

There are times when we should and must have righteous anger, otherwise we are indifferent to evil and that is never good. However, we must never let our anger control us and we must learn to not get angry all the time when we don’t get our way, or someone irritates us, or we feel slighted in someway. Too much anger poisons the blood.

Working on meekness as opposed to anger is our topic for today, so, let’s turn to Chapter Eight of the Third Part.

Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Thank you as always for tuning in today, it really does mean a lot.

Do you have a good reputation that you work to preserve? Has anyone tried to tarnish your good reputation and, if so, how did you deal with it? Does humility demand that we just take it when someone tries to ruin our reputation?

Whenever I think of a good reputation, I always think of the story of Susanna in the Old Testament. Susanna was a devoted wife, a good woman, and a well-respected member of her community. One day, she goes into bath in her garden and two elders who are lusting after her, sneak into the garden and try to force her to be intimate with them. She refuses them and they attempt to set a trap.

They tell the husband that they caught Susanna laying with a younger man in the garden. The community is shocked. Susanna’s servants are dismayed that their lady would do such a thing. Susanna tries to defend herself, but because the two elders’ testimony is seen as more truthful, she is sentenced to death.

Daniel, thankfully, steps in and saves Susanna by catching the two elders in their lie. He saves Susanna’s good reputation and her life. I feel so much for her when reading that story because sometimes, when people are trying to ruin your good name, you feel helpless.

Preserving a good reputation in humility is our topic for today, so lets open our books to Chapter Seven of the Third Part and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I’m glad you are here with me today. Just a word before we read: I'm back on a Air Force base and the jets are flying all the time. So, sometimes, you'll hear some jet noise in the background. It's the sound of freedom, as we like to say on base, so just enjoy. :)

Before we begin, we need to make sure we understand the terminology from today’s reading. St. Francis is going to be talking about how humility makes us love our own abasement. Now, you may be saying, “Huh?”

When we choose to practice humility, there are certain consequences that may come with it. We may experience abasement. We may be reduced in rank, office, reputation or estimation. The abasement that comes from practicing humility can often be harder to bear than the practice of humility itself. For example, because Our Lord humbled Himself to become one of us and, yet, at the same time claimed His divinity, He suffered at the hands of the Pharisees and Romans. He was ridiculed, hated, rejected, and ultimately killed for His humility.

St. Francis is telling us that we must learn to accept abasement and learn to love the fact that we can suffer for the Lord. That’s some hard stuff, but I think you’ll see as we read that it’s necessary. If we think we are going to practice humility without every experiencing abasement, we are in for a rude awakening.

Let’s go ahead and turn in our books to Chapter Six of the Third Part.

My fellow Pilgrims, welcome. How is going today? Good? Not so good? So-so? Well, however you are feeling, I’m glad you showed up here today to join me for another reading.

The other day my daughter and I were watching this video of a MadTV skit. The actors were all dressed up in wealthy 1900-period garb and they were standing around in a room as if at a dinner party. One of the ladies asks one of the guys to play something on the piano and another lady pipes in with, “Don’t make me sing.” It’s hilarious because she really wants to sing and she thinks she is a good singer, but she’s trying to be humble. However, it comes off as false humility and everyone is just annoyed with her, because she goes on and on. I’ll see if I can find the video and put the link in the show notes.

God gives each one of gifts and we are to use those gifts to better the world and make the light of Christ shine in our dark world. It’s not true humility to deny our gifts, it’s a false humility and that is what we are going to talk about today.

So, let’s turn our books to Chapter Five of the Third Part.

https://youtu.be/zSnCjyoMNgs?si=pnikjVSKJELEoO2G

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Glad to have you back. Today, our topic is on external humility and while I know not everyone will be listening to this in the month of June, I think it’s a great time to discuss pride and humility. If you have young listeners, you may want to wait to listen.

I wrote something the other day when we entered into the month of June that said, “Instead of pride, let us have humility and draw closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” The wide majority of people were very supportive of what I wrote, but a few voiced their displeasure at my supposed “dig” at the LGBT community. One guy said sarcastically, “That’s right, you can’t be proud of your children, your families, or being an American.”

Now, all this is to ignore the fact that there is no day to collectively celebrate children, there is no day to collectively celebrate being proud of your family. There is only one day to celebrate being “proud” to be an American. According to GLAAD, a pro-LGBT organization, there are 94 calendar days set aside to honor or celebrate some group within this community. 94 days.

External humility. A good topic to discuss. So, let’s open our book to Chapter Four of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome to our reading on patience. I don’t think it's a mistake that this is the first virtue St. Francis choose to write about. Patience, I believe, is one of the hardest virtues to practice.

And to be very honest, there are some things that I just have no patience for, such as most of what the secular culture is pushing these days. I just have no patience for it—none. Mostly because I can see the trajectory its taking all of us, our country, and individuals on. People are always telling me that I have to be gentle and nice and win people over with honey, but, again, I’ve got to be honest, that’s just not me. Part of that is that, well…I’m not patient and the other part is that sometimes you just need to shoot straight and tell it like it is.

There’s so much of what we are going to read about today that made me say, “Ahhhh…yeah, but it just doesn’t seem fair to have patience with this or that.”

So, this is going to be a necessary chapter to read and one that isn’t easily put into practice, but let’s go ahead and open our books to Chapter Three of the Third Part.

How is it going, Catholic Pilgrims? I hope life is treating you well wherever you are in the world.

Today, our reading is a continuation of last time. To refresh, last time St. Francis was talking to us about living out the virtues, which is what he is going to be talking about in the Third Part. He is continuing on with the overview of the virtues and so we won’t see any particular virtue singled out for our practice.

So, let’s get started by turning in our books to Chapter Two of the Third Part.

Hello, Pilgrims, welcome back! Today, we are entering into the Third Part and it is all about practicing the virtues. Our first reading today is longer than normal and so I want to jump right in and get started. Everybody’s time is precious, I know.

So, go ahead and grab your books and open to Chapter One of the Third Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to our last reading in the Second Part. In summary, the whole Second Part has been on how to approach prayer and the sacraments, mainly the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist.

Today, St. Francis is going to talk about how to communicate and he doesn’t mean how to talk to people. He’s referring to Holy Communion. How should we go up to receive Our Lord?

So, with that knowledge, let’s open our books to Chapter Twenty-One of the Second Part.

Fellow Pilgrims, welcome to our reading today.

Most Catholics know and understand that we need to go to Mass on Sunday. It is an obligation and while that it is a dirty word in our culture, it needn’t be. We are obliged to give a meager one hour to God, once a week.

There are certain things about receiving Holy Communion at Sunday Mass that are extremely important that we know. A few things are: 1. You cannot receive Holy Communion if you have mortal sin on your soul. It’s still vital that you go to Mass, you just need to refrain from Communion until you go to Confession. 2. A weekday Mass does not make up for a Sunday Mass. You can’t on purpose miss Mass on Sunday and say, “Well, I’ll just go on Tuesday.” Sunday is the Lord’s Day. 3. You can miss Mass on Sunday but only for a grave reason. Kids’ sporting events are not grave reasons.

But, what if we do receive Holy Communion more frequently at daily Mass? What does St. Francis have to say about that? Well, we are going to find out today as we read in Chapter Twenty of the Second Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims! Welcome back to another great day with St. Francis de Sales.

When I was around six years old, I became somewhat of a thief. I was stealing lots of things: Toys from church, toys of neighbor kids, and a lady’s purse. Yes, you heard that right. I stole a lady’s purse and hid it under my Smurf three-wheeler.

I got in some major trouble for it and maybe you’ve heard that story before, but one of the hardest things my parents made me do was to go, give back the purse, and apologize to the lady that I’d taken it from. That was pure torture.

I still remember how I felt walking up to her apartment. Everything in me did not want to confess to this woman and tell her that I stole. I didn’t want to admit that I was the kid that took her things. I knew what I did was wrong, because I tried to hide it from my parents. But, to have to say out loud what I did was nearly impossible to utter. However, I never stole again, for many reasons, but one of them was that I didn’t want to have to say that about myself again.

Confession is hard for this reason—we don’t want to admit what we have allowed ourselves to become or what we have allowed ourselves to do. St. Francis is going to talk to us about Confession today in Chapter Nineteen of the Second Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Oh, I love today’s reading. It’s so good and a fresh way to look at inspirations.

Because it is a longer reading, I don’t want to take too much time talking myself. Instead, let’s jump right in to Chapter Eighteen of the Second Part.

Hello Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back!

When I was younger, I would pick up my Bible, intent on reading it straight through. I’d get through Genesis and Exodus, but once Leviticus it was all I could do to hang on and stay awake. It wasn’t long after that I’d give up reading Scripture until I felt inspired again. But then I would go through the whole scenario all over never getting through the whole Bible.

I finally came to realize that I needed help in reading the Bible. Once I realized that, I grew to love reading Scripture mostly because I didn’t feel like I had to go it alone or be a theologian to read it.

St. Francis today is going to talk to us about how to hear and read the word of God, so let’s open to Chapter Seventeen of the Second Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back to another great day with St. Francis de Sales.

As you all well know, I grew up Protestant and, because of this, I did not grow up knowing about the saints or even the angels, really. Mary was only considered around Christmas time. So, when I became Catholic, it took me a hot second to learn to bring the saints and angels into my faith life.

This was something that wasn’t super hard for me to incorporate for a couple of reasons: Number one, the Protestant way of thinking about those in Heaven didn’t really make sense to me once I thought about it. It doesn't make sense that God would cut us off from each other. We are the Body of Christ and that doesn’t cease to exist upon the ending of our earthly life. And number two, I wanted the saints and angels a part of my life because they are fascinating people and beings.

St. Francis is going to talk to us today about invoking the saints, so let’s turn to Chapter Sixteen of the Second Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Good to have you back with me.

I'm going to totally date myself today, that's fine, I don't really worry to much about people knowing my age. Anyway, I grew up watching "The Andy Griffth Show" with my dad. Several years ago, when my family wanted to watch something that didn't scar our souls, we started watching "The Andy Griffth Show."

There are many things about that show that I love, but I particularly love when the show is centered on a Sunday. The people of the town go to church, they might have a potluck picnic afterwards, and then Andy and Barney sit on Andy's front porch, drink a Coke, listen to Andy play the guitar, and just sit around and talk about nothing. I just always feel a sense of longing for Sundays to be more like that.

St. Francis is going to talk to us about how to respond to Sundays, festivals, and other public services. So, grab your book and open to Chapter Fifteen of the Second Part.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, our reading is on one of my favorite topics—Holy Mass.

Recently, my husband has been working with a small-business out of California that is owned by some crazy smart young guys. My husband, being in the Air Force, brought them on base for some testing. It’s always so fun to see a base through the eyes of someone who has never been on one before.

I’ve been going to bases for 20-plus years now and you tend to just get used to it and the coolness factor wears off. For fresh eyes, though, they think it’s so cool to see the old retired jets sitting around, the stately, vintage homes, and all the buildings with big badges plastered to the wall telling you what unit resides inside.

Us “seasoned” ones get used to the Star-Spangled Banner playing at the close of the day and the sound of jets flying over constantly doing cool maneuvers. When someone new comes on base, you see it through their eyes and it reminds you of its specialness.

I believe can be that way with Mass, as well. St. Francis will talk to us about how to be fully present at Holy Mass. So, let’s grab our books and open to the Fourteenth Chapter of the Second Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Today is our longest read yet, but I don’t want that to scare you. It’s packed with some really good things. Because it is longer and I know everyone’s time is precious, I don’t want to offer a reflection at the end. Instead, here at the front end, I’d like to give you what I think you should focus on.

So often in our Christian life we are told to invite God into our every day, keep God at the forefront of your mind, St. Paul tells us to pray without ceasing, but what does that really look like? Are we to be on our knees all day? Are we to listen to Christian music non-stop? Can we only read religious books?

Listen to the examples, St. Francis gives today and I think you will see it is much more simple then we often think. So, let’s sit back and take it all in as we turn to Chapter Thirteen of the Second Part.

Welcome to another reading, Catholic Pilgrims. T

oday, we are going to be talking about spiritual retreats, but not the kind you normally think of. Usually when someone speaks of spiritual retreat, you think of going away to some monastery or retreat house to spend a weekend. While those are good to do, that’s not what St. Francis is going to discuss today. I’d be curious to know if they had organized spiritual retreats back in St. Francis’ day.

So, let’s see what he is talking about by opening to Chapter 12 of the Second Part.

How y’all doing, Catholic Pilgrims. I'm working on my Alabama accent there for ya.

I was recently giving a talk and I sat down next to this lady before the talk began and she said something to me and I responded. As soon as she heard me speak, she said, “Oh, you ain’t from the South are ya?”

I said, “No, ma’am, I’m from Kansas originally.” I think it’s so cool how different part of the country have different accents.

Anyway, enough about that. We have another short reading today. Last time, St. Francis talked to us about making sure we say our morning prayers; today, he is going to talk to us about our evening exercises. So, let’s open to Chapter Eleven of the Second Part and begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to another day with St. Francis.

When I was working, I couldn’t even imagine a morning prayer routine. I was so busy getting ready, getting my girls ready for school and daycare, packing lunches, laying out something for dinner, and getting everyone out the door on time, that there was no way I could squeeze time in for prayer. Or so, I thought.

See, my idea of morning prayer time meant that I needed a solid hour of uninterrupted time and since I didn’t have that luxury, well, prayer time was just gonna have to take a back burner.

I think a lot of people think that if they don’t have loads of time for morning prayer then it's not worth doing. That’s not true, though, and St. Francis has some thoughts on morning prayer.

Turn to Chapter 10 of the Second Part and let’s begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for coming back to join me in another reading.

Have you ever looked in the comment's section of a celebrity's social media page? We all know that celebrities, or at least very few, manage their own social media pages. If you look in the comments, you see person-after-person heaping praise and adoration on the celebrity. Obviously there are some haters, too, in the comments, but for the most part, people sing the celebrity’s praises. People do this, all the while, knowing it’s a one-way street. The celebrity, rarely if ever, responds back. If you are looking to be filled-up by communication with them, well, it’s a dry well.

I’m not here to blame the celebrity. They can’t possibly respond to all the comments they get. What is amazing, though, is that even though the relationship is dry and most certainly always will be, people still come back again, and again, and again.

Yet, too often, if our prayer life becomes dry…we give up.

That is what we are going to hear about from St. Francis today in our reading from Chapter Nine of the Second Part. Let’s begin.

Pilgrims, pilgrims. Welcome back for another reading.

What do you do when you are done praying or meditating on some aspect of God? Do you then get up and have your breakfast? Turn out the lights and go to sleep? Maybe you go get ready for the day?

If life were always perfect, we would be able to leave our prayer life and just quietly slip into the rest of our day or end our day peacefully. But, it’s not always like that. Prayer time can be disrupted by babies waking up, kids needing your help, a spouse needing to talk, or people leaving the church loudly.

Life happens and that’s okay. We can’t let those things get to us. The important thing is to, at least attempt, or as much as we can control, to not leave our prayer time in a jarring way. St. Francis has a few more tips about meditation and so let’s see what he has to say.

Flip your book open to Chapter Eight of the Second Part and let’s begin.

Welcome, fellow Pilgrims, how is the journey going today? I hope things are well and if not well then I hope God is giving you the grace to shoulder what you are struggling through.

Today, St. Francis gives three acts to do to wrap up any meditation time. This is another very practical reading from him and, so, I’m not sure there is much I could expand on. As you can see, when you are dealing with Saints that aren’t mystics, you typically get very straightforward advice and insight. That’s not to say that reading the mystics is not worthwhile, of course it is.

So, we will read and then be done for the day. Go ahead and grab your book and open to Chapter Seven of the Second Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope this day is treating you well.

So, the last couple of readings, St. Francis has been coaching Philothea, or us, you might say, in how to meditate. We’ve learned that it is worthwhile to pick out something in the Bible, especially, some point in Christ’s life and meditate on it. We are to use our imagination to place ourselves in the scene and we are to meditate, not to simply gain knowledge, but to grow closer to God.

But, as we are doing all this thinking and meditating we should be drawn into some affections and resolutions. That is our focus for today and so let’s grab out books and open to Chapter Six of the Second Part.

My fellow Pilgrims, welcome. We have another very short reading today which is, again, very straightforward. You may be wondering why all these short readings, but we must remember that St. Francis is teaching Philothea about the devout life. So, he’s leading her, step-by-step to an understanding. Some of these steps are very practical and some are going to be more philosophical and theological.

Today is another practical step. I don’t think we need a lot of reflection from me, but the key thing I do want us to hone in on is that St. Francis wants us to reflect on God for love of God: Not to just acquire knowledge and be super smart about theological things, but because we want to more intimately know the God we claim to love.

So, with that said, let’s open to Chapter Five of the Second Part.

Welcome to our reading today, Catholic Pilgrims.

Our focus for today is on the third point of preparing to meditate. As a refresher, first we are to recognize that God is present, then we are to offer an invocation to show the genuineness of our desire to enter into mediation and, today, we St. Francis wants us to set forth the mystery.

In essence, he wants us to use our imagination to see the places or people we are meditating on, specifically the events in Christ’s life and the people that were with Him at those events.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter Four of the Second Part.

Hello, hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, St. Francis is giving us the second point in preparing to enter into prayer or meditation. Remember last time, he wants us to place ourselves in the presence of God or recognize that God is present–either spiritually, as in He is everywhere, or physically, if you happen to be at church in front of the tabernacle or a monstrance.

The second point is on the invocation and this is a very straight forward, short reading, so I don’t feel that it needs much reflection from me.

So, I will just read and then we’ll be done with a lighter day. So, grab your books and open to Chapter Three of the Second Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome.

Today, St. Francis is going to be giving us some pointers for preparing to enter into meditation. If you remember last time, we talked about the necessity of prayer and there are a lot of people that just don’t know what to do. Unless you are a spiritual heavyweight, most people need guidance when it comes to prayer. It’s something that, in many ways, has to be learned.

So, today is the first point of preparation and it’s all about placing yourself in the presence of God. So, let’s grab our books and open to Chapter Two of the Second Part.

Welcome, my Catholic Pilgrim friends. We have reached the Second Part of the book, which is a nice milestone for us to celebrate.

My son is in his first year of ever playing baseball, which is thrilling to me because I loved playing softball. I, also, enjoy watching baseball games. It’s, also, exciting to me because with my girls, most of their sports were in things that I couldn’t help with.

But, my son, since he is nine, he’s a little bit behind, because most boys have been playing since they were little. Thankfully, Jeremiah is very athletic and picks things up pretty quickly. Early on, before the season started, he was frustrated because he wasn’t as good as the other boys: They could throw farther and faster, bat better, they understood the game way better and so he was a bit mopey.

I said to him, “Son, the only way you are going to get better is to practice all the time. That’s what I used to do with my dad and you are going to have to want that, too.” So, now, he is constantly asking to practice in some way and I’m happy to play catch, hit balls to him, and explain the game. He is improving and that’s the key.

If you want to get better, you must practice. That includes with prayer, too, which just happens to be our topic for today. Let’s open our books to Chapter One of the SECOND Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Today is our last reading in the First Part which is a pretty big deal. After today, we will have read through 24 chapters already, if you can believe that.

There is a quote that is wrongly attributed to Marilyn Monroe that says, “If you don’t love me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best.” Now, on first blush, there is some truth to this, as we should love people even with all their faults and failings. The problem with this quote is that it is used as an excuse to never try to fix one’s imperfections or failings.

That’s what we will discuss in Chapter 24 of the First Part. Go ahead and grab your books and we’ll dive in.

It’s a beautiful day and a perfect time for our reading from "Introduction to the Devout Life."

In ten years of posting online for my Catholic Pilgrim page, I’ve learned that the slightest criticism of certain forms of entertainment will bring down the wrath of the internet upon your head. People DO NOT want to be told that they are too devoted to a certain form of entertainment. They don't want to be told that they hold their preferred entertainment up as an idol. They don’t want to hear that maybe their favorite form of entertainment isn’t good. People will defend their favorite entertainment with a passion that borders on the maniacal.

This will probably be the most touchy reading in all the book, mostly because it deals with making sure we aren’t devoted to useless things–i.e. entertainment. I invite you, though, to read it with an open heart and examine yourself honestly.

Let’s open to Chapter 23 of the First Part and begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a more indepth reading lined up for today. It’s going to be on venial sins.

Growing up Protestant, I was taught that all sins are equal. A sin is a sin is a sin. While it is true that all sin offends God, we know instinctively that some sins are worse than others. Of course, murder is worse than stealing a candy bar and we punish these sins–or crimes–differently because we understand the vast difference in offense between the two crimes.

Justice demands we treat the two differently and since we are not more just than God, it only makes sense that God treats mortal sins and venial sins differently. That isn’t to say that He treats venial sins lightly, they still offend Him, but it is to say they don’t carry the same weight.

It’s good to reflect, though, on our venial sins and work to remove them, as habitual venial sins can lead us to mortal sins, which we absolutely do not want.

So, let’s open our books to Chapter 22 of the first part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Good to have you here.

So, today is going to be very light. I know the last couple of readings have been light and we haven’t really gone into depth with them. That will change very soon and we will get into the more meaty readings. Today, we are reading the conclusion to the first purification. It’s going to tie up everything we’ve read about so far and draw it into a conclusion as we head into the “rules” to live by in order to help us not fall into sin and give into temptation.

With that said, let’s open our books to the 21st chapter of the First Part and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope all of you are well today.

Last time, in our readings, St. Francis mentioned that he wanted us to make a protestation as a conclusion to our contrition. To the modern reader, a protestation sounds negative and like we are protesting against something that we disagree with. That’s not what is meant here. What is meant is a solemn or earnest declaration or affirmation.

So, today, that’s what we are going to read. Let’s turn to Chapter Twenty of the First Part and begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims, to the first reading after our meditations. Our topic today is going to be on General Confession.

So, if you aren’t familiar, a General Confession is where you go to Confession and confess all your mortal sins.

Going through the meditations hopefully made us detest our sins or made us detest them even more than we did before and St. Francis is encouraging us to make a General Confession after having–hopefully–purged our affection to sin.

So, let’s go ahead and grab our books and open to Chapter Nineteen of the First Part.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the Tenth Meditation. Today, we conclude the meditations we’ve been going through to help rid us of our affection to sin and I think today’s meditation is supremely excellent. I took it with me to church to read it over and if you really try to visualize the things St. Francis gives us for contemplation, I think you will find them excellent situations to think about in your mind.

So, without making you wait any longer, let’s open to Chapter Eighteen of the First Part and begin.

Hey, there, fellow Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we are reading the ninth Meditation, which means we only have one more meditation after this. The topic today is on the choice of Paradise.

So, often, people accuse God of claiming to be a loving God and, yet, sending some people to Hell. What those people fail to see is that it is our choice whether we wind up in Heaven or not. If we have lived a life where we have turned our back on God, committed grave sin, and refused to repent of it, well, we have told God that we don’t want to be with Him. He respects our free will choice. He isn’t going to force us.

It’s not what He wants for us, to be sure, but why would you merit Heaven when you’ve told God you want no part of Him or anything to do with Him?

But, I’ve probably said too much, as I don’t want these meditations to be about my words, so let’s grab our books and open to Chapter Seventeen of the First Part.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back for the Eighth Meditation.

Like I promised you, today, the topic is more uplifting. It’s on Paradise. This is our end goal, to be with God in Paradise. We should think on Heaven and all its glory, knowing that we can’t possibly imagination all that it will entail. It’s good to think on it, though, because you can’t reach a goal, if you never think about it.

So, just like the last seven times, place yourself in a meditative state and really contemplate what St. Francis is asking us to think about.

Go ahead and open your books to Chapter Sixteen of the First Part.

Hello, out there in the world, welcome back. Our meditation today will be very short. The topic is on Hell. Now you may be thinking, “All these heavy topics for mediation. Ugh.” But, rest assured, we will move on to more joyful things. We must think on these things, though, because Hell is a reality and it is our mortal sins alone that send us to Hell, as St. Francis told us last time.

Sometimes, I think we don’t fully comprehend how final and eternal Hell is and it’s imperative that we come to grips with that. So, let these heavier meditations purge you from that desire to commit sin.

Go ahead and grab your book and turn to Chapter Fifteen in the First Part.

Fellow Pilgrims, welcome. Today we are going to be doing the Sixth Meditation of the First Part.

This one is thinking on our future judgment. And last like time, this isn’t the most uplifting topic, but it is one that we need to think about.

So, just like the last five meditations, I’ll read it and offer no reflections. I can’t stress how important these meditations are and how much we really need to sit with them and think about what is being said.

Let's turn to Chapter 14 of the First Part and begin.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. Our topic for today’s meditation is one that you may feel a bit nervous about exploring.

The topic is our death and while I know this isn’t the most uplifting topic, it is one that we need to think about especially considering that our attachment to sin can have a very negative outcome for us when our judgment comes.

In many ways, death scares us and so we try to avoid talking or thinking about, believing that ignoring it will stave it off. But, it comes to us all and the best way to overcome something you fear is to face it. So, be open to what this reflection can uncover for you.

Go ahead and open your books to Chapter 13 of the First Part.

It’s that time, Catholic Pilgrims, to enrich our lives with a reading from St. Francis’ book “Introduction to the Devout Life.”

We are still on the meditations with today being Meditation Four and its topic is sin. As a reminder, for the meditations, I’m not offering any reflections because I think they need to stand completely on their own. Also, as a reminder, these meditations are to help us purge ourselves from the affection to sin. As we think through these reflections and resolutions, we are to truly evaluate ourselves in order to open our eyes to things that we need to change.

With that said, let’s open our books to Chapter Twelve of the First Part.

Welcome to the Third Mediation where we will be focusing on the mercies of God. Everyone can find examples of where God has been merciful to them. Even when, and I stress this, even when we feel like we are really going through a trial. I encourage again with these meditations to enter into prayer with God, and if need be, pause so that you can truly meditate on what St. Francis is saying.

Grab your book and open to Chapter Eleven of the First Part.

Welcome to the Second Mediation, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we will be thinking about the end to which we were created.

I’d definitely challenge you to think about the ways in which we waste precious time here on earth with meaningless amusements. Not all amusements are bad, but some are so utterly meaningless that I’m sure we will get to the end of our lives and regret that wasted time.

One more note before we begin. At the end of the readings, St. Francis uses the word “nosegay” and that word means a little bouquet of flowers.

So, now let’s grab our books and open to Chapter Ten of the First Part.

Welcome to the First Mediation, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, I will offer no reflection after the readings.

I encourage you to listen to the meditation and feel free to pause between thoughts and think about what St. Francis has given us to meditate on. I will give a short break between each number so as to give you a bit of time.

Like I said last time, I encourage you to enter into a place of prayer with God and let your mind truly ponder these meditations.

We are reading Chapter 9 of the First Part.

Hello, fellow Pilgrims, welcome to another reading from St. Francis de Sales. The point of reading these deep spiritual books is to allow them to transform our lives and help us to imitate Christ better and conform our will to His.

These readings can merit great graces for us so long as we approach them with a heart ready to be taught. Today, our reading is on how to go about ridding ourselves of the affection to sin.

Readings will be from Chapter 8 of the First Part: How to Effect This Second Purification.

You would be hard pressed to find a Christian that says that they have an affection for the sin that they engage in, but, the hard truth is: There are some sins that we struggle to let go of because we like them. We may even let them go and cease committing them, but our heart may desire to commit them.

And that is what we will be talking about today.

We will be reading from Chapter Seven of the First Part where St. Francis will discuss purification from the affection to sin.

Thank you for pressing play, I’m very glad you’ve come to listen to St. Francis today. Our topic today will be on confessing our sins, primarily our mortal sins in a General Confession. So, flip in your book to Chapter Six in the First Part and let’s begin.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. As most of us know, on this pilgrimage through life we will spend the entire time perfecting our will so that it matches God’s Will and we will spend our time purifying our souls. Hopefully, we realize that we need to do that. Purifying our souls is the topic for today in Chapter Five of the First Part.

Here we are at Episode five, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, in our reading, we will get a shout out to Season Four’s Saint, St. Teresa of Avila. St. Francis is going to mention her and it’s pretty cool to see these saints referring to one another, so be sure to pay attention to that.

Our readings today are from Chapter Four from the First Part and the topic is going to be on finding a spiritual guide.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims! Welcome back for another reading from "Introduction to the Devout Life." Today, we are reading Chapter Three of the First Part, titled "Devotion Suitable to All Kinds of Vocations and Professions."

I think you’re really going to like this chapter. Its message needs to be heard.

Today, we are reading Chapter Two of the First Part, titled "Fitness and Excellence in Devotion."

“Even so, Philothea, does the world calumniate holy devotion, representing devout persons with a gloomy, sad, and irritable countenance, and pretending that religion creates melancholy and unsocial men.” Isn't this the truth? The world tells people–especially young people that to be a Christian means that you will essentially be a Puritan.

Today, we are reading about True Devotion from Chapter One of the First Part.

Are you doing the things you are doing–praying the rosary, signing yourself, blessing your food in public, taking the Eucharist on the tongue, etc–are you doing those things because you want people to believe that you have true devotion? OR do you do them out of true love of God?

Season Four! We have arrived! Today, I'm explaining the book we are reading, giving a little background on St. Francis de Sales, and laying out how this year is going to work.

READING PLAN:

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TAN BOOKS:

https://tanbooks.com/products/books/an-introduction-to-the-devout-life/

My email:

amy@catholicpilgrim.net

This bonus episode is the reading of a short story, "The Hint of an Explanation" by British author, Graham Greene published in 1948. This story is on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

To follow along, click this link and scroll to page 64.

http://ecvlad.ru/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/greene_graham_21_stories.pdf

Bonus episode! This is a reading of a short story called "The Bishop's Beggar" by Stephen Vincent Benet. This story was first published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1942.

Here is the link to read along: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/11/the-bishops-beggar/

Congratulations on finishing the book! Please join me as we read the Conclusion written by St. Teresa and end Season Three with a prayer of thanks.

Today, we will be reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 17-14.

Topics include:

Both Martha and Mary must serve Our Lord.
Christ's food.
Mary's mortification.
Her grief at the Passion.
Can we lead souls to God?
How to do so.
Love gives value to our deeds.
Conclusion.

Today, we will be reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 9-16.

Topics are:

Fruits of these favors.
Why the spiritual marriage takes place.
Love for Christ proved by our deeds.
True spirituality.
Humillity and the virtues must combine with prayer.
Zeal of advanced souls.
Strengthened by the divine Presence within them.
Examples of the Saints.

Here we are at the last chapter of the book.

We will be reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 1-8.

Topics are:

Vicissitudes of the Seventh Mansion.
Humility produced by them.
Such souls free from mortal and from willful venial sins.
The fate of Solomon.
Holy fear.
These favors strengthen souls to suffer.
Crosses born by the Saints.
Effect of vision of Our Lord on St. Peter.

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 11-14.

Topics are:

Probable reasons for this.
Allusions in Holy Scripture to this state.
Watchfulness of such souls.
Crosses suffered in this state.

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 7-10.

Topics are:

And recalls it to fervor if negligent.
God's constant care of such souls.
Their peace and silence.
Few ecstasies in the Seventh Mansions.

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 1-6.

Topics are:

Effects of the graces last received.
The soul only cares for God's honor.
But still performs its duties.
Other fruits of these favors.
The soul's fervent desire to serve God.
Christ dwells within this soul.

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 12-15.

Topics are:

Unalterable peace of the soul in the seventh Mansion.
Unless if offends God.
Struggles outside the seventh Mansion.
Comparions explaining this.

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 8-11.

Topics are:

Its conviction of God's indwelling.
Its peace.
Christ's prayer for the divine union of the soul.
Its fulfillment.

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 1-7.

Topics are:

The spiritual nuptials introduced by an imaginary vision.
Spiritual betrothal and marriage differ.
Spiritual marriage lasting.
Not so spiritual betrothal.
Spiritual marriage permanent.
St. Paul and spiritual marriage.
The soul's joy in union.

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 11-16.

Topics are:

The effects.
This presence is not always equally realized.
It is beyond the soul's control.
The center of the soul remains calm.
The soul and the spirit distinct though united.
The soul and its faculties not identical.

Today, we have a special treat. Not only will I do I reading, but I will also read a poem from St. Teresa called "In the Hands of God."

Our readings for today are from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 7-10.

Topics are:

The spiritual nuptials.
Former favors differ from spiritual nuptials.
The Blessed Trinity revealed to the soul.
Permanence of Its presence in the soul.

Welcome to the Seventh Mansion!

Today, we are reading from the Seventh Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 1-6.

Topics are:

Sublime mysteries of these mansions.
St. Teresa abashed at treating such subjects.
Our Lord introduces His bride into His presence chamber.
Darkness of a soul in mortal sin.
Intercession for sinners.
The soul an interior world.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To check out their selection of books, visit www.chrismpress.com. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Milestone Day! We finish the Sixth Mansion!

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Eleven, numbers 6-12.

Topics are:

These sufferings are a Purgatory.
The torments of Hell.
St. Teresa's painful desire after God.
This suffering irrestistible.
Effects of the dart of love.
Two spiritual dangers to life.
Courage needed here and given by Our Lord.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Eleven, numbers 1-5.

Topics are:

Favors increase the soul's desire for God.
The dart of love.
Spiritual sufferings produced.
Its physical effects.
Torture of the desire for God.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To check out their selection of books, go to www.chrismpress.com. Use the coupon code, "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Ten, numbers 4-7.

Topics are:

Forgive as we are forgiven.
The vision shows God to be Truth itself.
We should imitate God by truthfulness.
Why God reveals these truths.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Ten, numbers 1-3.

Topics are:

Reasons for speaking of these supernatural favors.
An intellectual vision.
God compared to a palace in which His creatures dwell.

Today, we have two milestones! We've finished another 10 episodes and we are finishing up the ninth chapter.

Our readings will be from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Nine, numbers 13-21.

Topics are:

Reasons why visions are not to be sought.
The second reason.
Third reason.
Fourth reason.
Fifth reason.
Sixth reason.
Additional reasons.
The virtues more meritorious than consolations.
Fervent souls desire to serve God for Himself alone.

Today, I am announcing who I will be reading for Season Four!

We will be reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Nine, numbers 11-12.

Topics are:

How to treat visions.
Effects of seeing the face of Christ.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Shadowed Loyalty, go to www.chrismpress.com. Use the coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Nine, numbers 4-10.

Topics are:

Awe produced by this vision.
False and genuine visions.
Illusive visions.
Effects of a genuine vision.
Conviction left by a genuine vision.
It's effects upon after conduct.
A confessor should be consulted.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Nine, numbers 1-3.

Topics are:

The jewel in the locket.
The smilie explained.
The apparition explained.

Our sponsor is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Shadowed Loyalty," go to www.chrismpress.com.

Use the coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Eight, numbers 7-12.

Topics are:

Consciousness of the presence of the Saints.
Obligations resulting from this grace.
Signs that this favor is genuine.
A confessor should be consulted.
Our Lord will enlighten our advisers.
Cautions about this vision.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Eight, numbers 1-6.

Topics are:

Our Lord's presence accompanying the soul.
St. Teresa's experience of this.
Confidence and graces resulting from this vision.
Its effects.
It produces humility.
And prepares the soul for other graces.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Seven, numbers 16-19. We will be finishing the seven chapter!

Topics are:

Need of the example of Christ and the Saints.
Faith shows us Our Lord as both God and Man.
St. Teresa's experience of meditation on the Sacred Humanity.
Evil of giving up such meditation.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Seven, numbers 12-15.

Topics are:

Reasoning and mental prayer.
A form of meditation on Our Lord's Life and Passion.
Simplicity of contemplatives' meditation.
Souls in every state of prayer should think of the Passion.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Shadowed Loyalty," go here: www.chrismpress.com.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Seven, numbers 6-11.

Topics are:

Meditation on Our Lord's Humanity.
Warning against discontinuing it.
Christ and the Saints our models.
Meditation of contemplatives.
Meditation during aridity.
We must search for God when we do not feel His presence.

This is a big day for me! It's my podcast's 500th episode! Thank you for to all who have joined along with me.

Today, we will be reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Seven, numbers 1-5.

Topics are:

Sorrow for sin felt by souls in the Sixth Mansion.
How this sorrow is felt.
St. Teresa's grief for her past sins.
Such souls, centered in God, forget self-interest.
The remembrance of divine benefits increases contrition.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Markmaker," go here: www.chrismpress.com. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Sixth Chapter, numbers 11-15.

Topics are:

The jubilee of the soul.
Impossibility of concealing this joy.
The world's judgment of this jubilee.
Which is often felt by the nuns of St. Joseph's.
The Saint's delight in this jubilee.

Here is the interview with the former atheist I spoke of in the podcast. https://catholicpilgrim.net/januarys-atheistic-conversion-to-catholicism/

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Six, numbers 6-10.

Topics are:

They endanger health.
Tears often come from physical causes.
St Teresa's own experience.
Works, not tears, are asked by God.
Confide entirely in God.

Our sponsor is Chrism Press. To purchase your copy of "Markmaker," go here: www.chrismpress.com. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, the Sixth Chapter, numbers 1-5.

Topics are:

The soul longs for death.
The soul cannot help desiring these favors.
St. Teresa bewails her inability to serve God.
Fervor resulting from ecstatsies.
Excessive desire to see God should be restrained.

Today, we finish another chapter!

Our readings will be from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Five, numbers 8-14.

Topics are:

Mysteries learnt during the flight of the spirit.
Imaginary visions sometimes accompany intellectual ones.
How the flight of the spirit takes place.
The soul fortified by it.
Three great graces left in the soul.
The third grace.
Fear caused by this favor.

Our sponsor is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Markmaker," go here: www.chrismpress.com.

Welcome to chapter five of the sixth mansion!

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Five, numbers 1-7. It's a little longer, but hang with me.

Topics are:

The flight of the spirit.
Self-control completely lost.
Symbol of the two cisterns.
Obligations following these favors.
Humility produced by them.
How our crucified Lord comforted such a soul.
A humble soul fears these favors.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 17-22.

Topics are:

Faculties lost during ecstasy.
Spiritual inebriation.
Fervor and love of suffering left in the soul.
Scandal caused to spectators by such favors.
Our Lord's predeliction for such a soul.
Illusionary raptures.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To purchase your copy of "The City Mother," go here: www.chrismpress.com. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 14-16.

Topics are:

The soul's preparation.
The soul blinded by its faults.
God ready to give these graces to all.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 8-13.

Topics are:

Simile of the museum.
St. Teresa's visit to the Duchess of Alva.
Joy of the soul during raptures.
No imaginary vision.
True and false raptures.
Revelations of future bliss.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The City Mother," go here: www.chrismpress.com.

The House on the Rock

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 5-7.

Topics are:

Mysteries revealed during ecstasies.
These mysteries are unspeakable.
Moses and the burning bush.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter 4, Numbers 1-4.

Topics are:

Courage required by the soul for the divine espousals.
Raptures.
Rapture caused by the spark of love.
The powers and senses absorbed.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The City Mother," go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Congratulations on listening to the 60th episode.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Three, Numbers 25-27.

Topics are:

Results of true locutions.
They should remove alarm.
Answer to an objection.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 19-24.

Topics are:

Interior locutions.
First sign of genuine interior locutions.
Second sign.
Third sign.
Fourth sign.
Fifth sign.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "In Pieces," go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Three, Numbers 16-18.

Topics are:

Locutions coming from the fancy.
Imaginary answers given to prayer.
A confessor should be consulted about locutions.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 11-15.

Topics are:

Third sign.
The devil suggests doubts about true locutions.
Confidence of the soul rewarded.
Its joy at seeing God's words verified.
Its zeal for God's honor.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "In Pieces," go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 6-10.

Topics are:

First sign of genuine locutions.
Effect of the words: "Be not troubled."
"It is I, be not afriad."
"Be at peace."
Second sign.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 1-5.

Topics are:

Locutions.
Sometimes caused by melancholia.
Caution needed at first.
Locutions frequently occur during prayer.
Resist those containing false doctrine.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The Good Death of Kate Montclair," click here: https://chrismpress.com.

Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today is going to be a bit different. I don’t know if you’ve flipped to the next page after our last reading, but if you have, you saw that we have an Introductory Note to Chapter Three.

This isn’t written by St. Teresa. This is by the editor at St. Benedict Press. From what it looks like, these few pages are a chance to define our terms and get a better understanding of what we are going to read about in the third chapter of the sixth mansion. This is good, because it will help clarify things for us and it gives us some examples.

It will be a short and sweet reading with no added reflection.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 10-15.

Topics are:

First reason of immunity from deception.
Second and third reasons.
The imagination not concerned in it.
St. Teresa never alarmed at this prayer.
"The odor of Thine ointment."
No reason to fear deception here.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To purchase your copy of the "The Good Death of Kate Montclair," go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use the coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Two, Numbers 6-9.

Topics are:

A spark of the fire of love.
The spark dies out.
This grace evidently divine.
One such wound repays many trials.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 1-5.

Topics are:

Our Lord excites the love of His spouse.
The wound of love.
The pain it causes.
The call of the Bridegroom.
Effect on the soul.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The Good Death of Kate Montclair" go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today is the 50th episode! We will be reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 24-27.

Topics are:

Remedies for the interior trials.
Trials caused by the devil.
Other afflictions.
Preparatory to entering the seventh mansions.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 19-23.

Topics are:

Bewilderment of the soul.
God alone relieves these troubles.
Human weakness.
Earthly consolations are of no aviail.
Prayer gives no comfort at such a time.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. Please check out there selection of Catholic and Orthodox fiction at: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 14-18.

Topics are:

St. Teresa's physical ills.
A timorous confessor.
Anxiety on account of past sins.
Fears and aridity.
Scruples and fears raised by the devil.

We have an interesting milestone today. Today, we will end on the page
that is halfway through the readings. We have crested the hill, so to speak.

Our readings today will be from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 5-13.

Topics are:

Ourcry rasied against souls striving for perfection.
St. Teresa's personal experience of this.
Praise distasteful to an enlightened soul.
This changes to indifference.
Humility of such souls.
Their zeal for God's glory.
Perfect and final indifference to praise or blame.
Love of enemies.
Bodily sufferings.

Our sponsor is Chrism Press. To check out their collection of Catholic and Orthodox fiction, please go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Congratulations! We made it to the Sixth Mansion.

Today, we are reading from the Sixth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 1-4.

Topics are:

Love kindled by divine favors.
Our Lord excites the soul's longings.
Courage needed to reach the last mansions.
Trials accompanying divine favors.

Another milestone day! We are finishing the Fifth Mansion today.

We will be reading from the Fifth Mansion, Fourth Chapter, numbers 8-12.

Topics are:

Prayer and watchfulness our safeguards.
God's watchfulness over such souls.
Progress in virtue.
Insignificance of our actions compared wtih their reward.
St. Teresa's motives for writing on paper.

Our sponsor is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The City Mother" click on the link. https://chrismpress.com/ Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Four, numbers 4-7.

Topics are:

The great good done by souls faithful to these graces.
Religious subject to the devil's deceptions.
Satan's stratagems.
Why they are permitted.

Our readings today will be from the Fifth Mansion, Fourth Chapter, numbers 1-3.

Topics are:

The spiritual espousals.
The prayer of union resembles a betrothal.
Before the spiritual nuptials temptations are dangerous.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Markmaker" go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Mini-milestone: We finish the third chapter of the fifth mansion today!

Our readings will be from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 10-12.

Topics are:

Illusionary good resolutions.
Works, not feelings, procure union.
Fraternal charity will certainly gain this union.

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 7-9.

Topics are:

Divine union obtained by perfect love of God and our neighbor.
Love for God and our neighbor are proportionate.
Real and imaginary virtues.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of the "The Good Death of Kate Monclair," please clink on the link: https://chrismpress.com/ Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Congratulations, we hit day 40!

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 4-6.

Topics are:

Union with the Will of God the basis of all supernatural union.
Advantage of union gained by self-mortificaton.
Defects which hinder this union.

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 1-3.

Topics are:

Zeal for souls left by divine union.
The soul may fall from such a state.
How divine union may always be obtained.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To grab your copy of the "Markmaker" click on the link: https://chrismpress.com/ Use the coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 9-13.

Topics are:

Longing for death and zeal for God's honor.
This zeal supernatural.
God alone works this grace.
The same zeal as that felt by Our Lord on earth.
Christ's keenest suffering.

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 5-8.

Topics are:

Mystic death of the silkworm.
Effects of divine union.
Increase of fervor and detachment.
Trials succeeding the prayer of union.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To check out there selection of fiction books infomred by Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, visit: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 1-4.

Topics included are:

The soul compared to a butterfly.
The grandeurs of creation.
Symbol of the soul and the silkworm.
Preparation of the soul for God's indwelling.

Today, we are finishing up Chapter One of the Fifth Mansion. Our readings will be from Chapter One, numbers 8-10.

Topics are:

Proof of Union
Assurance left in the soul.
Divine union beyond our power to obtain.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "In Pieces," go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fifth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 5-7.

Topics are:

The prayer of union and of quiet contrasted.
Divine and earthly union.
Competent directors in these matters.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To purchase your copy of "Shadowed Loyalty" go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are entering the Fifth Mansion. We'll be reading from Chapter One, number 1-4.

Topics are:

Graces of the Fifth Mansion.
Contemplation to be striven for.
Physical effects of the prayer of union.
Amazement of the intellect.

Today, we are finishing the Fourth Mansion. Our readings will be from the third chapter, numbers 10-13.

Topics are:

The devil specially temps such souls.
False trances and raptures.
How to treat those deluded in this way.
Risks of delusion in this mansion.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To check out their selection of Catholic and Orthodox books, visit: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter 3, numbers 7-9.

Topics are:

The prayer of recollection, and distractions in this prayer.
Liberty of spirit gained by consolations.
The soul must be watchful.

Our sponsor today is The Mustard Seed Shop. To check out the collection of saint keychains, pins, and stickers, visit here: https://catholicpilgrim.net/shop/.

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 4-6.

Topics are:

It prepares us for the higher favors.
The mind must act until God calls it to recollection by love.
The soul should here abandon itself into God's hands.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To get your copy of the "The City Mother" go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter Three, numbers 1-3.

Topics are:

The prayer of recollection compared to the inhabitants of the castle.
Shepherd recalls His flock into the castle.
This recollection supernatural.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Markmaker," go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim 15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 6-8.

Topics are:

The incense within the soul.
Graces received in this prayer.
Such favors not to be sought after.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of the "The Good Death of Kate Montclair" visit: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 1-5.

Topics are:

Physcial results of sensible devotion.
Effects of divine consolations.
The two fountains.
They symbolize two kinds of prayer.
Divine consolations shared by body and soul.

To see a picture of the fountain in Kansas City, Missouri, click here: https://kcparks.org/places/fountain-millcreek/

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 11-13.

Topics are:

How to treat distractions.
They should be disregarded.
Self knowledge necessary.

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 9-10.

Topics are:

They do not destroy divine union.
St. Teresa's physical distractions.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To check out their fictional books for adults and teens, see the link. https://chrismpress.com/

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 6-8.

Topics are:

St. Teresa's experience of it.
Love of God, and how to foster it.
Distractions.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The City Mother, go here: https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to receive 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading the Fourth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 4-5.

Topics are:

Sensible devotions
Sweetness in devotion

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. Check them out at https://chrismpress.com/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today, we are reading from the Fourth Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 1-3.

Topics are:

Graces received in this mansion
Mystic favors
Temptations bring humility and merit.

Our sponsor today is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. If interested in my Italy pilgrimage, go here:http://app.nativitypilgrimage.com/trip/?trip=52925

Congratulations on finishing the Third Mansion! Today, we will read from the Third Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 18-19.

Topics are:

Obedience and direction
Misguided zeal for others

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The City Mother" go here: https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/ Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today we are reading from the Third Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 15-17.

Topics are:

Perfection consists in love, not in reward.
St. Teresa's joy at seeing other souls favored.
These graces should be strive for.

Our sponsor today is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. For more information on my Italy pilgrimage, Oct 23-31st, 2023, go here:

http://app.nativitypilgrimage.com/trip/?trip=52925

Today, we are reading from the Third Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 10-14.

Topics are:

We should try to make rapid progress.
Leave our cares in God's hands.
Humility more necessary than corporal penances.
Consolations rarely received until the fourth mansion.
Advantages of hearing them.

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "The City Mother" go here: https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off of your first order.

Today's readings are from the Third Mansions, Chapter Two, numbers 5-9.

Topics are:

Liberty of spirit
On bearing contempt
Detachment proved by trails
Virtue and humility are the essentials
Perfection requires detachment

Our sponsor today is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. If interested in going on my Italy Pilgrimage, go here for details.

http://app.nativitypilgrimage.com/trip/?trip=52925

Today, we start the second chapter of the Third Mansion, numbers 1-4.

Topics are:

Imperfections of dwellers in the first three mansions
Our trials show us our weakness
Humility learnt by our faults
Love of money

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To pick up your copy of "Markmaker," go: https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/

Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order.

Today we are reading from the Third Mansion, Chapter One, numbers 11-15.

Topics Are:

Humility
Tepidity
We must give all to God
Our debt
Consolations and aridities

Our sponsor is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. To check out my Italy pilgrimage with them, click here: http://app.nativitypilgrimage.com/trip/?trip=52925

Today we are reading from the Third Mansion, Chapter One, Numbers 5-10.

Topics include:

Our Lady's patronage
Fear necessary even for religious
St. Teresa's contrition
Characteristics of those in the Third Mansions
The rich young man in the Gospel
Reason of aridities in prayer

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% off your first order and pick up your copy of "Markmaker," here: https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/

To check out "Song of the Scaffold:" https://ignatius.com/the-song-at-the-scaffold-soscp/

Today we enter the Third Mansion. Our readings are from Chapter One, numbers 1-4.

Topics include:

Souls in the Third Mansions
Insecurities of this life
Our danger of falling from grace
The Saint bewails her past life

Our sponsor today is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. To join me and Amazing Grace Pilgrimages on my Italy pilgrimage, Oct. 23-31, 2023, see link below.

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Congratulations on finishing the Second Mansion today!

We will be reading from the Second Mansion, numbers 16-20.

Topics include:

Our falls should raise us higher
Confidence and perseverance
Recollection
Why we must practice prayer
Meditation kindles love

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. To purchase your copy of "In Pieces," check out the link below and use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

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Today, we are reading from the Second Mansion, numbers 10-15.

Topics include:

Reasons for continuing the journey
Warfare of the devil
Importance of choice of friends
Valor required
Presumption of expecting spiritual consolations at first
In the Cross is strength

Our sponsor today is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. If interested in going on pilgrimage to Italy with me and Amazing Grace Pilgrimages, Oct. 23-31, 2023, check out the link.

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Today, we are reading from the Second Mansion, numbers 6-9.

Topics include:

Perseverance is essential
Temeptations of devil
Delusion of earthly joys
God alone to be loved

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. Pick up your copy of the award -winning book "In Pieces" here: https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/ Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to get 15% of your first order.

Poem I read today: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias

Congrats! We enter the Second Mansion today. Our readings will be in the first chapter of the Second Mansion, numbers 1-5.

Topics are:

Souls in the second mansion
Their state
Their sufferings
They cannot get rid of their imperfections
How God calls these souls

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. Pick up your copy of "In Pieces" at: https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

Today, we finish the First Mansion!

Our readings will be from the First Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 18-22.

Topics include:

Assaults of the devil
Examples of the devil's arts
Perfection consists in charity
Indiscreet zeal
Danger of detraction

Our sponsor today is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. Check out my pilgrimage to Italy from October 23-31st, 2023. Join me! http://app.nativitypilgrimage.com/trip/?trip=52925

Today, we are reading from the First Mansion, Chapter 2, numbers 13-17.

Topics include:

The devil entraps beginners
Our strength must come from God
Sin blinds the soul
Worldliness
The world in the cloister

Our sponsor today is Chrism Press. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" to grab your copy of "The Good Death of Kate Montclair" at https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/

Today, we are reading from the First Mansion, Chapter Two, Numbers 8-12.

Topics covered:

Beauty of the Castle
Self knowledge
Gained by meditating on the divine perfections
Advantages of such meditation
Christ should be our model

Today's sponsor is Chrism Press. For 15% off your first order, use coupon code "pilgrim15" at https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/.

Today we are reading from the First Mansion, Chapter Two, Numbers 4-7.

Topics include:

Disorder of the soul in mortal sin
Vision of a sinful soul
Profit of realizing these lessons
Prayer

Today's sponsor is Chrism Press. Use coupon code "pilgrim15" at https://chrismpress.com/the-catholic-pilgrim/ for 15% of your first order.

Today, our readings are from the First Mansion, Chapter Two, numbers 1-3.

The topics will include:

Effects of mortal sin.
It prevents the soul's gaining merit.
The soul compared to a tree.

Our sponsor today is Amazing Grace Pilgrimages. Go on pilgrimage with me to Italy, Oct 23-31, 2023.

Go here for details. http://app.nativitypilgrimage.com/trip/?trip=52925

Congrats! We already finished Chapter One of the First Mansion!

Today, we are reading from the First Mansion, Chapter One: Numbers 7-12.

The topics will be:

The entrance of the castle.
Entering into oneself.
Prayer
Those who dwell in the first mansion.
Entering.
Difficulties of the subject.

Our sponsor today is Mustard Seed Shop. Instagram handle is @mustard_seed_shop05 Check out the shop at:

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Today we are reading from the First Mansion, Chapter One: Numbers 4-6.

The topics will be:

God dwells in the center of the soul.
Why all souls do not receive certain favors.
Reasons for speaking of these favors.

Today's Sponsor: Chrism Press. Shop below with coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

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Today we are reading from the First Mansion, Chapter One: Numbers 1-3.

St. Teresa will cover:

The plan of this book.
The Interior Castle
Our culpable self-ignorance.

Today's Sponsor: Chrism Press. Shop below with coupon code "pilgrim15" for 15% off your first order.

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Welcome to Season Three of the "Journeying with the Saints" podcast. This season will be reading through St. Teresa of Avila's book, "The Interior Castle." Before we dive in, I want to take this episode to introduce you to St. Teresa, how the podcast will work this season, and the preface of her book.

Our sponsor this season is Chrism Press. Please check them out at the link below and be sure to use coupon code, pilgrim15, for 15% off your first order.

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Today, we finish Season Two with our last reading from Bishop Fulton Sheen's book, "Way to Inner Peace."

Thank you, Catholic Pilgrims, for following along this year as we've explored the writings of Bishop Fulton Sheen. I think our last reading really encompasses all that we've learned. In a world that has, in many ways, lost its Faith, Bishop Sheen reminds us that we are made for God and relationship with Him.

Please join me for Season Three where we will be reading St. Teresa of Avila's "The Interior Castle."

This is our second to last reading!

This week we are reading the 58th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Easter is the end-all and be-all of our Christian Faith. I have met a few people in my life who deny the Resurrection of Christ while calling themselves a Christian. But, to be a Christian, you must believe in the reality of the Resurrection. Bishop Sheen is going to talk about how even the Apostles doubted the Resurrection, at first, because they weren't expecting it. They had to be convinced of it. Even Christ's closest companions struggled with it at first.

Three Key Points: Doubt, trust, and truth

Only two more readings after this one.

This week we are reading the 57th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Today we are going to be talking about reason. Reason seems in short supply these days. Every once in awhile, someone shows up on my social media pages that struggles to accept truth and doesn't want to use reason. Our culture says that you can't really find the truth of anything, everything is relative. However, God gives each one of us the gift of reason and it's meant to be cultivated and used.

Three Key Points: Insight, light, and discoveries.

Only four more readings from Bishop Sheen!

This week we are reading the 56th number from "Way to Inner Peace." One of my biggest faults is that I allow my moods to control me sometimes. I have gotten better, because I have learned from my husband to "fix my face." If our kids are being sad and grumpy, he tells them to fix their attitude. Incredibly, they fix their attitude pretty swiftly. I'm learning from my kids and striving to be better about it. This week's topic is on moods.

Three key points: Trials, cares, and attitudes.

This week we are reading from the 55th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We only have five more times together reading from Bishop Sheen's book. I always get a little sad when we come to the end of our time with a book. But, it's not the end yet. Our topic today is on humility. If you follow me on social media, you know that one of the things I struggle with the most is pride. I do try very hard to be a humble person, but I have to have a lot of help.

Three Key Points: Gifts, recognition, and gratitude.

This week we are reading the 54th number from "Way to Inner Peace." One of the questions I get asked pretty frequently on my social media pages is, "Why is God allowing us to go through all these dark times?" I know how they feel, because in my own life, in a very personal way, I felt very much like this. The difference was, was that I wasn't praying to God or seeking God to help with my cares and burdens. Our topic for this week is simply called "Cares." Some people do cast their burdens on God and some don't and Bishop Sheen explores that with us.

Three Key Points: Helplessness, pride, and humility.

This week we are reading the 53rd number from "Way to Inner Peace." Our topic is inner nakedness. It seems that we spend more time focused on how we look externally than working on our interior. But, does the state of our soul manifest itself on the external? I think so and Bishop Sheen is going to explain why that is. Some people try to hide the bad state of their soul by striving to look like they have it all together. Some people have a beautiful soul but don't necessarily spend lots of time and money on external looks. We will explore these different types of people.

Three Key Points: External, internal, and holiness.

Today is the conclusion of our year together. I felt it was fitting to end this year by praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. So, grab your rosary and let's send this amazing year off by praying the beautiful chaplet of mercy taught to us through this diary.

St. Faustina, pray for us!

Today's final readings are numbers 1825-1828.

CONGRATULATIONS ON FINISHING THE DIARY!

What a day! Thank you, God, for the gift of a wonderful year together reading Sister Faustina's Diary.

We have one more day left in the year and I hope you'll come back tomorrow to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with me.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1822-1824.

Only a few more days left, Catholic Pilgrims.

Again, today will be another short day. We are just letting Sister Faustina's words soak into us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1817-1821.

Just like the past couple of days, this is going to be a super short day. We will have just a few readings, but again, I invite you to just soak in Sister Faustina's words on Holy Communion.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1812-1816.

Just like yesterday, let's just enjoy this special time with Sister Faustina as she talks about our most perfect Sacrament--Holy Communion.

This week we are reading the 52nd number from "Way to Inner Peace." There's the famous story in the Bible about Martha and Mary. Well, I'm a Martha. I'm the one who can never sit still and just be at rest. What we see in that story is the blending of faith and works. In Mary, we see the faith. In Martha, we see the works but she has the wrong attitude. She's very self-focused instead of looking to serve with love. If you haven't caught on, this week's topic is on work.

Three Key Points: Complaining, intention, and betterment.

Today's readings will be from Notebook 6, numbers 1808-1811.

After today, only five days left.

Much like yesterday, we will just have a short reading and let Sister Faustina teach us in these last few days together.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1804-1807.

Here at the very end of the diary is a short little section on Sister Faustina's preparation for Holy Communion. This is going to take us through the end of our year together. As I was reading through it today, I felt that we just need to spend this time with Sister Faustina. We don't need any words from me. Our readings will be short and I invite you to sit back and enjoy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1797-1803.

We did it, Catholic Pilgrims. We have finished Notebook 6 and the meat of the diary. Let's just take some time today and relish in what we've accomplished.

Don't forget, though, that we have seven days still left together and a little bit more read from an additional little section on preparing for Holy Communion. So, don't think we are completely finished yet!

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1791-1796.

In the Catholic Church, we have seven Sacraments. But...we also have sacramentals. These are blessings, consecrations, or exorcisms. They are used to center our lives on Christ. We will use this time to talk about sacramentals and how we are to use them, as Sister Faustina talks about centering our lives on God.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1786-1790.

I know that many of you listening are going through a really bad time--a deep, deep suffering. I hope that you have found some comfort in relating to Sister Faustina through her suffering. Today, Christ has some comforting words for those that suffer. We are in the month of June with her and we won't leave the month of June with her. Her writings end in this month.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1779-1785.

Only 10 more days to go!

We have the conclusion of Sister Faustina's three-day retreat. Our topic today will be about drawing souls to Christ. Our lives should help and not hinder people from coming to Christ.

Journeying with the Saints Podcast

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen's

Way to Inner Peace

Sister Faustina's Diary

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1774-1778.

At the end of our readings today, Sister Faustina is going to declare her resolution. It's one we've heard before: To unite herself to Christ-Mercy. Christ is Mercy and He is love. We all need to unite ourselves to His Mercy everyday, over and over again. I hope that this diary has taught us this.

This week, we are reading from the 51st number from "Way to Inner Peace." This will be our last reading from the "You" section; next week we start the final section which is titled, "Faith." Our readings this week are probably the hardest so far, at least I think so. Don't let it scare you off because we are going to walk our way through it. Once you understand what he's saying, it's really profound and it's excellent content to contemplate. The topic for today is how things go wrong.

Three Key Points: Perfection, choices, and true goods.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1767-1773.

We are on the third day of this mini-retreat Christ has asked Sister Faustina to do with Him. He's going to talk a lot about love of neighbors; about how we should pray for them and sacrifice them. This took me down memory lane and I started thinking of all the neighbors I've had in my life. They really do make up the fabric of our lives and we are called into relationship with them in some capacity.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1758-1766.

There's so much packed in today's readings that I hardly know where to start. So, I narrowed it down to just one sentence. Christ is going to talk about feelings versus the will. I think this is wildly important to talk about in our day and age.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1752-1757.

If you remember, a couple days back, Christ asked Sister Faustina to enter into a personal retreat with Him. We are starting that three-day retreat today. Christ is going to give her the things He wants her to meditate on. This will be the first day and the meditation is all about not being afraid. This is a message we frequently get in Scripture. It can be hard to live a life without fear and so are going to talk about that struggle.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1745-1751.

Only 15 more days to go!

Today is much like yesterday. Sister Faustina will be praising God for very specific things. These are very beautiful praises to God. I want to just read them and sit with them. It's a little longer today as she will be praising God for three different things: For sending His Son, for the goodness of redeeming man, and for the beauty of the earth.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1741-1744.

For the next couple of days, Sister Faustina is going to be praising God for creating a certain thing. As we get close to the end of the diary, I feel we just need to hear more of her and less of me. I will read two parts today on praising God for creating angels and another part on creating mankind. I invite you to listen to them with a prayerful spirit.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1735-1740.

Confession was not one of the things that was hard for me to understand and accept when I was converting. Once I learned about it, I saw the need for it and the wisdom behind it. Sister Faustina is going to have a conversation with another Sister that is struggling with some temptations regarding Confession. We are going to discuss its importance and dispel some myths.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1729-1734.

I feel a little sad going through our readings today. You can really tell that Sister Faustina is fading away. We've been with her a long time now and she's been sick for a long time, but there's a resignation in her voice. You really get the sense that the end is near. I want to remind us all that we have found a great friend in Sister Faustina.

This week we are reading the 50th number from "Way to Inner Peace." I have learned a ton from Bishop Sheen and I've also learned a ton of vocabulary words from him. Do you know what the word palimpsests mean? I sure didn't. But, Bishop Sheen uses it and I needed to understand its meaning in order to get part of our readings this week. It relates to our topic which is about memories. I am an old soul, I love to reminisce, and I love to talk about memories. Sadly, because of technology, a lot of people don't spend time talking about memories.

Three Key Points: Richness, key, and link.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1723-1728.

We often read in the Gospels of how the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus. They think they've come up with a clever trap and they'll catch Him saying something wrong. But, because He's God, they can't really ensnare Him. Sister Faustina is going to talk about the snares people set for her soul. This reminded me of some verses I recently read in Luke 7:31-35.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1717-1722.

20 more days to go!

I apologize if the recording sounds a bit off, I didn't have my settings correct. Sheesh!

It is common with human nature that we tend to look at other people's actions instead of looking at ourselves. We don't like to have a mirror in front of our face to see who we really are inside. If we ever get to the point where we think we don't have much work to do, well, we know we have much work to do.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1712-1716.

Because of the "Don't judge anything" movement that occurred several years ago, we've gotten to a point where we think we can't ever tell people that they are doing something sinful. It might make people feel bad and that's seen as the worst thing on earth. We think the most loving thing to do is to keep silent, tolerate sin, or even encourage sin. Sister Faustina is going to call someone out who is sinning and it's a loving act.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1706-1711.

Sister Faustina is going to be talking about the Feast of the Ascension. I thought it would be a good time to give you a geography lesson on where the Ascension took place and how it relates to Jerusalem. What were the Apostles doing after the Ascension. It's a good time to meditate on this Mystery of the Rosary.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1700-1705.

Back when I was a teenager before I turned by back on God, I was extremely lukewarm in my faith. Even after I started to come back, I was still pretty lukewarm. I didn't want to totally immerse myself in God. Once, I converted to Catholicism, I realized that a lukewarm faith means nothing. Christ is going to talk about lukewarm souls. I will discuss the Seven Church of the Book of Revelation. To lukewarm Laodicea, Christ gives a stern warning.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1694-1699.

My husband and I have been doing Lectio Divina together and the other night we were reading through Luke 3:1-6. Luke is laying out all the major players of the time in order to establish the historical reality of Christ's time here on earth. We got to talking about how God uses the most unlikely people to complete His missions here. Sister Faustina is one of those people.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1689-1693.

Sister Faustina praises God as Creator today and I wanted to have some fun while talking about Creation. Creation is amazing and I'd like to share some of the things in Creation that blow my mind. I'm also going to recommend a 40-minute video for you and your family. It's a great video that shows the majesty of God's Creation.

How Great Is Our God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atUGBua2AzE

This week we are reading the 49th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We only have ten more readings to go in our book. I share with you what is up for Season Three.

This week's topic, though, is on how character is made. Good and bad character is made by how we respond to the circumstances in our life. This is contrary to what most people think. Most people think that external forces form our character, but Bishop Sheen shares with us that it's our response to those to the external forces, instead.

Three Key Points: Freedom, consciousness, and ownership.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1682-1688.

We are mostly going to hear from Christ and He has so many good things to say. After the readings, I want to take one particular part and just read through it slowly. Really listen to what Christ is saying and hopefully bring these things into your prayer life. These are all things that I know we can get better in.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1678-1681.

There is a saying that says, "You only live once, so live it up!" I've actually heard someone say instead, "No, you only die once, but you live everyday." And so, everyday we should offer that day to God and do our best to follow His Will. I often tell my kids, "Don't live a life of regrets." Living a wild, reckless life isn't proof of really living. Sister Faustina shows us what it means to "really live."

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1674-1677.

Sister Faustina is getting moved to another place, a hospital, because of her sickness. We are going to go through each number we read and I'll highlight something that jumped out to me. In the last number, an angel says something that I really want to key in on.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1668-1673.

Sister Faustina is going to receive letters from other sisters in other convents and they might take you aback. There's nothing malicious in their words, it's just interesting to hear how they talk to each other. Sister Faustina takes the letters in good spirit. We are going to talk about what makes a good friend.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1661-1667.

You know what this day means, Catholic Pilgrims? It means we only have thirty days left together, so basically just a month. But, we are going to make it a great thirty days.

We've been traveling with Sister Faustina through another Holy Week. I was wondering what the Apostles did on Holy Saturday. How did they deal with the letdown?

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1655-1660.

Now that we are so close to the end of our readings with this diary, you may be thinking of recommending it to someone. If someone would have handed this diary to me after I first became Catholic, I would have gotten nothing out of it. I wouldn't have been able to grasp many of the things she talks about. So, we are going to talk about the right person to recommend this diary to.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1652-1654.

Things will be done a little different today. We have four prayers to read. Before the start of each prayer, I'm going to give you an idea for a possible intention. You might want to stop the podcast and bring someone to mind to pray for. After reading the four prayers, we will be done for the day.

This week we are reading from the 48th number from "Way to Inner Peace." I know I've said this before, but this week's reading might be my favorite. The topic this week is on how the world scorns the virtues. I know what it's like to look at virtue and look down on those that are trying to live a virtuous life. I used to be that kind of person. We live in an upside down world where many people are trying snuff out the virtues because they make them uncomfortable.

Three Key Points: Encouragement, virtue, and light.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1647-1651.

Most of the time when we hear Sister Faustina talk about her sufferings, she is suffering all alone. Christ is there, obviously, but it's rare for the other Sisters to try to come and alleviate her sufferings. Suffering is hard enough but suffering alone is even more miserable. This reminded me of my maternal-grandmother and how she would often send me to visit those that were lonely.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1642-1646.

Often times we look at our present situation in the world and think, "Man, this is the worst. There has never been a worst time. It looks like the end is near." Christ is going to talk to Sister Faustina about how the world is not as powerful as we often give it credit. We need to trust His plan.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1637-1641.

Every once in a while, I like to do a refresher course on here about different teachings or practices of the Church. That's not to say that you all listening don't know but it's always nice to brush up on different teachings. Sister Faustina is going to confession and she talks about how her spirit was struggling to give a good confession because she was feeling so bad. We'll talk about the disposition our soul should be in during confession.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1633-1636.

As we've been reading through these past couple of days, Sister Faustina has been talking a lot about the sufferings that she is going through. We are in the year 1938 and that's the year she does pass away. She died on October 5, 1938, so we still have more than half a year with her. We used to hear more about her work of getting the Divine Mercy message out to the world; now we mostly hear about her sufferings.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1630-1632.

As I was reading through Sister Faustina's writings, I realized that it's just one big long prayer. As I tried to meditate on what I wanted to say afterwards, I couldn't think of anything to add. It needs no comment from me. Join with Sister Faustina in this powerful prayer.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1625-1629.

I think in today's readings we find one of the hardest teachings of Christ--to love our enemies. Christ is going to talk to Sister Faustina about having great love for those who cause her sufferings and who hate her. If you are anything like me, you find that very difficult to do.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1617-1624.

We are entering into another Lent with Sister Faustina. Even though, we may not be entering into Lent right now, it's still an important Church season to talk about. It's important to reflect on the Lenten season before it occurs. We often wait till the last minute to think about it and that leaves us scrambling around trying to figure out what we want to do.

This week we are reading from the 47th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is going to be a fun topic to read about and discuss. It's all about the differences between men and women and how these differences are really complimentary. We live in a climate and culture that tells us that there are basically no differences between men and women. We intuitively know that's not true just be spending a bit of time around both sexes.

Three Key Points: Differences, complimentary, and design.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1612-1616.

Christ is going to tell Sister Faustina that He needs her sufferings to rescue souls. She is going to go through some very difficult times. She's going to be very physically ill. Two Sisters come to her asking for her help when she dies. She's working really hard for others. We can use our sufferings to help others, as well.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1607-1611.

Whenever you are going through a trial, you always wonder why God won't make it end as soon as possible. Especially if you are praying for it to end soon. We can't understand what God is up to and it can lead to a lot of frustration. Sister Faustina's mission has had lots of trials. But, there are reasons for the trials and we'll discuss those reasons.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1602-1606.

Have you ever thought about how much has been written about Christ? He has been the topic of thousands of books, papers, and scrolls, more than any other person in the history of the world. Nobody even comes close. There can be a tendency to reduce Christ down to just "one among many," or Social Justice Warrior Jesus, or Nice Guy Jesus. But, we must always remember, He is God and nothing less.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1596-1601.

Another 100 numbers down! The milestones seemed to be coming quicker and quicker.

Christ is going to say something that is absolutely heartbreaking. He says, "When I enter into certain hearts it's as if I enter into a Second Passion." We are not entitled to Holy Communion. It is a beautiful gift of love. We should approach with complete humility.

Today's readings are from Notebook 6, numbers 1590-1595.

We enter into the last notebook today, Catholic Pilgrims. As per our custom, I will just read the prayer at the beginning. However, the prayer is very short, so I will read a few numbers past that. I won't be doing a reflection, though, so that you can just sit with the prayer and what Sister Faustina has to say.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1582-1589.

Another 10 days down! And today is the last day in Notebook 5.

We are going to go an a cool history lesson through ancient Turkey, which was called Asia Minor in the Bible. Sister Faustina writes about how Christ is fully man and fully God. This is called the Hypostatic Union and that doctrine of the faith was declared in 451 AD in...you guessed it--Turkey.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1576-1581.

We are two days away from entering into the last notebook of the diary. I'm thrilled we have made it so far.

Our readings will be a little longer as we dissect Sister Faustina's litany of desires. I think these desires are ones that we should desire, as well.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, number 1571-1575.

What is true humility? I think a lot of people are confused about what true humility really is. One thing that it is not is denying our talents and gifts from God. God gave them to us for a reason and we are to use them. Sometimes, people will be threatened by our talents and gifts. They may be threatened by our lives if we are striving for sainthood. This should never make us shy away from sainthood.

This week we are reading the 46th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We are entering into the last section of the book which is titled, "You." Our topic today is on pleasures. Think about what are your favorite pleasures. Some of my favorite pleasures are: Music, homemade desserts, spending time with my family, and watching football...only if we are winning, of course.

Three Key Points: Internal pleasure, external pleasures, and purpose.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1566-1570.

We've all probably played that thought experiment where we ask what we would do if we only had a week or a day to live. Most people usually say that they would gather their loved ones around them and maximize their time with them. Sister Faustina is going to mention Christ's final coming. We are going to do that same thought experiment with the End Times. What would we do if we knew Christ was coming soon?

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1560-1565.

We get some great advice today from Christ on how to fight temptations. Yesterday, Sister Faustina was fighting lots of temptations in our readings. Christ gives her some pointers, if you will. They are perfect pointers for all of us to follow.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1158-1559.

Sister Faustina is experiencing the Darkness of the Soul. We've seen her here before and she always finds her way out of it. However, this reminded me of a letter from the "Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. Screwtape, a devil, talks about the Law of Undulation, meaning how a soul moves through peaks and troughs. It's during the troughs that a devil can really tempt a soul away from God.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1554-1557.

We are going to talk about indelible marks that are left on our souls. There are three sacraments that leave permanent marks on our souls marking us as different things. Today, we learn from Sister Faustina that there is an additional indelible mark given to souls called to a higher degree of holiness. So, we will talk all about indelible marks and what they mean.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1548-1553.

You know and I know, that we are reading the diary of a canonized saint. I don't think any of us question that. We've read so many wonderful things in this diary, but, today, Saint Faustina shows up. These writings, taken as a whole, are just undeniably the words of a Saint. I'm excited to read them with you.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1537-1542.

Christ is going to share with us today how much His heart hurts when people are ungrateful for His love and blessings. We come to just expect God's blessings and mercy which in turn makes us ungrateful people. The only proper response to Christ's love and blessings is one of gratitude.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1531-1536.

We've seen before Sister Faustina be very down-hearted by the state of her country, Poland. Today, we will see her lament all the transgressions of her country and the state of her country's "soul." You may be listening and feeling down-hearted about the state of your country's "soul." If we care about our country and love our country we want it to be healthy and full of virtuous citizens.

This week we are reading the 45th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is our last reading in the "Wisdom" section. Next week we move into the "You" section. The topic is on silence. We don't like to think too much about silence or talk about it. It makes us very uncomfortable. Bishop Sheen is going to show us why it makes us so uncomfortable, but why it's so important to have periods of silence in our lives.

Three Key Points: Distractions, Contemplation, and prayer

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1525-1530.

Another ten days down! Good job!

We are going to talk about pride and our judgment of others' souls and...our judgment of our own righteousness. Sister Faustina is going to have a couple of interactions with two different sisters. We are going to focus on one sister in particular that unjustly judges Sister Faustina.

Today readings will be from Notebook 5, numbers 1520-1524.

We are going to have two sets of readings today. One set will be our normal readings from Sister Faustina. The other reading will be a letter that connects to Christ's words today. I'm going to be talking about hardened sinners. All of us have wondered at some souls, haven't we? We wonder how hardened sinners have conversions. And, yet, we know that somehow God finds a way to pierce their darkened souls.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1514-1519.

Our default setting as humans is to be impatient. If you take a moment to think about all the ways we are impatient it's quite a long list. Sister Faustina is going to be talking briefly about patience and how there is much power hidden in patience. She also talks about how patience leads to victory. We'll discuss what she means.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1508-1513.

The message today is all about suffering. When someone is first diagnosed with something, we all rush to this person's aid. As time goes on, people drop off and some even seem annoyed that a person remains sick. Sickness can cause a lot of loneliness. Sister Faustina shares how much she suffering when people doubt her sickness, stop helping her during her sickness, or even forget that she is sick.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1502-1507.

With the advent of social media a lot changed in how we present ourselves. There is the opportunity to present the most spectacular parts of your life. But, I've noticed there is also a growing pressure to present your life as a "hot mess" to show "reality." Sister Faustina is going to disclose that she once tried to show that she had humility by displaying it with "excessive zeal." She realizes that she wasn't presenting the truth.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1496-1501.

Congrats on finishing another hundred numbers! We are in the 1500s now.

Sneaky Satan shows up and tries with a number of different persuasions to try and tempt Sister Faustina away from spreading the message of Divine Mercy. We'll go over his common tactics.

At the end, I'll be revealing what we will be reading for next year's podcast!

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1490-1495.

Things are back to normal today. We are a homeschooling family and so I have taught all three of my kids. Repetition is part of schooling. Sometimes, people just need to hear things over and over again before they get it. On Day 304, we have heard some repetitive things from this diary now. I invite you to not get impatient with the repetitions. We need to hear some of these things over and over again before our soul fully understands.

This week we are reading from the 44th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Do you have an open mind? I think must people would say that they do and that other people don't. Bishop Sheen teaches us that there is a good way to have an open mind and there is a bad way for us to have an open. This is a very relative topic for our times, as is every reading from Bishop Sheen.

Three Key Points: Responsibility, duty, and freedom.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, number 1489.

This is our last day of reading these conversations with Christ and a certain soul. So, like the last couple of days, I will read the conversation and then leave it at that. Tomorrow we will get back into my reflections. Today, Christ is speaking to a perfect soul.

Today's reading is from Notebook 5, number 1488.

We have two more days of these conversations with Christ and a soul. They are different than anything else we've read. I hope you are enjoying them. They are very special readings. Christ will be speaking today to a soul striving for perfection.

Today's reading will be from Notebook 5, number 1487.

Our readings today will be like the past two days. We will be reading a conversation between Christ and a soul. The soul is suffering and Christ works to get it to open up to Him. If you are going through some deep suffering right now, I think you'll find today's readings comforting.

Today's reading is from Notebook 5, number 1486.

DAY 300!!! Can you believe it?! Congratulations, Catholic Pilgrims!

Again, today, is one of those different days. We will be reading a conversation between God and a despairing soul. I'm pretty sure this was the conversation my soul had with God back a long time ago. I will just be reading the conversation and then I will leave it at that. I encourage you to put yourself in the place of the soul.

Today's reading is from Notebook 5, number 1485.

We are getting ready to enter into a section of readings that are very different than anything we have read so far. So, I'm going to approach them in a different way. For the next couple of days, we are going to be reading conversations with God and a soul. They are so impactful that I don't want to ruin them with my thoughts afterwards. I just want you to put yourself in the place of the soul and meditate on what Christ is saying.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1478-1484.

There is so much I wish to discuss from our readings today. However, I can't go on and on. Lol. We are going to focus on the fact that we should never burden anyone with living their faith life with the same devotional practices that we choose to practice. We need to make sure that we are allowing the Church to be the authority figure and not us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1472-1477.

Sister Faustina is going to ask Christ for a greater intellect in order to better understand Him, which is the most perfect reason of all. However, it is often common that we want to have a greater intellect in order to puff up our own ego or make us the smartest person in the room. We need to make sure that if are seeking a great intellect that we are doing it for all the right reasons.

This week we are reading from the 43rd number from "Way to Inner Peace." Do you want to know how to deal with people that differ from you? It's so difficult to deal with people that aren't in line with our way of thinking. Our society feels very contentious with all the divisions in politics and we mostly just want to fight with those in opposition with us. We think the fight will draw them to our side and "bring them to the light." Bishop Sheen is going to talk to us about how to handle people who differ from us.

Three key points: Convictions, tolerance, and emotional adhesions.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1467-1471.

Thank goodness that on our Judgment Day it is only Christ that stands and judges us. He knows the big picture of our life. That doesn't necessarily mean that we won't get a judgment of Hell if we have mortal sin on our souls. However, we know that Christ will be a Just Judge. I'm grateful that people here on earth don't get to judge my soul because they don't have Christ's insight.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1462-1466.

So, if we become a Christian than all is peace and harmony, right? Well, that's not exactly true. At some point in our Christian life there is going to be division: Division within ourselves, division with others, and the world at large. Sister Faustina has had to deal with a lot of division in our readings within herself, with others, and even with Satan.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1457-1461.

Yesterday, Sister Faustina was very sick in her cell. She chose not to ask her confessor come to her cell for Confession because she's worried that the other sisters will murmur even more about her. They have been talking about her and viewing her as being lazy and not as sick as she claims to be. Jesus has something to say about her decision to deny herself Confession.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 453-1456.

Boy, today's readings really convicted me. It's all about sickness and how we treat people when they are sick. It is often that we get upset and irritated when people tell us they are sick. And...we all become doctors, don't we? We all diagnose everybody and tell them that it's not real and all in their head. I don't respond well to people telling me they are sick and, so, I was super convicted by Sister Faustina's words.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1449-1452.

So, it's the New Year! 1938. Where were you in 1938? If there are any of you listening alive at that time, let us know! If you think back all the way to the beginning, we really started on our journey with Sister Faustina back around 1926. We've come a long way with her and she has grown a lot. I'd like to hope that we have, too.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1444-1448.

Most of our readings today are Christ's words. Really, really pay attention to what He is saying. He talks about how hard it is on Him when people are indifferent toward Him in Holy Communion. He greatly desires us to meet Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation so we can receive His mercy. He wants more than anything for us to receive His mercy and love.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1437-1443.

Parental warning: I will be talking about Santa today, so you may want to listen without young children around.

Congratulations on another 10 days down!

So, it is Christmas Eve with Sister Faustina. Really focus on all the different emotions she goes through and her constant focus on God during this special time of year.

This week we are reading from the 42nd number from "Way to Inner Peace." We get to talk about one of my favorite topics to discuss. It causes a lot of controversy when I bring it up on my social media platforms. It's the topic of judgment. It's such an interesting topic to talk about because we all judge, we must to get through this world. Judgment is such a dirty world even though we must make judgment calls about numerous things.

Three Key Points: Truth, moral issues, and influences.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1433-1436.

Is God allowed to be angry? I have heard numerous people over the years talk about how it's wrong for God to ever be angry. "The Old Testament God is just an angry God." Sister Faustina is going to write a lot about God's anger in our readings today and she spells out exactly what God gets angry about. Hint: It's sin.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1428-1432.

You are going to feel for Sister Faustina today. She is suffering greatly and the other Sisters around her are not being very compassionate or understanding. We will be talking about how we are not privy to all that is going on in someone's life. We need to realize that there may be inner turmoil going on that may explain why someone is acting a certain way.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1423-1427.

I think one of the hardest things about being a Catholic today is when you have to hold the line and defend the teachings of the Catholic Church. They are not popular with the culture and even with some Catholics. It can be hard to be the only one, it seems, not relishing in everyone else's sin, as many in the culture do. Sister Faustina shares in some joy with another Sister when she knows that she shouldn't.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1417-1422.

Christians are often accused of being all faith and no science. Which is ridiculous seeing as hundreds of scientific discoveries have been found by people of faith. As Christians, we are free to follow both faith and science. Science is a tool given to us by God to understand the material world. However, Christ today is going to talk about the importance of having a deep faith in things that can't be seen.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1412-1416.

Can you imagine saying the "Hail Mary" one thousand times each day for nine days? Today, we are going to read about how Sister Faustina does, in fact, just that. Count me as impressed. Our topics for today will be about Mary's Immaculate Conception and the Rosary.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1406-1411.

Have you ever felt abandoned by God? I'm willing to bet that many of us have felt that way. Even Christ, Himself, cries out from the Cross, "My God, My God, why have You abandoned me?" The very human side of Him felt the weight of the suffering and sin and He felt abandoned. But, the important thing to remember is that God never abandons us. He is always right there holding us together if we invite Him into our suffering.

This week we are reading from the 41st number from "Way to Inner Peace." This week's reading is dense. As we read through it together, we are just going to talk about it on the other end. I would encourage you to give it a second reading as I think it will give you a ton to pray about and meditate on. It's so packed full of really great thoughts, I think we need to spend some more time with it. We will be talking about: What happened to reason?

Three Key Points: Rationalization, passions, and introspection.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1401-1405.

Do you have the patience of Sister Faustina to carry on work for so many years, knowing the you may never see the fruits of your labor? She realizes that she will never see the fullness of all the work she has done. Yet, she still wants to do God's Will because she knows it will bless others. God often does not let us see the fruits of our labor and I think there are good reasons for it.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1394-1400.

Congratulations on making it through another 100 numbers!

So, we are getting closer and closer to the end, so after today's readings, I'm going to talk about what's in store for next year. We are going to go over some "business" issues. Also, I'll discuss why it's important to read the writings of the saints.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1388-1393.

The Catholic Church has seven sacraments. They are more than just nice symbolic ceremonies. They affect an actual change within us. The most perfect of all the sacraments is the Eucharist because it not only imparts grace but it is the actual communing with Christ in a physical way. Sister Faustina understands this completely.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1382-1387.

Another ten days down! Congrats!

We will have more interesting scenes from the convent today. Sister Faustina is visited by a deceased sister in need of prayers. What we are going to focus most, though, are Christ's words. He comments that souls don't pay attention to Him and treat Him like "a dead object."

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1375-1381.

I am the absolute worst at conversing with people when they are hot and angry. I just end up getting hot and angry, too. Sister Faustina, today, is going to have all kinds of things going on in the convent. She gets a visit from five angry men at the gate and she handles the situation very well. It's a good lesson in how to respond to people.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1370-1374.

Sister Faustina shares with us that from her earliest years she wanted to become a saint. I think sometimes we set the bar too low for our young people--meaning teenagers. We don't expect hardly anything from them and, yet, there is so much greatness and potential sitting inside them--especially at a time when they have so much energy and youthfulness about them.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1365-1369.

One of the things I love reading in this diary is how devoted Sister Faustina is to Christ. She tries so hard, she prays so hard, and she is always looking for ways to be better. Because of this, Christ has created a new life within her. It's tempting to look at her and say, "She seems like she's always been a saint. She doesn't struggle like the rest of us." But, don't be deceived, she's struggled in her own way.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1360-1364.

My son asked me the other day if I would want to live here on earth for a million years if I could. I told him that I wouldn't want to and he asked why. I told him that our goal is to get to Heaven someday. Sister Faustina talks today about what her destiny is and she knows it's to reach Heaven and become a saint. That is our destiny, too.

This week we are reading the 40th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Our topic is patience and I'm not sure I'm the best gal for reflections on this topic as I'm fairly certain I'm one of the most impatient people on the planet. I thought I'd give a funny story--funny story now--on a time when I completely failed in practicing the virtue of patience.

Three Key Points: Submission, self-possession, remedy

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1352-1359.

I was once having a conversation with someone and they said to me, "Nobody is going to tell me how to live out Christianity. I decide for myself." That comment begged the question, "Nobody? Not even Christ?" In contrast, Sister Faustina gives the most perfect and appropriate response to our Christian Faith.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1345-1351.

What happens in our life if all we see is our misery and never the mercy and love of Christ. Well, it makes for a very sad life. I had an interaction with a guy online about three years ago for an extended period of time. All he could see was his great misery and great sins. Try as I might, I could not get him to recognize Christ's mercy. He just couldn't see it.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1341-1344.

Sister Faustina is going to talk about sickness and death. She's even going to envision her own death as she meditates on death. It got me thinking a lot of sickness and death and our absolute fear of both.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1341-1344.

Sister Faustina is going to talk about sickness and death. She's even going to envision her own death as she meditates on death. It got me thinking a lot of sickness and death and our absolute fear of both.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1335-1340.

I recently finished reading the "Scarlet Letter" with my daughter and when I went to do my podcast, part of our readings reminded me of the book. Struggling against our sins is not the problem. What is the problem is when we lack courage to confess our sins and fail to even try to struggle against them. It is not failure to struggle against sin and sometimes fall back into it. It is failure to just give yourself over to you sin and never even try.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1335-1340.

I recently finished reading the "Scarlet Letter" with my daughter and when I went to do my podcast, part of our readings reminded me of the book. Struggling against our sins is not the problem. What is the problem is when we lack courage to confess our sins and fail to even try to struggle against them. It is not failure to struggle against sin and sometimes fall back into it. It is failure to just give yourself over to you sin and never even try.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1330-1334.

Let's talk about one of my favorite topics in Christianity--Angels!

Two years back, I did a study on angels and shared a lot of my newfound knowledge with my followers. Sister Faustina is going to ask Christ a question about angels. So, I thought it would be fun to talk about them.

My Guardian Angel blog: https://catholicpilgrim.net/wp-admin/post.php?post=2250&action=edit

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1330-1334.

Let's talk about one of my favorite topics in Christianity--Angels!

Two years back, I did a study on angels and shared a lot of my newfound knowledge with my followers. Sister Faustina is going to ask Christ a question about angels. So, I thought it would be fun to talk about them.

My Guardian Angel blog: https://catholicpilgrim.net/wp-admin/post.php?post=2250&action=edit

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1325-1329.

Another ten days down!

We will talk about sainthood today. Sister Faustina is going to talk about her desire to be a saint. I know that most of think that sainthood is for other people to do and not us. We don't see ourselves as saint material. But, that's just not true.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1325-1329.

Another ten days down!

We will talk about sainthood today. Sister Faustina is going to talk about her desire to be a saint. I know that most of think that sainthood is for other people to do and not us. We don't see ourselves as saint material. But, that's just not true.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1322-1324.

We start Notebook 5 today and so, as is our usual custom when we start a new notebook, our day will be shorter. We will say the prayers at the beginning and then leave it at that.

Today's readings are from Notebook 5, numbers 1322-1324.

We start Notebook 5 today and so, as is our usual custom when we start a new notebook, our day will be shorter. We will say the prayers at the beginning and then leave it at that.

This week we are reading from the 39th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Our topic is the sensitiveness of the innocent. I think a lot of times when we hear the word innocent we think of children or happy little lambs. It has a negative connotation when the word is attached to an adult. We view them as someone who is "too sheltered" or hasn't really lived. Bishop Sheen is talking about Divine Innocence which is what allows us to strive for holiness.

Three key points: Feelings, morality, and awareness.

This week we are reading from the 39th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Our topic is the sensitiveness of the innocent. I think a lot of times when we hear the word innocent we think of children or happy little lambs. It has a negative connotation when the word is attached to an adult. We view them as someone who is "too sheltered" or hasn't really lived. Bishop Sheen is talking about Divine Innocence which is what allows us to strive for holiness.

Three key points: Feelings, morality, and awareness.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1318-1321.

Milestone Day! We will finish up Notebook 4 today.

Christ wants for us to hand our misery over to Him. When we do, we will be transformed and God will create good out of that misery. It doesn't sound possible but it truly is.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1318-1321.

Milestone Day! We will finish up Notebook 4 today.

Christ wants for us to hand our misery over to Him. When we do, we will be transformed and God will create good out of that misery. It doesn't sound possible but it truly is.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1315-1317.

We all know, as Catholics, that there are the corporal works of mercy and the spiritual works of mercy. The spiritual works of mercy are a little intimidating because sometimes people don't like us offering those types of mercy. However, Christ is going to talk about the importance of performing spiritual works of mercy. I thought today would be a good refresher of the seven spiritual works of mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1315-1317.

We all know, as Catholics, that there are the corporal works of mercy and the spiritual works of mercy. The spiritual works of mercy are a little intimidating because sometimes people don't like us offering those types of mercy. However, Christ is going to talk about the importance of performing spiritual works of mercy. I thought today would be a good refresher of the seven spiritual works of mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1309-1314.

Whew! I'm on my soapbox today! We have seen in this diary just how much Sister Faustina loves Christ. She spends massive amounts of time in prayer, she goes to Mass all the time. You know that her heart belongs to God and her attitude is the proper response to God. Recently, my teenage daughter heard a message of low standards when it comes to a relationship with Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1309-1314.

Whew! I'm on my soapbox today! We have seen in this diary just how much Sister Faustina loves Christ. She spends massive amounts of time in prayer, she goes to Mass all the time. You know that her heart belongs to God and her attitude is the proper response to God. Recently, my teenage daughter heard a message of low standards when it comes to a relationship with Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1304-1308.

Milestone Day! Only 100 more days are left in our readings. Congratulations on tuning in everyday.

Sister Faustina is visited by a young woman who she feels will be a stray sheep. People leave the faith for numerous reasons. However, there are things we can do to make sure that we are never the reason why someone leaves. Ultimately, it's in their control, but we can always do our best.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1304-1308.

Milestone Day! Only 100 more days are left in our readings. Congratulations on tuning in everyday.

Sister Faustina is visited by a young woman who she feels will be a stray sheep. People leave the faith for numerous reasons. However, there are things we can do to make sure that we are never the reason why someone leaves. Ultimately, it's in their control, but we can always do our best.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1299-1303.

Milestone Day! Another 100 numbers down!

Our topic today is on leadership. I'm sure you all have had a good leader and a bad leader at some point in your life. Mother Superior goes with Sister Faustina to look over some oof the Divine Mercy image and holy cards. Sister Faustina talks about all the wonderful ways Mother Superior has been a good leader.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1299-1303.

Milestone Day! Another 100 numbers down!

Our topic today is on leadership. I'm sure you all have had a good leader and a bad leader at some point in your life. Mother Superior goes with Sister Faustina to look over some oof the Divine Mercy image and holy cards. Sister Faustina talks about all the wonderful ways Mother Superior has been a good leader.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1294-1298.

Have you ever done something you know you shouldn't have and you realize pretty quickly that you were in the wrong, so you run to fix it? If you are like me, that doesn't happen very often because of pride. It's rare that when we've done wrong that we go and fix it as fast as possible. Sister Faustina says something wrong to two poor needy children and she runs to fix it.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1294-1298.

Have you ever done something you know you shouldn't have and you realize pretty quickly that you were in the wrong, so you run to fix it? If you are like me, that doesn't happen very often because of pride. It's rare that when we've done wrong that we go and fix it as fast as possible. Sister Faustina says something wrong to two poor needy children and she runs to fix it.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1288-1293.

Have you ever noticed that some people at Mass just half-heartedly come up to receive Communion? There is a certain body language of people who fully understand what they are going up to receive. And there is a body language of those doing it merely out of habit. Christ talks about today about how it pains Him to have people receive the Sacrament of Love out of habit.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1288-1293.

Have you ever noticed that some people at Mass just half-heartedly come up to receive Communion? There is a certain body language of people who fully understand what they are going up to receive. And there is a body language of those doing it merely out of habit. Christ talks about today about how it pains Him to have people receive the Sacrament of Love out of habit.

This week we are reading from the 38th number in "Way to Inner Peace." We are leaving the learning section and moving into the wisdom section. Today's topic is called, "Stick Out Your Tongue." You may be wondering what in this world this may be about. It's all about our voice and the way we speak to each other. Words have a lot of power: They can cut someone to the quick or they can help give people hope.

Three key points: Voice, encouragement and praise.

This week we are reading from the 38th number in "Way to Inner Peace." We are leaving the learning section and moving into the wisdom section. Today's topic is called, "Stick Out Your Tongue." You may be wondering what in this world this may be about. It's all about our voice and the way we speak to each other. Words have a lot of power: They can cut someone to the quick or they can help give people hope.

Three key points: Voice, encouragement and praise.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1284-1287.

We are going to read a very good prayer of thanks. Sister Faustina is going to spend a lot of time thanking God. On the other end, I will share a recent story of when I was hit hard at Mass with the realization of how ungrateful I was acting. When I stopped to think about how ungrateful I was acting, I recognized just how many blessings God had actually been giving me. I was just too grumpy to notice.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1284-1287.

We are going to read a very good prayer of thanks. Sister Faustina is going to spend a lot of time thanking God. On the other end, I will share a recent story of when I was hit hard at Mass with the realization of how ungrateful I was acting. When I stopped to think about how ungrateful I was acting, I recognized just how many blessings God had actually been giving me. I was just too grumpy to notice.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1278-1283.

Another ten days down!

Sister Faustina shares with us that her brother is coming to visit her. She seems a little anxious about it. The last part, though, is what we are mostly going to focus on. She gives us some details about what it is like to work at the gate. She contrasts how she treats the poor at the door with how another treats the poor.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1278-1283.

Another ten days down!

Sister Faustina shares with us that her brother is coming to visit her. She seems a little anxious about it. The last part, though, is what we are mostly going to focus on. She gives us some details about what it is like to work at the gate. She contrasts how she treats the poor at the door with how another treats the poor.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1272-1277.

This is my longest podcast to date. The reason is because Sister Faustina brings up the A word. Yes, she speaks of abortion. It's too important a topic to not give due diligence. I hope you will hang in there for this longer, but highly important podcast.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1272-1277.

This is my longest podcast to date. The reason is because Sister Faustina brings up the A word. Yes, she speaks of abortion. It's too important a topic to not give due diligence. I hope you will hang in there for this longer, but highly important podcast.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1266-1271.

Sister Faustina gets a new job. She moves from the garden to the gate. Also, today, she is treated pretty poorly by several of the sisters in the house. We're going to talk about how we treat people when we do our job. That can mean any job whether it be paid, volunteer work, or work in the home.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1266-1271.

Sister Faustina gets a new job. She moves from the garden to the gate. Also, today, she is treated pretty poorly by several of the sisters in the house. We're going to talk about how we treat people when we do our job. That can mean any job whether it be paid, volunteer work, or work in the home.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1262-1265.

We will be reading mostly a longer prayer from Sister Faustina. I would encourage you to get into a very prayerful mindset. The biggest thing to focus on is the fact that she is saying, "No matter what, Lord, I will bless you." And that is the attitude of a true saint.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1262-1265.

We will be reading mostly a longer prayer from Sister Faustina. I would encourage you to get into a very prayerful mindset. The biggest thing to focus on is the fact that she is saying, "No matter what, Lord, I will bless you." And that is the attitude of a true saint.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1256-1261.

I heard a really good homily that talked about the struggle for us to understand when innocent people suffer. I thought it would be a good thing for us to talk about because we see Sister Faustina suffering and, also, her confessor and spiritual director. Trying to get this message of Divine Mercy has caused a lot of suffering for all three of them. But...why and what does it mean?

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1256-1261.

I heard a really good homily that talked about the struggle for us to understand when innocent people suffer. I thought it would be a good thing for us to talk about because we see Sister Faustina suffering and, also, her confessor and spiritual director. Trying to get this message of Divine Mercy has caused a lot of suffering for all three of them. But...why and what does it mean?

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1251-1255.

We are going to hear a term that I have never heard before. It's called "holy indifference." Normally, when we speak in spiritual terms, being indifferent is not a good thing to be. But, holy indifference? I had to stop and think about what that exactly means.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1251-1255.

We are going to hear a term that I have never heard before. It's called "holy indifference." Normally, when we speak in spiritual terms, being indifferent is not a good thing to be. But, holy indifference? I had to stop and think about what that exactly means.

This week we are reading the 37th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is the last section on learning and next week we move into the wisdom section. Our topic is on memory--a favorite topic of mine. I'm one of those people that likes to think back to the past, draw up old memories; I'm kind of an old soul. This reading doesn't have too much to do with spirituality but more on how we live out our day-to-day time. Great stuff to talk about here.

Three Key Points: Preservation, tradition, and memory

This week we are reading the 37th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is the last section on learning and next week we move into the wisdom section. Our topic is on memory--a favorite topic of mine. I'm one of those people that likes to think back to the past, draw up old memories; I'm kind of an old soul. This reading doesn't have too much to do with spirituality but more on how we live out our day-to-day time. Great stuff to talk about here.

Three Key Points: Preservation, tradition, and memory

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1246-1250.

It can kind of be troubling when we read about a saint that performs mortifications. It's hard for us to understand, it makes us a little queasy, and we aren't quite sure if it's something good to do. My daughter asked me the other day about Sister Faustina performing mortifications. She wanted to know what I thought about it and what Jesus thinks about it. So, I thought we'd dive into this touchy topic.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1246-1250.

It can kind of be troubling when we read about a saint that performs mortifications. It's hard for us to understand, it makes us a little queasy, and we aren't quite sure if it's something good to do. My daughter asked me the other day about Sister Faustina performing mortifications. She wanted to know what I thought about it and what Jesus thinks about it. So, I thought we'd dive into this touchy topic.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1243-1245.

As we look around our world we can tell that things aren't great. I'm sure every time period has thought that things were getting really bad and the end was near. However, in the past, most were able to hold on to their belief in God. Collectively, as a whole, nowadays we aren't turning to God. Instead, we are putting ourselves up as gods and the consequences are predictable--disaster and despair

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1243-1245.

As we look around our world we can tell that things aren't great. I'm sure every time period has thought that things were getting really bad and the end was near. However, in the past, most were able to hold on to their belief in God. Collectively, as a whole, nowadays we aren't turning to God. Instead, we are putting ourselves up as gods and the consequences are predictable--disaster and despair

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1239-1242.

Have you ever had a person show you kindness and you totally buy into it and then it turns out not to be sincere? It always makes us a little tender in our heart, doesn't it? When we put our trust in someone that shows us kindness and then it turns out that they were looking to set snares, it makes it hard to deal with that person. So what are we to do?

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1239-1242.

Have you ever had a person show you kindness and you totally buy into it and then it turns out not to be sincere? It always makes us a little tender in our heart, doesn't it? When we put our trust in someone that shows us kindness and then it turns out that they were looking to set snares, it makes it hard to deal with that person. So what are we to do?

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1234-1238.

We will talk today about why it's so hard for us to give others mercy. It's not hard for Christ, but, man, it sure is hard for us. I thought of some reasons about why it is so difficult for us as humans.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1234-1238.

We will talk today about why it's so hard for us to give others mercy. It's not hard for Christ, but, man, it sure is hard for us. I thought of some reasons about why it is so difficult for us as humans.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1231-1233.

Milestones day today! We have finished another 10 days and we move into Notebook Four.

It will be short and sweet today. There is a prayer at the beginning of Notebook 4. We will pray along with her and then leave it at that while looking forward to what is in store in this new notebook.

Today's readings are from Notebook 4, numbers 1231-1233.

Milestones day today! We have finished another 10 days and we move into Notebook Four.

It will be short and sweet today. There is a prayer at the beginning of Notebook 4. We will pray along with her and then leave it at that while looking forward to what is in store in this new notebook.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1224-1230.

We will finish up the Novena today by covering three days. The readings will be a little longer but when we are done, we will finish up Notebook 3. Here are the souls we are to bring today.

Day 7: Those souls that venerate and glorify God's mercy.

Day 8: Souls in the prison of Purgatory.

Day 9: Lukewarm souls

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1224-1230.

We will finish up the Novena today by covering three days. The readings will be a little longer but when we are done, we will finish up Notebook 3. Here are the souls we are to bring today.

Day 7: Those souls that venerate and glorify God's mercy.

Day 8: Souls in the prison of Purgatory.

Day 9: Lukewarm souls

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1218-1223.

We are continuing on with our condensed Novena. On Day 5, Christ wants heretics and schismatics brought to Him. On Day 6, He wants meek and humble souls and, also, the souls of children. Take a moment to think about the souls you would like to offer up as your intentions.

This week we are reading from the 36th number from "Way to Inner Peace." There are two kinds of truth: Speculative and Practical. Speculative truth is not exceptionally hard for us to accept, e.g. the ocean is salty. Though this kind of truth is increasingly being denied. Practical truth is harder for us to accept because it deals with morality and its acceptance may require change in our behavior. Our egos aren't necessarily keen on this. Bishop Sheen will explain why.

Three key points: Narrow path, self-will, and discovery

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1214-1217.

We are continuing on with our Novena we started yesterday. We can't do the full nine days because of time constraints. So, we are lumping some days together. Christ has asked that certain souls be brought to Him each day.

Day 3: We are to bring devout and faithful souls.

Day 4: We are to bring pagans and non-believers.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1209-1213.

Sister Faustina is going to be doing a Novena to the Divine Mercy. Christ has asked her to do this and He is going to tell her what souls He wants brought to Him each day. We won't be able to do each day one day at a time, but we can bring souls to Christ.

Today we will bring all sinners for Day One and for Day Two we will bring priests and religious.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1201-1208.

Sister Faustina is at the vacation house and she's not doing well. In fact, she is getting worse. While there, she is visited by St. Joseph. Since 2021 is the year dedicated to St. Joseph, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about St. Joseph. I share my experience of visiting his church in Nazareth and the cave that was likely his workshop. We, also, discuss what we can learn from a saint that we don't know much about.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1196-1200.

Congratulations! Another 100 numbers down!

Sister Faustina has a secret and she's not telling us. That's gonna drive me crazy! She's going to be going to a vacation house and she's very anxious to go, but she doesn't share it with us. Mostly, though, today we will be talking about being intentional and finding solitude.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1191-1195.

There's not a major theme today in our selection of readings. It's very much like diary entries. At one point, she'll talk about a sister who asks her some questions and then talks her words and distorts them. She reflects on how we should spend our lives growing in love for God and how we need to cling to Christ during life's storms.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1185-1190.

Do you have a grateful country? I've heard that the people of Haiti are some of the most gracious and appreciative people out there and, yet, they have so little. Contrast that with first world countries around the world that seem to have an ingratitude problem. Why is that? Well, that's what we are going to talk about today. Hint: It has to do with comfort.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1180-1184.

So, do you wanna hear about the lance that pierced Christ's side? Christ mentions it today in our readings and so I thought today would be a great day to go on a little history lesson with me. While in Turkey, I got to visit one of the claimed spears. It's an interesting story and I did a lot of research on the spear. I wanted to know if the one I was going to see in Turkey was the ONE.

This week we are reading the 35th number from "Way to Inner Peace." When I was younger, I wanted to be like Cinderella. She was always so kind, gentle, and humble. I knew that I tended to be snarky and prideful. I tried so hard to be more like her and I lasted about a day. I tried to do it all myself and I didn't realize that I needed God's help with my pride. Our readings on self-inflation were a punch in the gut for me and I'll explain why.

Three key points: Humility, humility, and humility.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1172-1179.

Congratulations on another 10 days down!

There's an old saying that goes, "I'll rest when I'm dead." This phrase got me thinking about why it's so hard to live out the Christian faith in a faithful way. Sister Faustina admits that she is struggling to live out God's Will faithfully. This is an honest admission and we will talk the struggles with living our faith well.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1160-1166.

We hear from Satan again. The Saints often have encounters with Satan because he attacks them so much. He hates they are able to pull lukewarm and cold souls out of his grasp. Also, we will have an interesting reflection as I wrap my favorite comedian, Brian Regan, into Sister Faustina's writings.

Link to "Me Monster" skit by Brian Regan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kLIe9vYop8

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1160-1166.

We are going to hear from Christ about a particular scene in the Bible that we never really reflect much on. It's kind of a forgotten part in His whole Passion. We are also going to hear Sister Faustina ask Him why He lets crime and sins go without punishment right away. He gives her an answer that can be hard for us, as humans, to understand.

Today’s readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1153-1159

Sister Faustina has a vision of her new Congregation and Christ reveals to her how He wants her to spread mercy. There are three main ways—words of mercy, prayers for mercy, and deeds of mercy. I, also, share how difficult it has been to get this podcast up and running. The visual is pretty ridiculous but full of God’s grace. Whew!

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1148-1152.

These readings are some of my favorite from St. Faustina. They really speak to me and are totally relatable. We are talking about emotions today and how they threaten to overwhelm us sometimes. They can definitely get the better of us and Sister Faustina gives us the solution--pray for actual graces.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1142-1147.

When non-believers focus on God, they only focus on what they perceive to be "angry" Old Testament God. They never focus on God's mercy or love. Christ speaks beautiful words about His infinite mercy and it's a message that so many need to hear. Christ wants us to lead with a message of mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1133-1141.

We are celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi with Sister Faustina today. It's so important that we understand that Christ's Body is fully given to us in the Holy Eucharist. Everything in the Old Testament must be greater and utterly fulfilled in the New. Holy Communion is not symbolic--it is the true Body of Christ. It's a miraculous way to be united to our Savior.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1121-1126.

Have you ever looked at a couple and seen them gushing in love and staring into each other's eyes? And then you look at yourself and your significant other and you don't see that same level of gushing love? Does it make you feel like maybe you don't love your significant other enough? Sister Faustina has the ability to be in ecstasy and be thoroughly connected to God. Many of us don't experience this and so we may wonder if we are doing something wrong.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1115-1120.

So what happens when you are trying to do God's Will but it does not feel good? What is brings you a lot of suffering and torment? Does that mean you are on the wrong track? Sister Faustina experiences just this issue. We have seen her striving as hard as she can to live out God's Will, but it doesn't always feel good to her. So, does this mean she is on the wrong path?

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1100-1114.

There's nothing too earthly-shattering today in our readings. But, we will be talking about Mary, as Sister Faustina talks about her in the last part of our readings. You can never talk enough about our Mother Mary and I thought we would go into some of the doctrines that deal with her.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1106-1109.

We all understand the concept of "if you love someone set them free and if they come back to you they really love you." We understand that in order for someone to truly love, they have to be free to make the choice to be with us. However, when it comes to God, we have a very hard time understanding the free will concept. People actually think God is mean for not creating us in such a way that we never choose evil. But, because God loves us, He gave us free will.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1100-1105.

So, another hundred numbers down!

We will talk about sacrifice and suffering which is a common theme in Sister Faustina's Diary. It's a topic that has to be talked about when speaking about love. You cannot have true, authentic love without sacrifice and suffering. Too often we think that real love will be devoid of these things but it's exactly the opposite.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1094-1099.

I was on the internet the other day and what struck me was how many people were talking about how fearful, sad, depressed, and sorrowful they were. They seemed to be a lot of interior unrest. Sister Faustina talks today about the interior life and how external things can affect it. There are a lot of things that we think interiorly that affects our health. We will talk about those things today.

This week we are reading the 33rd number from "Way to Inner Peace." Bishop Sheen says people don't really have an inferiority complex. "An inferiority complex would be more properly called a superiority complex." Bishop Sheen is going to talk about how there "is a right and a wrong kind of superiority." Sainthood and moral perfection is the right superiority to strive for whereas seeking one's own will all the time is the wrong way.

Three key points: Superiority complex, niceness, saints

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1089-1093.

Where is all the courage? Do you ever ask yourself that? It does seem like we live in a time where courage is just not practiced at all. We desperately need courageous people to speak the truth and do courageous acts. Sister Faustina today talks about courage and how if God has graced you with courage, He wants you to do something with it.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1085-1088.

Why are vices so much easier to fall into than virtues? We really have to practice living out virtues, but vices seem like our default setting. Sister Faustina tells us that she falling into a vice--ten times in the day. She is struggling to live out the virtue that she wants to practice. Christ tells her why she is struggling. Today, we will talk about the seven deadly sins.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1079-1084.

Have you ever pondered on the fact that most of our saints come from very quiet and humble backgrounds? Not all--there are some kings, queens, and popes. Sister Faustina was just a simple nun living in Poland. She basically had an obscure life yet God was able to do amazing things through her. This is all because she opened her heart and mind to God and surrendered her life to Him. God can do the same through us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1074-1078.

Most of our readings are of Christ speaking to Sister Faustina. I wish I had just a little bit of her mysticism. How incredible to have Christ speak so frequently with her. I can only imagine what a blessing it must have been to be that closely united. What we are going to do is walk through Christ's words and pull out the things that stick out to me.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1069-1073.

So, do you have a sin or two that you still struggle with even if its been confessed? Do you struggle to fully believe in Christ's mercy? Sometimes this sneaks up on me. There are some sins that I've committed that haunt me from time-to-time. It's a trick of the devil, I know. But, if you realize anything from this diary, let it be that Christ wants to shower you with mercy no matter what sin you've committed, no matter how unworthy you feel, no matter if you are afraid to approach Him.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1062-1068.

Sister Faustina is allowed to go back to her Congregation in our readings today. She has handled her sickness and suffering very well. She has not wasted her time with grumbling or complaining. She has used her suffering for the good of others. This is wildly different than how most of us--myself included--handle sickness. She is a good model for how we should approach sickness and suffering. We can choose to use it for good.

This week we are reading the 32nd number from "Way to Inner Peace." Bishop Sheen says that we "carry our faults in sacks behind our backs and the faults of of our neighbors in open baskets in front of us." You're going to hear an incredible story from Bishop Sheen during this episode. It demonstrates how within every soul there is a capacity for goodness. Too often, though, we only acknowledge the bad in people.

Three key points: Love, judgment, and mercy

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1055-1061.

We've been going through Holy Week with Sister Faustina and we are now at Good Friday. The readings will be a little longer to keep the flow of the day. I really love the rhythm of the seasons of the Catholic Church. I especially love Holy Week. It helps make Easter all the more glorious, I think. I share a cool Easter Vigil experience I had at the parish on the UVA campus.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1050-1054.

What happens when we become numb to what Christ did in His Passion? Sister Faustina meditates often on Christ's Passion and it only makes her grow in appreciate of Christ's sacrifice and gift to us. She becomes even more sensitive to the gravity of sin. I think it is important that we meditate on Christ's Passion with right intention and with the goal to grow closer to Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1043-1049.

One of the most misunderstood elements of the Catholic Church is the papacy. There are many misunderstandings and outright lies about exactly what the papacy entails. Sister Faustina has a vision of the Holy Father in her writings today and I thought this would be a good time to talk about the pope.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1038-1042.

Sister Faustina feels great sorrow when others are suffering. She always feels empathy and wants to help those close to her and even strangers. Social media has created an unsympathetic society. We just see others as unknowns behind a screen. It is so important that we "lead with empathy," as my brother likes to say.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1033-1037.

We are going through Holy Week again with Sister Faustina and she is meditating on Christ's Passion. This made me think of a scene from the movie "Passion of the Christ." There's a very specific scene where Mary is putting her head to the ground to "feel" Jesus through the stone floor as He is being held prisoner. I talk about when I went in the cell where Christ was held.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1027-1032.

We know that, as Christians, we are to help out our neighbors. Sister Faustina helps out a sick person in another room and renders them a great service. This reading reminded me of when I read Pope Leo XIII's encyclical "Rerum Noverum." He stresses in it how important it is for us to help people at the local level. More help can be done there than by a government.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1021-1026.

Christian's are often accused of being boring, lame, or too strict. This is a gross generalization, however, there have been some Christians that deny themselves all goodness in an attempt for piety. We must remember that God wants us to delight in His good gifts. We have to be temperate and prudent or we can tend towards gluttony. It is good, though, to find joy in the good, the true, and beautiful.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1014-1020.

We think we know how horrible sin is, but do we? We live in a world and culture that is trying to make all sin acceptable, even celebrated. Because sin is packaged as something that looks fun, cool, comfortable, or pleasurable, we don't often realize how horrible sin really is. This is why Confession is so important.

This week we are reading the 31st number from "Way to Inner Peace." This week's topic is probably going to be one of the most fun topics to discuss, as far as I can tell. I have loved reading since I was a little girl. My mom would often take me to the library and I would get a huge stack of books. My love of reading was fostered at a young age and I've enjoyed it ever since. Of course, Bishop Sheen is going to bring some more intellectual thoughts about reading to our discussion today.

Three key points: Mental garbage, leisure, and intelligent reading

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1005-1013.

This is my last day recording from Turkey. Since our departure is what is weighing on my heart, it's what I'm going to talk about today. Somehow I'll make it connect with the readings today. The readings speak of all souls knowing Christ's mercy and love. Here in Turkey, for the most part, those things are not known or understood.

Today's readings are from Notebook 3, numbers 1001-1004.

Today we enter into Notebook 3 and we are going to ease our way into it. Sister Faustina gives us two poems and it will be good to hear them and just sit with them.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 996-1000.

More milestones today! We hit number 1000 and we will finish Notebook 2. Yay!

If we only get one thing out of this diary, we have to see that Christ wants to pour mercy out on everyone who asks for it. As humans, we can believe that there are some people that aren't worthy of mercy; those people that have done the worst of worst deeds. However, Christ does not view them the way we view them. He wants to shower mercy even on the worst sinner.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 991-995.

You can be sure that you will be tested in your Christian life. It is through that test that your love will either show up or it won't. There hasn't been a saint yet that hasn't gone through some trial. That's honestly how they become saints--through the test. It's so easy to love God when things are going great. But, easy love doesn't show the depths of your love and devotion.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 985-989.

We've all seen the reports that rates of depression, anxiety, and fear are on the rise. I can't help but speculate that these rises are caused by the abandonment of faith. Sister Faustina talks about how she is astonished that people would deny eternity. If you believe that this world is all there is; it definitely will cause you to live your life in a way that may leave you desperate to cling to this life no matter what.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 979-984.

In our current culture and climate there is the push to make all sins okay. We are told that Christ is happy when we are living out our truth whatever we decide that to be. Today, though, Christ tells Sister Faustina that He is pleased with her effort of living out God's Will. So, if Christ can be pleased with certain actions, He can be displeased, too. We can't trick ourselves into thinking that Christ is a-okay with everything.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 971-978.

Sister Faustina knows that greater knowledge of God brings about greater love for God. What are the ways we can have greater knowledge of God? Scripture is the obvious answer and attendance at Mass. Are there other ways, too? I talk about some ways that I think you can gain a greater knowledge of God.

This week we are reading the 30th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is probably my favorite reading so far. It covers a topic I have written about many times--facing ourselves and who we have become. Nobody likes to look at themselves and face their spiritual mirror but it is vitally important to do so. This is why the Sacrament of Confession was instituted by Christ. He knew our souls would need to face ourselves if we are to ever grow in holiness.

Three key points: Motives, Moral awakening, and mirrors.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 964-970.

Sister Faustina is a mystic...however, most of us are not. What does that mean? Are we lacking in our faith if we aren't mystics, too? No. Not all of us have this special grace and that's okay. Because Sister Faustina is a mystic it can be difficult for some of us to relate to her or get anything out of this diary. To be sure, though, even non-mystics can get much out of her diary.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 958-963.

Has anyone ever come to you and asked for you to pray for something that you knew was not good for them? Sister Faustina is approached by a woman who asks for prayers for something that was not good. Sister Faustina tells her that she can't pray for such an intention, but will pray for her, in general. That takes a lot of courage to say but we have to remember that God will not bless sin.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 952-957.

Somehow I make a connection between "The Karate Kid" movie and Sister Faustina's Diary. Lol! You never know where my mind is going to go. Sister Faustina shares with us that sometimes she just doesn't understand what God is doing in her life but she surrenders regardless.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 949-951.

We will pray a litany to the Divine Mercy today. I would encourage you to think of any intentions you may have before we pray this litany.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 942-948.

What's love got to do with it? Everything! Love for God and love from God is at the heart of our relationship with Him. Sister Faustina's writings today are like a beautiful love letter to her beloved. The best way to love God is to give Him your whole life.

200 DAYS!!! CONGRATULATIONS!

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 934-941.

Because of the flow of our readings today, it's going to be a little longer today. Pay close attention to what Sister Faustina has to say about confessors and spiritual directors.

This week we are reading from the 29th number in "Way to Inner Peace." We are talking about the obtrusiveness of evil from the learning section. You may be wondering what evil has to do with learning. We have to learn that we truly are in a spiritual battle between good and evil. We have to understand and realize that there are powers out there trying to force evil on us.

Three key points: Rottenness, false prophets, and pardon.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 929-933.

We are all called as baptized Christians to proclaim the Good News. Two of the best ways to do that is to: 1. Live our Catholic Faith fully and boldly and 2. Be able to explain the faith with clarity and charity. Sister Faustina today is greatly concerned for mankind, especially for those that don't know Jesus and those that know who He is but don't love Him.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 924-928.

Sister Faustina is overwhelmed by all the sin on Shrove Tuesday. She wonders why God allows humanity to exist. All the bad in the world can overwhelm us and make us wonder what God is up to. It may even cause us to question whether we should be people of faith. We must remember that our calling as Christians is to wade into the dark and bring light, because...if not us, then who?

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 919-923.

Do you ever feel like you shouldn't burden God with all that's on your mind? Do you think that He has more important things to do than listen to you? God tells Sister Faustina to tell Him everything. He wants her to approach Him like a child and talk to Him about everything. Don't forget, God can handle all your thoughts and prayers and He wants to hear what you have to say.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 915-918.

Sister Faustina shares a really dramatic scene. She tells us about a sick Jewish woman that she and another Sister are trying to figure out how to baptize before she dies. So, we are going to talk about Baptism and refresh our memories about this wildly important Sacrament.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 911-914.

It's all downhill from here, Catholic Pilgrims. What do I mean? Well, today is the halfway point with regards to the numbers. Congrats!

We will be discussing the Blessed Trinity today as Sister Faustina gives her thoughts on the oneness of God. The Blessed Trinity is not an easy mystery to explain, but it is a reality. God revealed that He is Three Persons in One God.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 903-910.

A lot of people leave their Catholic Faith or Christianity, in general, because they have had a bad experience with a bad Christian. That is why it is so important for us to give good witness because people are watching and we are held to a higher standard as Christians. We, also, have to remember that bad Christians are NOT living up to the Christian ideals that God desires for us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 897-902.

Congrats! Today we have gone through another one hundred numbers!

It will be a little different today. Sister Faustina will tell us about another sister that she knows is lying to her. I'm going to read a blog to you on the 7th Commandment a few years ago. I did a whole series a few years ago about the 10 Commandments and tried to come at the topics from different angles to make you think.

This week we are reading the 28th number in our new section on learning. I think this is the longest section. The topic this week is on pride and humility and it's so awesome that it's hitting right now at this particular time in my life. I've been recently been posting about hot-button topics on my social media pages and I've got lots of examples of prideful comments. I've drawn a lot of ire and all that ire is my fuel for what I'm going to talk about this week.

Three key points: snobbery, receptivity, and wonder.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 893-896.

Obedience is the word of the day. It's a hard word for us modern day people. We think we are above obedience and too independent for it. However, there is One person we must always be obedient to and that is God. To be sure, we will always be obedient to something or someone, no matter how independent we think we are. We will be obedient to ourselves, the culture, a government, or God.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 889-892.

In order to feel worthy or that our lives are worth something, we believe that we need to amazing, great deeds. And so, we look down on simple, everyday work or work for our children and family. It's just not big enough we tell ourselves. But, what Sister Faustina shares with us that is that anything done with great love automatically becomes a great deed.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 883-888.

We are going to talk about silence...again. Sister Faustina talks about it a lot and I do think it's something important to keep discussing. It's vital that we find time for silence out in nature. We don't need to go on a big trip. We just need to find a few moments of stillness and silence in God's created world in order to refresh our souls.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 879-882.

We are going to hear from Sister Faustina what she's really afraid of; we hear her reasons for why she feels inadequate. It's sort of an excuse list, but the excuses seem pretty valid. We make excuse lists, too, when God asks something of us. We feel like maybe there's someone else better for the job. But, God knows who He wants to complete His work and He will make up what is lacking in us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 875-878.

Sister Faustina prays some very specific prayers today and they are answered. Sometimes, though, God does not always answer our prayers in the way we want. So, we have to trust that God knows what He's doing and He will do what is best.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 870-874.

What if someone comes into your life that is nearly impossible to love? What if they are someone that commits unspeakable acts? Sister Faustina shares with us that we are to love others for the sake of Christ. She even says that sometimes love of Christ is the only motive that can help us to love those that seem impossible.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 864-869.

A orphan girl visits Sister Faustina in our readings and she is suffering greatly. Sister Faustina feels bad because she isn't sure how to console her. This happens to us, as well. We often encounter people going through some great suffering and we don't know what to do or say. Sometimes, there just don't seem to be the right words.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 861-863.

Sister Faustina writes about self-love today. She comments on how focus on self should not be our top priority. This flies in the face of every popular message out there. The culture tells us that self-love should be our top focus. Christianity teaches us to empty ourselves out for others. So, we talk about how the self-love conversation has to be a little more nuanced than the culture tries to make it.

This week we are reading the 27th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is the last reading from our section on virtue. Our topic is on wars--internal and external. This is a very dense reading this week. I encourage you to take some time and read it through on your own and meditate on it. I really think it deserves a second look, as all of his writings do.

Three key points: Morality, decency, and virtue.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 855-860.

We celebrate New Year's with Sister Faustina. She takes some time to reflect on the past year. She counts her blessings and contemplates her shortcomings. I discuss why I don't like New Year's resolutions but I do like taking some time to reflect on the past year to see how far we've come, what blessings we've received, and where we need to grow.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 851-854.

Sister Faustina comments on how God is unchanging. He is perfection itself. As humans, though, we should grow and change. It's popular to say, "You don't have to change for anyone!" Really? We shouldn't strive to change for the better for Christ, our loved ones, or even society in general? That's a very selfish comment. We have to examine the change being asked of us and discern whether we should work to change or not.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 846-850.

We talk today about loved ones that have fallen away from the Faith. It's heartbreaking and so worrisome to know that a loved one no longer has a relationship with Christ or has fallen away from the Sacraments. What can we do? Christ stresses how praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet can be a great help. I offer, what I hope, are some encouraging words and I pray for fallen away loved ones at the end.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 842-845.

Merry Christmas! In our readings today, Sister Faustina is preparing for the Midnight Mass. She is back with her community to celebrate and is very happy about that. I reflect on what it was like to live in a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas. It really helps you to appreciate that specialness of the Advent and Christmas season. When something has been stripped from you, you often see the importance of it.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 837-841.

Sister Faustina laments today about how her dang pen won't work. I think we can all relate to this frustration. Lol. In all seriousness, though, we focus today on finding silence. It's so important to find a few moments to sit in silence each day. God needs us to be still and silent to hear His voice penetrate our souls.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 833-836.

As Sister Faustina is lying in the hospital, God gives her a special grace to feel when souls are dying. She realizes that she needs to strengthen them with her prayers. This is just another example of the connection between baptized souls. Our Christian faith is more than just a private, personal relationship with Jesus. Christ gives us to each other to help each other on our journey to Heaven.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 827-832.

More and more, we are turning Christ into just a social justice mascot. Political parties like to use Christ to prove a point or try to push an agenda. While it is good and right to make sure that we make society as good as we can, we can't reduce Christ to just the face of our movement. Sister Faustina shows us in her writings today the appropriate response to God--one of worship and praise.

This is the half-way point in the year! Congratulations!

So, today, we are going to be talking about how religion is not popular. We must remember that this was written in the 1950s when most people would identify themselves as Christians. We just got a new study out that shows that belief in God has been dropping. Only 80% of people identify as being religious whereas that used to be in the high 90s. So, does that mean religion is completely going away? No, I just think something has stepped in to become the "new" religion.

Three key points: Sacrifice, detachment, and unpopularity.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 823-826.

Sister Faustina talks about how it would be a misfortune if she missed Mass. She doesn't want to miss Holy Communion. There was a time in my life when I never once thought of it as a misfortune if I missed going to church. I just didn't care and what an ungrateful attitude I had.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 817-822.

During Confession, Sister Faustina sees Christ take the place of her confessor. We know, as Catholics, that in Confession the priest is in Persona Christi-- in the Person of Christ. This got me thinking of the much heated debate about how women can't be priests in the Catholic Church. So, we are going to dive into that discussion.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 812-816.

Satan hates God's mercy. He will do anything to convince us that God's mercy isn't for us: We aren't worthy, our sin is too big. But, none of this is true; the only unforgiven sin is the one we refuse to bring to Christ for forgiveness. Don't ever think that your sin is greater than the mercy of Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 805-811.

Our readings are longer today, but the overall podcast is shorter. Today we get the promise from Christ that praying the chaplet at the moment of a dying person's hour, it delivers much mercy to them. What a great promise to keep in the back of our mind.

Milestone Alert: We've made it through another 100 numbers!

Also, I goof in this podcast and say that it is day 174 instead of 173. Sorry!

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 800-804.

Sister Faustina's writings today are like quick diary entries. We will take time to reflect on a few of the things that are very noteworthy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 794-799.

Sister Faustina meditates on Mary and Joseph's journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Her reflection got me thinking about just how strong and courageous Mary was/is. She is such a strong woman and she dealt with so much as the Mother of God, yet she did it will strength and courage. She is such a great example for us and she can always be a source of strength for us when we feel weak or scared

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 787-793.

Sister Faustina is on a one day retreat and she's just kind of writing down different musings that come to her mind. I take this time to look at myself and see how well I'm doing with the areas she wants to get better in: Listening better, being patient, not worrying with others judge us, suffering without drawing attention.

This week we are reading the 25th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Can you believe that we only have one more week to go before we are at the half-way point? We are covering this week when good people do wrong. We will also be talking about when evil people do evil. If you want to hear about the time I interviewed a serial killer and what that was like, you'll definitely want to listen in this week.

Three key points: Repentance, anxiety, and agony.

Another ten days down! Good job, Catholic Pilgrims!

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 782-786.

As we know, Sister Faustina talks a lot about suffering for God and how it is a way to show love. This was an emotional reading today because it caused me to reflect on the suffering I've had being kept from Mass through lockdowns. But, recently, I found out daily Mass is available and I got to go. It's been glorious.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 777-781.

Heaven is about worship of the Almighty for eternity. It is the full union with God and basking in all happiness and glory. There is a tendency, though, of thinking of Heaven as only a place where we will be reunited with our loved ones. While this will be wonderful, too often, we forget that the point of Heaven is to be united with God.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 771-776.

What if you could gain a greater capacity for happiness and knowledge in Heaven? What if that meant you needed to do the hard work to have a relationship with God here on Earth? Would you do all that you could to be rewarded with a greater capacity for happiness? God gives us graces and we must respond to it and allow those graces to help us grow closer to God. The closer we grow to God here on Earth; the closer we will be in Heaven.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 768-770.

Have you found a kindred spirit in Christ? Sister Faustina talks today about how God gives grace to kindred spirits that are united to God. They easily recognize each other. I talk about how connected I felt to other Catholics when I was at the World Meeting of Families.

Warning: Today's reflection is not appropriate for young ears.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 764-767.

Christ tells Sister Faustina to "defend children from evil." As you know, I go with what falls on my heart for my reflections. Today, Christ's comment placed on my heart to discuss my experiences of working with children that have sexually abused and those that have been abused. We are failing to defend children from evil because we are afraid of standing against the culture.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 760-763.

We will focus on one line from today's readings. A priest tells Sister Faustina not to worry about human opinion when it comes to doing God's Will. This is so hard for all of us. It is hard to deal with people's forceful and negative comments about our Catholic Faith. But, we must remember, Christ's truth always takes precedence over human opinion.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 756-759.

Sister Faustina has a vision today of the Upper Room and she sees the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. I describe my experience of being in the Upper Room when I was on pilgrimage in the Holy Land. The Upper Room was utterly different than what I had imagined it to be.

This week we are reading the 24th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Insincerity is our topic and as I was going through the readings there were parts where I literally laughed out loud. He's so spot on. It's funny when he talks about the "lighter" times when we are being insincere. I think married couples will relate. On a more serious note, I feel like we are living in very insincere times. There is a push to encourage people to be insincere to feed egos.

Three key points: Duplicity, flattery, agreeable.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 750-755.

We have to work with God's grace. If God asks us to do something we must do it and realize that God will do His part to help us fulfill our mission. He will give us graces to help us. Sometimes we will have to be patient and wait as things work themselves out, but if God wills something, He will help it to happen.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 745-749.

Are we willing to accept ridicule, persecutions, and hatred for Christ? Or, do we try to make Christianity fit the popular culture so as to make it easy for us to live it out, not angering enemies of the Catholic Church. If the popular culture applauds your brand of Christianity, you can be sure it misses the mark. We cannot conform Christianity around the secular culture--to do so makes Christianity ineffectual and bland.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 742-744.

Jesus is going to talk about works today, so we are going to talk about works today. Faith and works are not in conflict with each other. In fact, works arise naturally out of faith. If you love and believe in Christ then you desire to show your love through works. Words only go so far.

Congrats! Another ten days down. We are moving right along.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 736-741.

Let today be a call to evangelization. Sister Faustina visits Hell and her descriptions are horrific. We must live our Catholic Faith with joy and passion so that those who don't believe might see a difference in us. If our lives look just like the culture then we will draw no one to Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 731-735.

In our lives today, entertainment is a top priority. The entertainment mentality has pervaded our faith lives. Too many look to sit back and be entertained by religion. If not, well, then it is time to move on till we find something more entertaining. Sister Faustina shows us a deep spiritual life requires worship and praise even when times are hard, even when God's presence pervades us, and when we are discouraged.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 725-730.

Who is the number voice that guides your life? Is it your spouse? Your best friend? Your favorite politician? Is it your own voice? Sister Faustina shares how Christ's voice is the only voice she wants to hear. He is her number one. There are many, many voices that influence our life but the voice we should put the most stock in is Christ's.

This week we are reading the 23rd number from "Way to Inner Peace." We are entering into the section on virtues and the first virtue we are going to discuss is selflessness. I think all human beings can say that they have struggled with the opposite of this virtue. I don't think there is any person out there that can say that they have never been selfish. We all struggle with it and I think Bishop Sheen gives us great tips on how to combat selfishness.

Three key points: Lust, egotism, and greed.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 720-724.

Sister Faustina shares that it can be hard to live in a community. She ain't kidding! No matter what community we are in, people can be difficult. We ourselves are difficult. It's so important for us to learn to be good community members whether that be at work, school, church, or at home. People need patience and mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 714-719.

Christ seems to say some really harsh words to Sister Faustina. He tells her that she needs to be aware of what she truly is. It is so important that we are truthful with ourselves about our sins and about how those sins have made us do things that are not becoming to us. I share my experiences as a counselor. It is very difficult to get people to truly look at who they are and who they have become. Too often we want to blame everyone else for our shortcomings and sins.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 709-713.

Apologizes for the mispronunciation of ciborium by me today in the readings and for the scratchy sound at the very end.

Sister Faustina realizes that she may not see the full fruits of her labors with regards to the Divine Mercy message. She knows that her life may end before the message fully spreads. She's okay with that. We, too, should always be ready to make things better even if we never see the full fruits of our efforts.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 702-708.

Sister Faustina shares how much she loves to be close to God. She wants to talk to Him, learn from Him, share her life with Him. The good news is that God wants us to be close to Him. He is not a distant, unapproachable God. He is relational. He desires a close relationship with each of His created souls.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 697-701.

So often, we look to Christ as a last resort to solve our problems. This is true for individuals, communities, and countries. Too often we look to politicians, the media, and progressive movements to fix problems. If we don't seek Christ's guidance in any problem we try to fix, not only will we not fix it, we will more than likely make the problem worse. Sister Faustina reminds us that God must come first.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 692-696.

Sister Faustina talks about the sufferings of death today. I would wager that most of us fear that sufferings of death and would just like to go peacefully in our sleep when we are 95. But, the reality is that this probably won't happen to most of us--most of us will suffer in some capacity. Talking about it helps to lessen the fear.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 686-691.

Do we show up in the hard? Do we show people we love them by showing up even when we are tired or even if we really don't want to do something at the moment? Sister Faustina is very tired and, yet, she still goes to give a Holy Hour. Christ tells her this pleases Him very much. It's because she still chose to give to Him even when it was hard.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 680-685.

Sister Faustina is asking for the intercession of Jesuit Saints. I thought today would be a great day to talk about the Jesuits and how they came about. My daughter recently learned about St. Ignatius and how he came to found the Jesuits. What I love about the Jesuits is their willingness to go into the unknown to bring the Gospel.

This week we are reading the 22nd number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is the last reading from the section on external influences. We will move into a section on virtues. The reading is a little different this week and I wasn't quite sure to approach it. I think I came up with a pretty clever way to talk about the five groups of people that are "fish for the devil's hooks." They take the bait, so to speak.

There are not three points to key in on as Bishop Sheen will give us five groups to focus on.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 675-679.

Sister Faustina mentions todays that the practicing the virtues is important to living out God's Will. So, I thought today would be a good day to talk about the Cardinal Virtues. We know that the virtues are good to practice, but I'm not sure we think about them very often. If we don't know what we are aiming to practice, it will be difficult to practice them. I thought it would be a good time to go over Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 669-674.

Sister Faustina is being tormented by Satan and she just wants to run into the garden to cry aloud. She is even tempted to miss Holy Communion because of temptations. Christ appears and asks her a very pointed question. It's a question that Christ will ask to each one of our souls at least once in our life. It reminds me of a question Christ asks in John 6.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 664-668.

Sister Faustina talks a lot about doing God's Will in our readings today. What impresses me is how willing she is to do God's Will even it means she is hidden and meek. She isn't worried about being known or famous. My pride causes me to struggle with doing things God wants when it may not be seen by others. This is a fault that I think many of us struggle with and it all boils down to pride.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 658-663.

How do we know if we are truly being guided by the Holy Spirit? Well, there are safeguards we need to put into place to check and make sure any inspirations are truly from God. St. Faustina shows us those safeguards: Talking with a spiritual director, speaking with priests, other friends grounded in their Catholic Faith, and lots of prayer.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 653-657.

Sister Faustina talks about having contrition for her sins in her writings today. It is so important that we have true contrition for our sins. There is imperfect contrition and perfect contrition. We will discuss the differences today and, also, how to have contrition for our sins. Sometimes, our sins can make us numb and cause us to forget how much pain they inflicted on Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 646-652.

We get the continuation of the saga that happened in yesterday's readings. Today, everyone has changed. The confessor is less severe. Satan doesn't show up. Christ doesn't have too much to say and St. Faustina has renewed strength and courage. I think what we are seeing is the battle of self-will vs. God's Will. Even saints have to work out their holiness.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 643-645.

The readings today are very curious. Her new confessor tells her to give all these inspirations up, they are all an illusions. And curiously, she is relieved to get this message. However, she falls into darkness. Later, Christ talks with her and seems completely fine with how things are playing out. It's all very curious and I'm interested to see how this plays out.

This week we are reading the 21st number from "Way to Inner Peace. Bishop Sheen will be talking about passion. As a person who gets told that I am a very passionate, I appreciate this reading. It's not bad to be passionate about things, as long as it's ordered correctly. It's okay to be passionate about hating evil, however, we must be Christian in our approach to eradicating it. In the world we live in, we are often pressured to be passionate about everything under the sun and that's just not possible or sustainable.

Three key points: Enthusiasm, knowledge, and passion.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 639-642.

Sister Faustina has been going through Lent. Now she is thinking about Palm Sunday. I share my experience of walking the Palm Sunday path when I was in the Holy Land. Whenever I read the Palm Sunday narrative, it reminds me of the fickleness of the human heart when it comes to Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 634-638.

Sister Faustina has a conversation with Mary in our readings today. Mary implores Sister Faustina to get the message of mercy out so that souls can receive it before the Second Coming of Christ. At the Second Coming, Christ will be the Just Judge. We prepare for lots of things in our life, just in case something happens. Do we prepare our souls for the coming of Christ?

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 629-633.

As Sister Faustina is getting ready to depart, another sister comes and apologizes to her for being so difficult. Sister Faustina had been patient with this other sister and, in the end, it had brought about good change. Though it can be incredibly difficult to be patient with those that try us, we can change their hearts if we show them a Christ-like witness.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 624-628.

Sister Faustina has a interaction with an elderly sister who was struggling to believe that she has been forgiven by God. Sister Faustina promises to pray for her and ask Christ if she has been forgiven. Sometimes, we struggle with doubts about whether God really loves us or really forgives us. God wants us to trust Him, but, thankfully, He never tires of reassuring us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 617-623.

Sister Faustina writes about how our prayers for specific souls in purgatory may not get applied to who we attend. God will apply our prayers to those that need them. I did an Ancestry DNA kit a few years back and I realized that I have a lot of ancestors that could possible use my prayers for them if they are in purgatory.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 615-616.

Sister Faustina gives a lot of thoughts on following God's Will versus our own will. There are times when we know, deep in our bones, what God wants us to do. Many times, we just ignore and pretend not to know because we realize that following God's Will will mean giving up some sin we enjoy. Or we think we know better.

This week we are reading the 20th number from "Way to Inner Peace." The topic is very interesting this week and when I first saw it, I was very curious as to what exactly we would be learning about. It's called "Bread and Kings" and at first you may wonder what in the world those two things have to do with inner peace. What's interesting is that for the past two months, my husband has been asking a question that I haven't been able to answer. I think, though, this week, Bishop Sheen will mostly answer his question.

Three key points: Liberty, surrender, promises

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 610-614.

Sister Faustina fears that she has possibly offended Christ. Because she is unsure, she decides to stay away from Communion until she can later get to Confession. While her desire to be free of sin is admirable, it is not good that she stays away from Communion. Her confessor even tells her so much. If we have mortal sin on our soul, we cannot receive Communion. But, we can with venial sin on our soul and we should because the Eucharist is food for our soul.

oday's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 605-609.

We hear about how Sister Faustina has a rough morning. She's sleepy, she struggles to stay focused in prayer and meditation. She talks about how each day she deals with battles in the morning and battles at the end. This is important to read because it helps us see that saints struggle, too. They have bad prayer times. They deal with constant battles. All saints go through this and, so, we should see that sainthood is not out of reach for any of us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 601-604.

Today is the first day where I truly was stumped by something Sister Faustina wrote. It caused me to raise an eyebrow, but it's not the first time a saint has talked about this certain issue. St. Paul does in Colossians. So, I had to do a little research to understand.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 596-600.

Sister Faustina asks Christ to take on the sufferings of her confessor. Christ mostly grants her prayer and she immediately starts feeling struggles and aversions. I ask the question, "Are we willing to suffer for others?" I share a story of when I was asked to suffer for someone and how hard it was to do, even though the suffering was utterly minor.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 593-595.

What makes a truly happy soul? Do whatever makes you happy? Do whatever it takes to get yours? Nah. Sister Faustina tells us that a truly happy soul must be humble. I have some ideas, too, of what makes us truly happy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 587-592.

Love conquers fear. When we love God and get to know Him better through reading Scripture and praying, we start to understand His heart all the more. Knowing Him better helps us to not fear God as just a God of punishment, but as a God of mercy. Realizing this, we lose our fear of God and, instead, our relationship with Him becomes so much better.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 580-586.

Christ tells Sister Faustina that those with a lukewarm faith break His heart. It even breaks His heart more than those who sin who don't believe in Him. The fact of the matter is, is that a lukewarm faith does absolutely nothing for us. Here's the thing, we don't want ANYONE to love us with a lukewarm love, why would we ever think it's okay to love God that way?

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 574-579.

Eternity with God is full of joy and glory. It will be better than we can even comprehend. Sadly, there are many that don't believe in eternity and this non-belief causes them to live their lives in a very different way than Christians. Sister Faustina expresses gratitude and praise for eternity in the writings today and it's a great thing to ponder.

This week we are reading the 19th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We enter into a new section this week, one that covers external influences. Our readings this week cover the conscious and unconscious influences. Typically, conscious influence is when one deliberately seeks to mould someone else. It rarely works because it often comes off as advertising. Unconscious influence is more genuine. "Our off duty" good-deed behavior is more apt to influence.

Three key points: Undeliberate influence, basic humility, and good example.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 570-573.

Sister Faustina's greatest fear is to offend God. This is exactly right. Too often we worry about offending other people rather than worrying about offending God. To be sure, we shouldn't walk around trying to offend people through hateful talk or nasty names. However, we cannot worry about whether our Catholic Faith offends others. We have to live our faith boldly, defend truth logically, and stand-up for Christ whether it offends or not.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 568-569.

Sister Faustina defines how she wants the Superior to relate to the sisters. It is a fantastic look at true leadership. What is important to understand is that not everyone on earth has the gift of leadership. But, if you do, true leadership is about serving as Christ served. True leadership should never be self-serving.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 565-567.

Sister Faustina writes today about the respect she wants the sisters to give their Superior. So, we are going to talk about worship, praise, respect, and honor. Catholics get accused pretty frequently of giving too much honor and respect to the Pope, the Saints, and Mary. People tell us that we worship them. We are going to discuss some big theological words: Dulia, Hyperdulia, and Latria.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 559-564.

Sister Faustina has a vision of the building that is to house her new convent. The problem is that it's a run-down, crumbling building. She's a little disappointed. I share what it's like to visit the ruins of once-glorious Catholic Churches here in Turkey. Surprisingly, it doesn't cause me to despair. I try to explain why.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 554-558.

This is the last day of looking at how Sister Faustina wants the new Congregation to function. I compare and contrast the Religious life with the life of a lay person. There are some things Religious do that lay people shouldn't do, or shouldn't do, at least, to the same extreme degree. There are some things they do, however, that we should most definitely try to imitate.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 549-553.

We are continuing on today with reading about how Sister Faustina's new Congregation will operate. Don't let this be dry readings to you. There are a lot of good things to reflect upon in these words. I want to focus on what she has to say about work and silence. My grandfather always told me to embrace work and he was a good example of that for me. And something I have to work on is learning to be silent.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 542-548.

Sister Faustina is laying out how the new Congregation will work. We made be tempted to see these readings as not really pertaining to our lives. I think, though, that it is important to understand and see exactly what the Religious give up for Christ. If we are looking for Christianity to be cushy or comfy, we are misguided and don't understand that our lives as Christians should not be worldly.

This week we are reading the 18th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This is the last reading in the happiness section. Bishop Sheen is going to show us how many of us react when we are faced with the reality that we are to blame, many times, if our life isn't going well. Often times, when we realize this we rebel even more against decency and the moral life. The prodigal son, though, shows us the correct response--a return to the father with a contrite heart.

Three key points: Reformation, conscience, and restoration.

Milestone Day! We are a third of the way through the year!

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 536-541.

Sister Faustina is envisioning what the new Congregation will look like. Our Religious do so much good in the world and I share a story of an atheist that ended up converting to Catholicism. One of the reasons was because of the witness of Religious.

Here is the interview with him.

https://catholicpilgrim.net/?p=1866

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 530-535.

The podcast is a little longer today because we will be saying a prayer for our priests at the end. Christ tells Sister Faustina to pray for the souls of priests and I thought it would be a good idea for us to pray for them, as well.

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 525-529.

The life of a saint is filled with ups and downs, highs and lows. There are moments of great feelings of joy; there are moments of dryness. If we are expecting our faith life to be full of nothing but highs, we will be disappointed and tempted to walk away from the faith. We must realize that the dry points may be times of fortification. Like Sister Faustina, we need to just keep going.

We start Notebook Two today!

Today's readings are from Notebook 2, numbers 522-524.

It will be a short reading today. Notebook Two starts with a beautiful short poem and I will read it and then let you reflect on its message of mercy. It's a great way to start this next chapter.

Congratulations! We made it to the end of Notebook One! Whoop, whoop!

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 512-521.

We complete Notebook one and this is a big milestone for all of us. After our readings today we will summarize our journey thus far with Sister Faustina. We've been through so much with her and we've seen that the life of a saint is never easy but always full of intention and perseverance.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 506-511.

All the writings today have to do with patience. Sister Faustina's spiritual director is encouraging her to be patient with regards to discerning whether she should start a new Congregation. Sister Faustina writes about how she is going to arm herself with patience. I struggle mightily to be a patient person. Learning to be patience requires training our patience muscle. It takes a lot of hard work.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 498-505.

Sister Faustina is always trying to find ways to be more obedient to God. She's always looking for some way to surrender more. That made me wonder about my life. What would it look like if I tried to be more obedient and to surrender more? I encourage us all to assess our lives and see what we would do differently. It wasn't too hard for me to list out a few things I can work on.

This week we are reading the 17th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Melancholy is the topic we will focus on and it's important that we understand what it means exactly. It's more than just a little sadness; it's actually a deep, prolonged depression. Bishop Sheen is going to throw out some names from the past that we need to understand. I know sometimes it's easy to glaze over these names, but we need to understand why he brought these names up. There are philosophies that come from these men that directly influence our lives today.

Three key points: Emptiness, disillusionment and deliverance.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 492-497.

Sister Faustina is really struggling with her upcoming Confession. She has all kinds of doubts and thoughts about why she shouldn't have to follow God's Will for her life. Her Confession doesn't go very well. I think we can all relate to this. There are so many temptations that come to us that try to get us to NOT go to Confession. It's the one Sacrament where we are most hesitant.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 489-491.

Sister Faustina's has frequent visits from her Guardian Angel. He seems to be present in order to give her strength. I don't think we call on our Guardian Angels enough. They are such wonderful helps from God. I share my story of when I believe I met mine. It's a good story.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 485-488.

Should we care about what other people say about us? Sister Faustina says that she has given up caring about what other people say about her. There is a fine line to walk here. Of course, we should always be open to constructive criticism from others. However, if people are just saying nasty things about us or trying to call us out without doing it with the true intention of helping us to be better, we shouldn't take any stock in their words.

Today's readings from Notebook 1, numbers 479-484.

Sister Faustina professes her love for the Catholic Church. As a former Protestant, I wish that lukewarm Catholics could fully understand what they have in the Church. It is where we receive the Sacraments, it is where we receive teachings from the Magisterium. I lived without these things for 30 years and I know what it is like to be without the fullness.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 474-478.

I'm so excited for today's readings because we hear the prayers that we pray when praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. There are people that are against this diary and feel that it is a dangerous book. But, if you just read today's words and prayers, it is baffling to think that anyone takes issue with such beautiful prayers and the message behind them.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 471-473.

Sister Faustina sees a vision of one of the angels that stand before the throne of God. She describe him as very beautiful. She attributes this beauty to the closeness this angel has with God. As humans, we spend tons of time, effort, and money working on our external beauty. How often do we work to grow our internal beauty? Internal beauty manifests itself exteriorly and helps us to shine with a Christ-like light.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 466-470.

Let's have fun talking about God's Creation today. Sister Faustina stares out her window and looks at the heavens. The stars and moon cause her heart to burn with adoration for God. It is so good to marvel at creation and it helps us grasp at the mind of God. I give you a few of my favorite places in creation that I have seen. Share yours!

The show is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

This week we are reading the 16th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Bishop Sheen is going to talk about the reasons why mental cases are increasing in our modern world. Though he wrote this some 60+ years ago, it is as pertinent today as it ever was. It is important that we ask questions as to why mental cases are increasing. We can't help people if we don't understand the source of the problem.

Three points to consider: Self-will, discipline, and superiority complex.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 456-465.

The readings are a little bit longer today, but Sister Faustina is on a three-day retreat and I wanted to keep a flow of thought. The speaker speaks about God's goodness--one of His greatest attributes. Many people--believers and non-believers--struggle with fully believing in God's goodness. Lots of people who have experienced deep pain have a hard time accepting that God is good.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 450-455.

Till our last breath, our lives have purpose and meaning. No matter our age, no matter our place in life, we can fight the good fight against evil and work to save souls. When I was in college, I cleaned house for a retired couple that had forgotten that their lives had purpose and meaning. Sister Faustina's writings reminded me of them.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 445-449.

One line from Christ in today's readings gets me fired up. When we look around at the present state of things, there is a real desire to just hunker down and keep our Catholic Faith to ourselves. While things may look bleak, we were made for times such as this. This is our fight and we must have courage. In the present state of things, there is little joy or happiness; it is up to us to bring the Good News of Christ. It's a little longer today, but I felt we needed a pep talk. :)

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 440-444.

Sister Faustina's confessor talks to her about the three degrees of accomplishing God's Will. The first degree is following rules and statues of our faith. The second one is listening to internal inspirations and finding a way to heed the call. I share a story of a time when I got a big internal inspiration from God, but I ignored it.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 435-439.

Does Sister Faustina's writings seem heavy to you? I read an article that said Sister Faustina's Diary may not be good for people that struggle with scrupulosity. Sister Faustina does have a tendency to second guess herself and to feel that she is just the worst sinner out there. If you struggle with scrupulosity know that you aren't alone. God may have chosen St. Faustina to deliver this message because she so greatly needed to understand Christ's mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 429-434.

I think fear is one of the most crippling things plaguing our world today. Everyone is afraid of something and that fear has caused us to draw in on ourselves. I'm not immune. Sister Faustina writes about how she is frightened by the greatness of what God is asking her to do. When it comes to spiritual matters, we can't let fear control us and keep us from heeding God's call.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 424-428.

Sister Faustina has a vision of a soul that was in front of the judgment seat of God. Many wounded souls were coming to bear witness to how they were treated by the newly judged soul. It wasn't a pretty sight. There are so many wounded souls walking around about us and it is imperative that we pray for people and, also, that we are aware of those around us.

This week we are reading the 15th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This week is all about our moods and dispositions. Do you have a pessimistic attitude or an optimistic one? I tend towards pessimism and it's something that I have to constantly check myself on. As Bishop Sheens teaches, too often our moods come from allowing ourselves to revolve around our external circumstances. What we must learn is to have our external circumstances revolve around us. We must learn that we have control over how we respond to negative events in our lives.

Three points to think about: Dispositions, control, and excuses.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 420-423.

100 DAYS! Congratulations on listening in for 100 days.

I hope you all understand that it is no coincidence that we are reading this diary together during this time. There is so much angst in the world and the way we are going about handling it as a culture is not helpful. What is left out is mercy. It is time to put what we have been reading about into practice--we must be people of mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 413-419.

The image is finally up! This is causing the demons much torment because of all the souls that are being flooded with mercy. Satan does not want the message of mercy to be known. He wants us to feel sunk in sin and feel left to be judged by a callous and spiteful god. Mercy, though, heals and drives out evil from souls.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 411-412.

The closer you get to God, the harder Satan will try. I don't know about you but I feel I would be hysterical if Satan were openly attacking me as he sometimes does Sister Faustina. Yet, she handles it with great confidence in God. She prays, she calls on her Guardian Angel, she stays calm. We need never worry when Satan attacks because God will always send us helps to combat him.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 405-410.

The Sorrowful Mysteries are my favorite set of mysteries to pray. I know that might sound weird, but those mysteries ground me in Christ's love. Sister Faustina is reflecting on the Passion of our Lord. It is good for us to be reminded of what He endured because when we don't it becomes even hard to appreciate Christ's Resurrection and His victory over death and sin.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 401-404.

Sister Faustina is still at home with her family and she is being inundated with visitors. She loves that she gets to talk so much about God, but she also is a little overwhelmed by it all. She's used to silence and solitude in the convent. She says that this is a chance for her to practice "much virtue." It is jarring to come back to the "real world" when you have been in deep spiritual connection to Christ.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 395-400.

We get a break today from convent life. Sister Faustina is going home to spend some time with her dying mother. While on the train, she has a deep conversation with a woman. This reminded me about how important it is to be aware of people around us. If we are constantly buried in our phones and have headphones in, we close ourselves off from having authentic human interactions.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 387-394.

What is love? Is it good feelings? Is it romantic words spoken and words of flattery? No, love is an act of the will. It is shown in deeds. Real love shows up when we do acts even if they are hard, even if we don't feellike doing them. In our faith life, we must show up. There will be times when our faith life will "feel" dry. This doesn't mean we give up. This is an invitation to show our true love to God.

This week we are reading the 14th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We will be talking about the mystery of suffering and it's probably one of the central reasons why people leave the faith or never come into the faith. People can't understand why God would allow any kind of suffering and we have lots of questions about suffering. I think God is okay with our questions and we can bring them to Him. It's important to remember, though, that suffering is something we are never going to fully understand in this lifetime.

Three points to consider: Pure sufferings, impure sufferings, and sacrifice.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 383-386.

We have to talk about a phrase written down in Sister Faustina's writings--the blackest ungratefulness. I detail my recent trip to the middle of Turkey to see the cave churches of the first Christians. They were so grateful to Christ that they were willing to hold Mass no matter what.

The show is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 378-382.

I think it is common for us as humans to focus more heavily on Christ as Judge instead of Christ's Mercy. Sister Faustina writes, "He desires everyone to know this before He comes again as Judge. He wants souls to come to know Him first as King of Mercy." This is so key to leading people to Christ. I give my thoughts on why we focus more on judgment rather than mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 374-377.

As I read through today's writings, I realized that for someone who is far from God, her reflections would cause disgust. Who is this woman that wants to deny her own will, her own judgment, her own tongue? It is a sure fact, though, that our judgment and will is clouded if left to ourselves. That is why it is so important to gather confessors, spiritual directors, good scholars, and honest friends around us that can help us see where we may be in err.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 367-373.

Congrats on following along for 3 months!

Christ reveals today in Sister's writings how much He desires to pour out more love, more mercy, more goodness on souls, but they just don't trust Him enough or come to Him enough. God wants to rain down mercy, grace, and love on us and it is sad that too many souls don't accept this. God's love, mercy, and grace do not run out; we cannot tap out God's goodness.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 362-366.

Sister Faustina gets called out for being self-willful. What she wants to do seem so small to some of the disobedience that we see out in the world today. However, Christ tells her that we have to be obedient in small things. This will help us to be obedient in bigger things. Too often, people think that they should be obedient only to themselves. They set themselves up as the supreme authority in their lives. They think they know better than Christ and His Church.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 358-361.

Sister Faustina writes about a special practice that her convent does at the beginning of each new year. They pick out a patron saint to carry with them through the year. I LOVE this idea. What a great practice to add into our faith lives. Think how great it would be if each year we select a patron saint for that year and work to know them better and get closer to them.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 356-358.

Our readings today are different than any other day. We will be praying a litany to the Blessed Host. I would invite you to think of any intentions you have before starting this prayer. This is a beautiful, short litany for poor sinners and it will be a great way to start or end our day.

This week we are reading the 13th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We are moving out the section titled: Goodness. We are now moving into the section titled: Happiness. Our topic for this week covers joy and sadness. As I read through this week's reading, I felt it was describing a very dark time in my life when I was very sad. I didn't know how to climb out of that sadness because I had chosen to leave God at the backdoor. It is impossible to have joy without the ultimate source of Goodness--God.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 351-355.

We hear today about living a life of faith. We must live our faith life in even small things. It is very common for Christians to compartmentalize our faith life: We live our faith on Sundays for an hour, the rest of the time we fully live our secular life. Often we do this because we've been told to hide our faith from those that it would offend. We cannot do this. We don't need to be obnoxious, but we must let our faith permeate every aspect of our lives.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 346-350.

Sister Faustina asks Christ for a share in His suffering that He endured with the Crown of Thorns. She wakes up and she can feel a thorn piercing the left side of her head. This reading reminded me of when I saw the thorn tree on the Mount of Olives. The thorns on these type of trees are what were used for Christ's crown.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 342-345.

Sister Faustina thanks God today for the many sufferings in her life. Her list is actually incredible and would baffle so many in the world today. "She's thanking God for being humiliated, treated rudely, and having spiritual dryness?" Too often we don't understand how suffering shows true love. But...just think about how Christ on the Cross makes you feel, or thinking of fallen service members, or emergency workers that have given their lives to serve others. Their love moves us to tears because in their suffering, we understand what they gave up for us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 336-341.

Sister Faustina's confessor encourages her see if she has any attachments to things or any other creatures. This is a great practice for all of us. We ALL have attachments to things and we must be careful not to let our attachments turn into idols. We have to look deeper than just attachments to material items. Do we have attachments to comfort, pleasure, or...even safety?

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 331-335.

In our readings today, we get a lot of talk about being childlike in our faith. Many of us take "childlike" to mean immature and silly. But, Christ means that we should come to Him in wonder, awe, and simplicity. As adults, we sometimes complicate our faith and try to be "too smart." Children, though, love simply. They just want to please, to be near, to love, and be loved. This is what Christ desires from us.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 325-330.

One of the best prayers we can say when we need a quick, effective prayer is, "Jesus, I trust in you." We must remember, though, that God may not answer our prayer in the way that we think best. We must trust that God knows what He is doing and that we may not fully understand His answer in this earthly life.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 318-324.

Sister Faustina is attacked by demons at two different points in her writings today and her response to them is pretty awesome. Sister Faustina also prays deeply for souls that don't know God's love and mercy. Why don't more souls let God love them? There can be many reasons: Feelings of unworthiness, anger at God, or a lack of knowledge of Christ's love for us.

This week we are reading the 12th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Our topic for this week is on hospitality. This week gave me all the feels because it made me reminisce on my time in Turkey. In Turkey, I experienced hospitality like I've never known and it's something that I greatly miss from my time there. I think you are going to get so much out of this week's important topic.

Three points to think about are: Personal relationships, good neighbors, and trust.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 312-317.

Sister Faustina is quite upset with how Christ looks in the painting of the Divine Mercy image. She doesn't feel it captures Christ's beauty well enough. Have you ever thought about what Christ looks like? I do all the time. In fact, when it comes to images of Christ, I'm pretty picky about how He looks. Not that I really know, but there are some that are definitely more beautiful than others. What's most important, though, is that any image of Christ should help lift our mind and heart to God.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 305-311.

God's mercy is so boundless and generous. We often forget that and we often don't trust in God's mercy. Sister Faustina writes about God's Mercy over and over and Christ reminds us over and over. If only we understood how much God wants to pour mercy over us. It is our duty to pray for all souls that have passed on, no matter the state of their religious life. We have no idea the bounds of God's mercy.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 302-304.

Sister Faustina writes about how she desires to save souls, be a missionary, a preacher, and a martyr. Basically, she wishes she had loads of gifts so that she can reach many souls. Her true gifts are the gifts to endure suffering for others and she's a mystic. So often, we want God to plainly point out to us our gifts.

Our show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 294-301.

We get some great words from Christ in today's readings. We hear about what the two rays mean in the painting of the Divine Mercy. Reading through Sister Faustina's writings today, I was struck by all the ways we can love Christ more: Trusting in Him, staying close to Him, working on virtues, and seeking to better ourselves.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 289-293.

How often do you think of Heaven and eternity? What kind of person are you? One that lives in the past? Only lives for the present moment? Or pines away for the future? Sister Faustina tells us that she gets fearful of eternity and its mysteries. I think we all feel that way a little bit. We must always live in the present moment but live as though eternity exists...because it does.

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 285-288.

Sister Faustina states that she will never leave the battlefield. What she is saying is that she will always fight against sin and evil. We, too, must be willing to enter into spiritual warfare. We can't just allow anything and we must be willing to say no to evil. I get pretty fired up in this podcast because this is a topic I am very passionate about.

*I realized after publishing this, that I mispronounced ciborium. Sorry!

Today's readings are from Notebook 1, numbers 279-284.

Christ's words today can cause us to feel uncomfortable. He talks about suffering and how much it can show that we love Him. This can be hard for us to hear, especially in a world that sees suffering as pointless and something to be utterly avoided. But, it is exactly Christ's suffering that helps us to recognize how much He loves us.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

This week we are reading the 11th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Our topic for this week is about restoring stolen goods and Bishop Sheen is going to tell us the great story of Zacchaeus. It's very easy to look at rich people and judge them for having too much and being greedy. However, there's a flip side to this: Communism and Socialism can breed envy and jealously within people who are not wealthy. They can believe that they have a right to what was not earned by them.

Three points to think about are: Restitution, restoration, and honesty.

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 her writings are going to take us!

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 an essay on the different reasons we laugh and how we laugh. It was a very thought-provoking essay. Not all laughs are equal. Some laughs can wound; some can lift the spirit.

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 to be times at Mass when we struggle through it, praying the Rosary can be difficult sometimes, but we need to continue on with it. Don't give up!

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 relate this to all the new chapters I've had as a military spouse and how each move has grown and stretched me.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 the back and cheers for the good works that we do. It can feed our ego. But, we need to remember that God sees and that's all that matters.

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 go spend time with Him where an "hour passes like a minute."

This week we are reading the 10th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This week we will focus on the parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke. The focus will be on the elder son in the story. While he did everything right, yet he had no joy in his heart. He couldn't rejoice in the repentance of his brother which is an attitude that many of us take with those trying to turn back to God.

Three points to keep in mind: Goodness, guilty conscience, and repentance.

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 becomes weak-willed.

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 of these. We talk about why today.

The show is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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.

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 recoil. It sounds harsh to not put those loved ones first. It is important to remember that when God is first in our life, He helps all other relationships to grow in love and goodness.

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 bind us in a supernatural way to the one with who we make the vow. It's a shame that we don't take vows seriously even or understand their power.

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 in these areas. I know that they are definitely areas that I can work on and get better.

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 people, why is the changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ too much?

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 in our spiritual life? It's good to think about and see all the graces that God poured out on us.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

This week we are reading the 9th number from "Way to Inner Peace." Bishop Sheen is going to talk about one of our most beloved parables from the Gospel of Luke--the Good Samaritan. As a kid, I had a Little Golden Book about the Good Samaritan. It was a story I could understand, even as a kid. It's a great story and it's one we all know. It will be the basis for our readings this week where we hear about helping our neighbors in distress.

Three points to keep in mind: relief, generosity, and genuine compassion.

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, add that gratitude and wonder help to make us see each day with child-like eyes.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 my hand down the hole that Christ's cross was stuck in. Would you believe that where the greatest sacrifice took place, it smells like heavenly flowers?

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 of Christ's words. Maybe I was inspired or maybe I just needed to talk about my favorite musical. Lol.

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 it saved a soul? Are we willing to suffer for other souls? It's a hard question to ask.

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 people to Christ, His mercy is what we must focus on. People need to know how much Christ loves them and wants to be merciful to them.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 relate a story where I struggled with someone that vexed me and it took me a long time to learn to handle her well.

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 to come to Him rather than turn away. Trust in His mercy.

This week we are reading the 8th number from "Way to Inner Peace." This week's topic is all about how perfection is not automatic. There's no pill we can take; no quick fix that will produce perfection within us. No, it takes a willingness to attain the ideal us--the person God created us to be. This will require sacrifice and suffering but it is worth it. We learn about the process of perfection by studying Heinrich Schliemann, the man who founded the ancient city of Troy.

Three things to keep in mind: Recognition, realization of the ideal, and sense of imperfection.

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 holiness, Satan will become obsessed with making us doubt ourselves. Pay him no mind and stay close to Christ in prayer, through the Eucharist, and in the confessional.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. They are a Catholic Company that makes Catholic jewelry. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 us so that we may accomplish what He has asked. That doesn't mean it will be easy, but it does mean He will be there with us.

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 life with regards to mercy towards others. I can tell you right now, I don't do a very good job of being merciful enough when I look at the standards Sister Faustina gives us.

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 Sister Faustina's in today's readings and He confirms much of what the Church has always taught us.

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 in life--one full of pleasure, one full of trials. We have to decide which is more important: Earthly pleasures or eternal ones?

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 comes to the rescue and gives her points of His Passion to mediate on.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 St. Faustina. Lots of good things to ponder in today's words.

This week we are reading the 7th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We are moving into a new section entitled "Goodness." Today, Bishop Sheen is going to explain why we don't really hear goodness publicized. It's part of the human condition to gravitate towards hearing about the bad things that happen in people's lives.

Three things to keep in mind: Mood, assumptions, and disinterested love.

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 love, our actions will be great in the eyes of God, no matter how small they are.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint, My Hero jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 think that this means we have lost our freedom, but is this true?

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 what you want me to do!" we shout out to God.

The show today is sponsored by My Saint My Hero. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 a lonely road at times. Oftentimes, people will not understand what God is doing in our soul. Which begs the question: What do we think sanctity is supposed to look like?

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. There's something for everyone. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 something I have to work on constantly. The Holy Spirit is restraining me pretty frequently. Sister Faustina's writings are such good reminders to hold our tongue and to find times to be silent.

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 with God that doesn't involve the five senses at all.

This week we are reading the 6th number from "Way to Inner Peace." We are going to be talking about desire and more specifically, contentment. Bishop Sheen is going to dive into what contentment really is and what it isn't. Understanding this is very key to gaining inner peace.

Three things to keep in mind: Contentment, submission, dependency.

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 jewelry company. Please check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 out for torturous workouts. But, then I started winning. What Sister Faustina's soul goes through helps her become a saint.

The show today is sponsored by Feast Day Boxes. Please check them out at www.feastday.co.

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 into the deep with Christ.

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 require patience but it is our calling.

The show today is sponsored by Feast Day Boxes. Feast Day offers delicious traditional food and unique devotional items to help you build a meaningful routine celebrating the feasts with your family. Find them at www.feastday.co.

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 in these areas. I know that they are definitely areas that I can work on and get better.

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 mirror--we will be confronted with the true state of our soul. This could plunge us into a spiritual dryness. Sister Faustina explains this state of the soul in great detail.

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 not live them out, but they are beautiful virtues.

Our show today is sponsored by the My Saint, My Hero jewelry company. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com

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.

This week we are reading the 5th number from "Way to Inner Peace." The focus is on humility. We have to be honest with ourselves about who we truly are. We can't fool ourselves in thinking that we have barely any faults or that it's everyone else that needs to change. We cannot have inner peace if we refuse to accept the reality of who we are, what we need to work on, and how dependent we are on God for our betterment.

Three things to keep in mind: Relativity, humility, and conformity.

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 I know the difference.

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

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.

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 to our suffering--our faith.

Our show today is sponsored by the My Saint, My Hero jewelry company. Their mission is to create wearable blessings that remind us that we are loved, blessed, and protected. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com

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 getting pregnant with my son.

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 sponsored by the My Saint, My Hero jewelry company. Their mission is to create wearable blessings that empower global communities through meaningful work and remind us that we are loved, blessed, and protected. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com

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. Sister Faustina shows us what trust in God looks like even while enduring unspeakable torments.

This week we are reading the fourth number from "Way to Inner Peace." Bishop Sheen talks about how there is more access to knowledge than ever before but there is a denial of truth. We must be seekers of truth in order to have unity in our lives. When we deny the truth, chaos and destruction are the natural outcomes. People are lost, confused, and depressed. It is imperative that we seek and speak truth in all things.

Three things to keep in mind: Amassing of knowledge, good intentions, and the "horizons of knowledge."

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 smaller things of life, as well as the harder things.

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 company. Their mission is to create wearable blessings that empower global communities through meaningful work and remind us that we are loved, blessed, and protected. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com.

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 talks on ghost and spirits, please listen here:

https://jimmyakin.com/2018/08/jimmy-akins-mysterious-world-ghosts.html

https://www.catholic.com/audio/cot/cot-40

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, a company that provides wearable blessings. Check them out at www.mysaintmyhero.com

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 see in today's readings what makes up a "good" person.

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, though, that if God asks us to do something for Him, He will give us the graces to live out what He asks.

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 much He wants to pour out His mercy.

This week we are reading the third number from "Way to Inner Peace." Bishop Sheen talks about having faithfulness in the little things of life. For in all honesty, our lives are made of little moments, little details with a few big moments thrown in. We may be apt to think that little things are insignificant, but in reality, anything done with a "mighty motive" means something.

Three things to keep in mind as we read are: Self-surrender, apparent insignificance, and motive.

Find more on my website:

www.catholicpilgrim.net

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 He would dwell. Are our homes pleasing to God and places where the presence of God is felt?

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 your heart." What a curious saying from Christ. I explore what this means for our faith life.

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 away from God will suffer the consequences.

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. For Catholics, we can come to see that suffering and pain bring about growth and burns sin off of our souls.

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 the Way of the Cross." I relate my experience of walking the Way of the Cross when I was in Jerusalem in January of 2020.

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 we have God all figured out. There is no way that mere humans can fully understand God. This shouldn't derail us from trying to have a relationship with God, but instead, keep us always coming back to Him.

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 of us is a joy and delight to Christ.

This week we will be reading the second number from "Way to Inner Peace." It is centered on understanding how living in a fantasy world will never lead us to peace. We must live in reality.

Three things to keep in mind as we read through our second reading: Fantasy, reality, and manufactured woes.

Find more on my website: www.catholicpilgrim.net.

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 does not exist and we need to recognize that it does.

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 and what do we do? How do we reconcile the feelings of abandonment with the call to trust in God?

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 readings today, we hear about the darkness of St. Faustina's soul, something that we will read a lot about as we continue on.

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 up Protestant, purgatory was a doctrine that was completely new to me. Now that I am Catholic, I understand that purgatory is a direct effect of Christ's mercy.

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 be super pious during Lent but I needed to be more flexible given the circumstances of my life at the time.

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 be patient while He prepares us for the next step of the journey.

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 how she tried to put off God's Call but, ultimately, she heeds His voice.

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.

This week we will be reading the first number from "Way to Inner Peace." It is centered on explaining egotism and how it tries to diminish others and God in order to inflate the self.

Three words to keep in mind as we read through our first reading: Littleness, dependency, and humility.

Find more on my website: www.catholicpilgrim.net.

Today's readings are found in Notebook 1, Numbers 1-2.

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.

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. If you've ever wanted to read St. Faustina's Diary but have been intimated or don't have enough time, this is a great way to explore it. If you've already read through the diary, still join along for a refresher. I look forward to meeting you here every day on this podcast for one year to learn more about the mercy of Christ.

Welcome to a new year! I'm excited to start this new year with you reading Venerable Fulton Sheen's book "Way to Inner Peace."

This is our introduction podcast where I explain why I chose Bishop Sheen's book, give a little background info on him, and detail how this year is going to be different than last year's podcast.

Thank you for tuning in and I look forward to journeying with Venerable Fulton Sheen with you.