Santa Clara Design

The bride, the church, knows him well. It is at Joseph’s feet that nightly she lays her burdens, for who better than he, who cradled in his arms the flesh of God, can deal with his Mystical Body?
~ Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty

It’s hard to put into words how I love him.
there is no memorable moment,
striking encounter.
He’s just always been there.
Waiting, praying, protecting,
dreaming, listening, working.

And in his dreams of me,
I imagine he sees exactly where
the Lord wants to lead me,
the unique path he has carved for me
in the palm of his hand.

Whether it is a well-trodden road to the temple, the rugged road to Golgotha,
or the arduous sandy road
to a strange, foreign place.
St. Joseph knows the virtue of
not acting to hastily
trusting even in the unknown
listening for his call
going when he is summoned
loving with every cell of his body
being faithful in the dark
working because it is good
all for the sake of his beautiful Savior Son,
with his mother’s eyes,
who watches from his side.

Dear St. Joseph, thank you for praying for us!

Mary desires above all else to see us happy.

~ Pope Benedict XVI

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Mother in Heaven!

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.
AMEN

The devil fears hearts on fire with love of God!

~ Saint Catherine of Siena

Jesus, let us be consumed by You. Take away and mute anything within us that is not of You, not poured out in the path of Your Will. Let us be more of You, less of me. You are all we want.

Eight years years ago, I was working in ministry, and Jesus was working on me. My heart was dissatisfied and uneasy. I was trying my hardest to fix this. I looked for solutions, programs, planners, classes, books that would show me a clear and fast way to an easy heart.

I distinctly remember sitting down at my desk late one afternoon - thinking about myself and being overcome with the word “gratitude”.

“I think I need gratitude”, I thought to myself.

I took to my computer and googled “Catholic gratitude”.

The first search result was the words of a man I’d never heard of, Solanus Casey: “gratitude is the first sign of a thinking, rational creature”

I was captivated by these words. A light turned on in my heart and I cracked open the door to see what was inside.

Later that day, as I delved deeper into this holy man’s writings and life, I felt like I’d discovered a long-lost friend. As I kept reading, I came upon a news article.

It was then that I knew what a gift this man was to me. The article was about Solanus Casey’s beatification, THE VERY NEXT DAY!

Jesus had heard my plea, even though I was not searching in the right places. My prayer of “I need something and I don’t know what it is” was not baffling to Him, even though it was to me. This was the beginning of something completely new!

I am overwhelmed with gratitude- yes! - for the richness of our Catholic faith, for the cloud of witnesses that walks alongside us. For Jesus, who listened to my haphazard prayers and knows exactly what I need.

———
Confidence is the very soul of prayer.
———
Worry is a weakness from which very few of us are entirely free. We must be on guard against this most insidious enemy of our peace of soul. Instead let us foster confidence in God, and thank Him ahead of time for whatever he chooses to send us.
———
What does it matter where we go? Wherever we go, won’t we be serving God there? And wherever we go, won’t we have Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament with us? Isn’t that enough to make us happy?

~ Blessed Solanus Casey
Beatified November 18, 2017

I see that all of the seasons of the year converge in your soul: at times you experience all the dryness, distraction, disgust and boredom of winter; at other times, all the dew and fragrance of the little flowers in May time; and again, the warmth of a desire to please God. All that remains is autumn, and you say that you do not see much of its fruit. Yet it often happens that in threshing the wheat and pressing the grapes we discover more than the harvest or vintage promised. You would like it to be always spring or summer; but no, dear daughter, we have to experience interior as well as exterior changes. Only in heaven will everything be springtime as to beauty, autumn as to enjoyment and summer as to love. There will be no winter there; but here below we need winter so that we may practice self-denial and the countless small but beautiful virtues that can be practiced during a barren season. Let us go on our little way; so long as we mean well and hold on to our resolve, we can only be on the right track.

–Saint Francis de Sales, an excerpt from a letter of spiritual direction to St. Jane de Chantal

(1567-1622)

What a beautiful treasure of wisdom to hold close. Even though this was written almost 500 years ago, his words are so relatable and relevant. The truths of God are timeless. What a gift!