Look for Ora Ministry wherever you listen to podcasts, and go about your day as you listen to the Word of God, and to the reflections of the women of Ora! An audio file will be available on the website as well, so you can even read and listen at the same time!

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We really hope you enjoy the Ora audio experience! We're so excited to pray with you in this way! 

This Gospel is proof that God knows every single thing about me because He is describing me in all my naked humanness here! Yep… that’s me… stumbling along, busily grumbling about all the specks I can see flying out of those I have to “put up with” today and dragging that log in my eye with me.

I read once that instead of looking for an “eye” doctor, it’s better to look for an “I” doctor. I desperately want to be a good tree so the fruit that I bear is sweet. To be that tree, I have to turn to the one true vine dresser. I am called to be pruned and to cling to the vine. Instead, I am blinded by the world around me, and I dangle there, letting the world’s ways toss me around. Every once in a while, I remember to turn my good eye to Him, steadfastly ignoring my bad eye with that log in it, hoping that no one really notices it.

When I see and allow myself to react to the specks in the eye of another, I can become resentful about perceived slights, or wallow in the feeling of false righteousness. It doesn’t take long for the specks of resentment dust that are in the air around me to fasten to the log I carry. It is then that I am called to see the “I” doctor and look at my own sinfulness.

My Catholic faith provides me with the beautiful sacrament of reconciliation. I have the opportunity any time I choose, to do a searching and moral inventory, bring the findings of it to the greatest physician of all through a confessor, and be reconciled with Him. All I have to do is look carefully at that log, acknowledge it, pull it out, hand it over — and resolve not to take it back. Reconciled to Him, I can use the lessons from carrying that log to lead others to Him.

I can’t be merciful to others and lead them to a relationship with Jesus if I am not in a state to receive His mercy. With the log in my eye, I am absolutely in danger of leading others into a pit. I have to be open to the grace of God and be very intentional about removing the log.


Lord, help me to release the stronghold I have on the sinful nature of my life. Open my eyes and remove the log, allowing me to receive Your forgiveness and once again walk in Your light. Help me to be intentional about loving the specks in the eyes of others — loving them as You see them, not as I would have them be. Keep me humble and open. Amen.




Sandy Graves

 “... [I]n the Lord your labour is not in vain.”

Running a household of nine can be labour intensive to say the least. Sometimes my labour can indeed seem in vain. It feels like five minutes after I empty the dishwasher, it’s full again. Or I can spend twenty minutes organising the tupperware drawer only to find it in chaos the next time I open it. It’s hard not to feel exasperated, and that leads me to exhaustion. 

One day while doing the dishes and grumbling under my breath about not feeling appreciated, I said to myself, “Do it because you love them and don’t complain.” But even when I do this, somehow I still hold it against my family. I want to be self-sacrificing but still my heart wants recognition. Then I heard the Lord say, “Do it for Me.” Immediately, my heart softened. “What wouldn’t I do for You, Lord,” I thought. 

When I dedicate my work to God, even the most mundane tasks become joyful. My labour is not in vain because it brings me closer to Him and helps me to appreciate His sacrifice a little more. My primary vocation is to my family. It’s a job that has been given to me by God. When I labour because He has asked me to, it helps me grow in holiness. Every dish washed and toilet scrubbed is a labour of love for He who sacrificed everything for me.

“Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.”

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Maxine Brown
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 Thank you cards. I receive them. I write them.


Well, more often than not these days, it’s a thank you email versus a physical card.


It’s a small way I can intentionally let the other person know: I see you and value you, and more specifically, I am grateful for you. For me, this is important. It’s a small thing that can make a big impact.


When I was young, I was taught to express thanks. As I grew older, that act of acknowledging what others gave to me — IRL or in a figurative sense — was an important part of who I became and what I did. My experiences taught me that the good things I am able to do are most often the result of the good that others have done for me. Whether that be sharing a particular skill or talent, a creative collaboration, nuggets of wisdom spoken, or simply the encouragement (Or challenge!) I needed to make something happen. And so, I thank others.


But sometimes… I forget. Or I leave the words unsaid. Or worse, I simply take the other, or the action, for granted. This happens in my relationship with God too. God has done so much for me, with me, though me, and even without me. How could I not be grateful!  The trouble is, I often take His presence, His guidance, His gifts, His good for granted. I’m so focused on the next “thing” that needs to happen that I don’t take time to say thank you for what has happened or is happening.


Thus I am thankful for this psalm and it’s writer. The psalms are always a response to a situation or action between our biblical ancestors and our God. The psalmist has lived an encounter with God that caused him to respond in thanksgiving.


This is the psalmist’s thank you card.


It was not written just to give lip service but rather to express great gratitude for and recognition of God’s goodness. The psalmist reminds us the same holds true today, and so I thank him.


There are a myriad of books, talks, workshops, and podcasts that extol the virtues of being grateful; creating an attitude of gratitude. And that is a good thing. Yet as disciples of Christ we are called to more. We must also know fully and deeply to whom we are grateful.


Recently, I have begun more consciously thanking God first thing in the morning. As soon as I wake I say: “Thank you God.” I’m actually quite flabbergasted sometimes at how this simple act sets my day. It heightens my awareness of how God is active in my life — the life for which He created me. A life that I am grateful for because of God’s goodness to me through the people I love, the places I go, and the things I get to do. Every day God gives goodness, and desires to receive my goodness in return. And so, I thank because it is good.




Aurea Sadi