I’m finding myself acting pretty annoyed with my children (and my dog) recently. They tend to ignore simple instructions like, “Turn off the oven when it beeps,” and, “Don’t talk to your sister like that,” and, “Sit!” It would seem that they have yet to understand that I know what’s best. If they would only listen to me, everyone’s lives (namely mine) would be better. Under the current dictatorship of Master Mama (not my official title, but it has a nice ring to it), it seems my household is on the verge of mutiny. Why is this happening? Why do I feel like the captain of a sinking ship?


I think it’s possible that perhaps I’m the one who’s missing the point. So it’s timely, as always, that God would give me these blessed words to contemplate. Blessed being the operative word—He says this particular word repeatedly in this passage. I would personally like to be blessed with children and a dog who listen to me, but again, maybe my wants are not currently aligning with God’s wants.


If we revisit Greek translations of the word blessed, we find that the actual word being used here is “holy”. To be holy is to be set apart for God’s purposes. A blessing then, is not a pouring out of all the things we desire for ourselves, but a gift of an eternal glimpse into the heaven that awaits those who are open to receiving it. To be blessed is to respond differently in difficult circumstances—to do and say the difficult (right) thing. To be blessed is to be used for a higher purpose.


When we are set apart for God’s purposes we are a channel for all things good to flow straight from God’s heart through us to another person’s heart. The image of this is beautiful, but the practice of it is painful. What He is asking of us when He calls us to be blessed, is to receive strife in the manner that He received strife: When they don’t listen to you, persist in gentleness, mercy, and truth; when they cause division, seek to restore peace; when they correct you in good faith, receive them with humility.


Who acts like that?! Well, Jesus does, and the Saints do—and are we not called to be saints? Though it burns initially, enacting the beatitudes will lead us to interior freedom in the now, and eternal freedom for, well, eternity. If we can receive the blessing of sanctification, we will find ourselves on the pathway to peace.


I’m sorry Father, for resisting surrender to Your wisdom as I stumble through this world. I ask You now for the grace to respond to my family beatifically in all circumstances. I appoint You as Master of my household, and rejoice in Your sovereignty.




Lori MacDonald

A carbon copy. A dead ringer. A chip off the old block. The spitting image.


People love to observe how strongly children resemble their parents.


When my niece walks across a room, the way she carries herself reminds me instantly of her mother. As a young boy, my brother’s son looked just as his father and his grandfather did at a similar age. My own daughter’s singing voice sounds so much like my own that even I have noticed it. Children take after their parents in their mannerisms, their looks, their voice, and so on.


“Children of God”
In chapter 3 of the first letter of John, we are invited to examine carefully and appreciate fully what it means to be children of God. In His boundless love, God has “lavished” the gift of family upon any and all who receive Jesus and believe in His name (John 1:12). These receivers and believers are called children of God – not mentees of God, not wards of God, but children of God. So I ask myself, do I take after God?


“The World Does Not Know Us Because It Did Not Know Him”
If I am a child of God, then what I value should resemble what God values and not what the world values. My ways should resemble God’s ways, which differ from the ways of the world. Wealth, popularity, and comfort cannot be the reasons I get out of bed in the morning. I must be ambitious for the “higher gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31): eloquence, prophecy, understanding, faith, giving, and (most important of all) love.


Sometimes it’s a struggle. My ways often have too much of me in them, and not enough of God. But I can always turn back to scripture to remind myself that as God’s child, I am loved and protected. I am empowered to love others as Jesus loved others. I am motivated to know God and love God through the person of Jesus. If I allow Jesus to shape my attitudes and my conduct according to God’s ways, I will “be like Him.”


“As He Is Pure”
Jesus says in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). If I hope to be like Jesus, if I hope to see God, I must strive to be pure “just as He is pure.”


Father, I receive Your Son Jesus and believe in His name. Thank you for lavishing Your love on me and embracing me as Your child.

May Your values be my values,
May I love as You love,
May I take after You,
May You shape me and whittle me until the day I become the spitting image of You.




Donna Davis

November is one of my favorite months. Its stark landscape quietly owns an unadorned beauty. It’s not by chance that the Catholic church chooses November to reflect on death and dying. Death for us is the gateway to eternal life; paradise — the end goal for every Christian.

Prior to commemorating and praying for the faithfully departed on November 2 (All Souls), the church solemnly celebrates the saints in heaven (All Saints) — for good reason! If we want to know what it means to die well and live in the Lord's company, the lives of the saints are great examples.

Lord, this is the company of those who seek your face.

A few years ago, I was on a retreat where God graciously allowed me to see His face more clearly than ever before. I saw everything I ever wanted. Yet my reaction worried me. Simultaneously, I was both riveted and repelled by His presence! How could this be? Does not God want us to draw near to Him and be with Him forever?

While I deeply longed for Him, I found I could not stand before the face of perfection; it was too painful (This concept is explored in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce). In the face of perfection, my weakness was glaring, my wounds exposed, the effects of my sin laid bare. The clearer His face, the clearer my own fallen state.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Someone who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up their soul to what is false.

With spiritual guidance, I came to recognize this experience as a gift. Heaven, being perfect, has no capacity for anything less. I realized, if I wish to spend forever with God, (and I do!) anything unvirtuous, unholy, or not good in me must go. There will be times I find myself uncomfortable in God's presence. But in these times, His mercy and grace are working overtime to free my heart from what is false, removing from my life what cannot withstand His presence. He has my eternity in mind! He desires heaven for me, and assures me I should not be worried.

That person will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation. Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

The saints sought the face of God humbly and repeatedly during their lifetimes. Our friends in heaven did some serious heart work on earth to let go and let God! And so they are vindicated and have received their salvation!

All Saints in Heaven, pray for me, that I may choose eternity! Show me how to seek His face!

​Give us Clean Hands




Michelynne Gomez
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“Do not damage the earth or the sea until we have marked the servants of God with a seal on their foreheads.” (Revelation 7:3)

Reading this passage from Revelation brought me right back to my wedding day. It was one of the most significant days of my life. My husband Phil and I pledged ourselves to each other on that day — we were being sealed together by the vows we took and the grace that God poured onto us through the sacrament of marriage. The response we chose for the liturgy was Song of Solomon 8:6, “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.” 

Seals, in biblical times as well as today, are used to guarantee security or indicate ownership. Ancient seals were usually made of wax or clay embedded with a personalized imprint. A king would put his personalized seal on a document so that the person receiving it would be assured that it came from the king and hadn’t been tampered with.

On our wedding day, Phil and I gave ourselves to each other: I was now his and he was mine. In Revelation 7, John hears the angel say he will mark the servants of God with a seal on their foreheads so they will be known as belonging to God. The seal would protect them from the “damage” that the other angels were about to unleash. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that the seal was to be put on their foreheads where it could be seen by everyone who looked at them.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Baptism as a seal:

“Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift… [We call it] seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship.” (CCC 1216)

It’s easy to tell two people who have pledged themselves to each other. The way they stand together, look at each other, hold hands or serve each other, all are tell-tale signs of their commitment to the other. They have been sealed together. At Baptism we are marked as belonging to God, but would anyone know that to look at us? Are the seals on our foreheads visible or masked by our worldly ways? There are many days that I am sure no one would know that I am a follower of Christ, times when I cover up my seal for fear of rejection or confrontation. 

Even though I cover my seal some days, this doesn’t mean it’s not there. God still sees us as His own. In the second reading this Sunday, John says, “Beloved: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called Children of God, and that is what we are.” (1John 3:1)
By His love, God seals us and sets us apart so that the world will see us and know Him. 

Today and every day let us allow our “seals” to shine. Let’s pray together that all our doubt and fear be cast aside so we can truly be seen as children of God, sealed by His love.




Maxine Brown
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