“For this reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.”


He comes alongside. Not from an imposing posture, but from a supportive one. Though He is sovereign, He does not come upon us forcefully, but in kindness, gentleness, and peace. Maybe that’s why it can be so hard for me to hear Him. There’s a lot of noise in my head and in my life. But He is always there, coming alongside me, grace upon grace.


I remember a time from early on in my journey with Christ, when I was sitting with a priest in the confessional and he called me “sister”. I don’t remember anything else he said—only this one word, “Sister”. I don’t quite remember what I was confessing at the time, either. Maybe I was confessing my hatred toward men. I remember that being a hard thing to say to a man of God. Whether this was that time or not, God began breaking down barriers for me as the word “sister” was laid upon me by a man in persona Christi; barriers of protection I had constructed between myself and all men. Barriers that kept me from seeing or receiving my brothers in healthy relationship and in good faith. Barriers that left my heart dry, closed off, and hopeless. The priest came alongside me. He acknowledged me as his equal. He offered me a safe space through his brotherliness. And over and over again, Jesus offers me this same thing: a safe space with my Brother, Father, Friend.


In one such moment I was sitting alone in the blessed tranquility of God’s creation: a quiet inlet. Exteriorly, the only sounds were of the soft breeze and the morning birds’ song. Interiorly though, I was drowning in noise. I could feel the tenderness of freshly opened wounds from my past, though somehow, was also feeling God’s embrace. I could hear the contrasting message in my mind, “You were meant to be protected.” He didn’t mean for me to be wounded by men the way I was. And then, as if out of nowhere, a solitary rowboat moved across the inlet—not imposing itself on me, but inviting me to join my Brother, Father, Friend in the boat.


It was my suffering that led me to the confessional that day—to an opportunity for sanctification through the hands of His servant. It was my suffering that led me to accept His invitation to join Him in the boat. And though I would never wish suffering on anyone, it is inevitable in this life. Some carry greater burdens than others, but we can all relate to the experience of suffering. We can be united with Jesus and with one another because we all suffer. Suffering can also be a helpful reminder that our earthly bodies are passing away—that we were created through God and for God, and only He can be fully present with us in our suffering. His body was broken to make us whole again.


Jesus, my brother, I am so grateful for Your soft touch on the broken parts of my heart. Thank you for leading me by way of Your suffering, so that I know that You know how it feels to hurt. Your redemption of all that was inflicted upon You is my eternal hope.
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Lori MacDonald

As a life-long Catholic, there are many aspects of my faith that I can take for granted. A good “litmus test” for whether I truly understand a concept is whether I can clearly and concisely explain it to a non-Christian friend. As I prayed with this psalm, I realized that I couldn’t easily describe a “blessing”. I recalled a time in university, as my faith was being newly awakened, when a more experienced Catholic friend of mine said, “God bless you” at the end of an interaction. I was confused, as I had only used this phrase as my automatic response to a sneeze. Since then, I have become comfortable receiving and offering blessings to others (e.g., by words, tracing the sign of the cross on the forehead). Yet, being familiar with the idea doesn’t mean I have a comprehensive understanding of it, so I sought clarification.

I turned to my favourite resource, the Catechism, as a first step. It turns out that there are many ways to describe “blessing” (context-dependent); I won’t delve into them all. While looking for a clear and simple answer, I was most interested in this paragraph on “Prayer in the Christian Life”:
“Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man. In blessing, God's gift and man's acceptance of it are united in dialogue with each other. The prayer of blessing is man's response to God's gifts: because God blesses, the human heart can in return bless the One who is the source of every blessing.” (CCC 2626)

I also looked up the Latin translation, and saw that blessing, “Benedictio”, means to “speak well” of something, someone, or some action.

With this, I felt I could begin to formulate a response. I am reminded that, “[T]he Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), and, what I hope I grasp correctly is that God the Father blesses us by “speaking” Jesus, the Word of God (Logos), to us. Christ, the Living Word, reveals God’s love for humanity. Unlike our human words, God’s Word fully accomplishes its intended purpose in truth, goodness, beauty, and healing (salvation). We say actions speak louder than words, and ours are limited — but when God speaks, His power is limitless, and He communicates His Love in the most active, dynamic, and life-giving ways.

To ask God to “bless us all the days of our lives” is to ask Him:

Please, give Yourself as gift to us, all the days of our lives. Help us encounter You, love You, and hear and respond to Your voice in mutual blessing and prayer.

He wants to bless us because He loves us so intimately and fully — even desiring us to return His blessing. Let us respond and work to fulfill the Church’s mission by blessing one another in and with the Love of God. Amen.




Kendra L.

This is one of those Bible passages that changes in meaning for me as I go through the different stages and seasons of my life.

As a child, I would imagine the woman being formed from soil with a human bone embedded into it and, shazam, the woman is alive! I imagined that she was totally dependent on the man, because without him, she would not exist. In my mind, the notion of woman coming from soil or clay was ‘icky’.

As a teenager, I saw the beginnings of clarity in the woman’s role as a helper to man. I believed that the man, as head of the family, was superior to the woman as he made the decisions for the family. This was reflected in our family life, as my mom would always defer to my dad’s decisions regarding our family and life in general.

As an adult, and in discovering my own talents, gifts, and capabilities, I've come to realize that I am able to make the same decisions as my dad always used to make for our family. There are areas of expertise where I can be a help to my spouse. Together we are a stronger force. I can do things that a man can do! In the same manner, I also realize that what was thought of as the woman’s role of caring, loving, and sensitivity to the others around her can also be performed by men. 

“Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” for me expresses our oneness in love and life. Equally and together, a couple will build their own life and their family by sharing responsibilities and heartaches and being committed to one another. We were given our gifts and talents by God to bring others to Him. We are to share these gifts and talents with one another, to fill the other’s lack, to reinforce each other’s strengths and together help create God’s kingdom here on Earth.

Most of all, all human beings are capable of self-giving love. Sharing this love that God gives us unconditionally is what we human beings should aim for. Whether as a man or a woman, as a child or as an adult, God desires of us to love each person as we would love ourselves.




​Liz Venezuela
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I have always found this scripture a little bit intimidating (and maybe even scary) to read. It’s quite intense. Being drowned in the sea, cutting off extremities, tearing out eyes, and being thrown into hell are objectively terrifying notions. Jesus certainly made His point very clear on this one! But, the intensity behind His statements simply shows how much He wants for us to spend eternity with Him in heaven. The idea of not being with God forever should be intense and scary. He wants us to be truly aware of how our actions and attitudes here on Earth will impact our life after death.

Do you remember when you were a kid and your parents would tell you things like: “If you don’t dry your hair before you leave the house you’ll get a cold!”; or “If you don’t wear your helmet, you’ll cut your head right open!” These are warnings from someone who loves us and wants us to be safe and healthy; someone who wants nothing but the best for us. Like a loving parent, Jesus too is providing us with loving warnings to keep us on the right track. 

With that being said, sin is inevitable in our lives. We’re only human and the Lord expects that we will stumble off the path to heaven and sin from time to time. But all Jesus is asking here is that we make our best efforts to make our way back to that path each time we drift from the path’s center. It can be helpful to reflect from time to time about what things in our lives are distancing us from God and try to cut them out (instead of cutting off your limbs). I pray that I may recognize those areas of sin in my life and that I may have the resilience to get rid of them for good. Amen.




​Megan Noye
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