faith | Traveling in Faith

I absolutely love word games and make an effort each day to do the daily New York Times mini puzzles. Anything to help the brain stay sharp and nimble 😊 Connections is probably my favorite but I also enjoy Wordle. It’s become somewhat of a competition among our family.

For those of you not familiar with Wordle, you get six chances to figure out a random 5-letter word. There are all sorts of strategies; picking a word with lots of vowels (like miaou or adieu) to start or choosing words with lots of consonants (like watch or bench) and mathematicians and researchers even recommend starting with one of the following words: soare, crane, salet or chase. My strategy is quite simple and it all starts with faith. Literally.

I always start with the word “faith”. Some days I need all 6 tries. Other days I can solve it in 2 but 91% of the time, I will successfully complete the puzzle. If faith is the start to your day, to a puzzle, to a conversation or to a problem, you are pretty much guaranteed success. I’ll take a 91% success rate any day! It’s not about winning or perfection. It’s about faith.

Faith is believing is something you cannot see. We can’t physically see God but we can see him in others. We can’t see our Lady but we can feel her loving arms around us. We can’t see Christ but we can experience his love and sacrifice for us during the Eucharist. We cannot see our Guardian Angel but know they are protecting us. We may not speak in tongues, but the wisdom of the Holy Spirit guides our thoughts and interactions.

From the moment we wake up to when we lay our heads on our pillow to sleep, we should be guided by our faith. Every thought and action should reflect His love, grace and mercy. Yes, it may be just a puzzle but if we focus on faith in the smallest of things, imagine how much easier it will be when we have to tackle the hard ones!

Blessings to all!

Prayer to start your day:

Thank you Heavenly Father for waking me up today. Thank you for all the blessings in my life. Please pour the precious blood of your Son, Jesus Christ over me, my family and friends to protect us as we go throughout the day. Please help me to avoid sin and remain focused on You. May the Holy Spirit be my guide in all of my interactions. May my faith be strengthened when a door closes and may I be patient while waiting on your perfect plan for me. I love you and look forward to the day. Thank you. Amen.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!

Psalm 118:24

Anyone who has kids understands the difficulty in finding one-on-one time with each of them. If they’re involved in sports, band, theatre or other extracurricular activities chances are you are constantly on the go. Life gets hectic and finding time for yourself and your spouse (let alone each of the kids) can be challenging at best. As a mom of three, I know the struggle. Don’t get me wrong, I always enjoy our family time (especially now that they are grown and flown) but there is nothing like that one-on-one, focused time to stay involved and connected.

We are all children of God and just like we want to spend time with our children, God wants to spend time with us. Yes, He is always with us and we celebrate with Him during mass (family time) but like all the moms and dads out there, He craves alone time with us too.

Jesus wants to have a deep and intimate relationship with us. We can’t do that if we don’t spend quality time with Him. All relationships, even our relationship with God, needs to be nurtured and cared for. Eucharistic Adoration gives us that opportunity.

When I first started going to Adoration, I found it intimidating and a bit overwhelming. I had no idea what to do or say. How long did I need to stay? I wasn’t sure I could pray for more than 10 minutes straight. Were there certain prayers I should pray? Did I have to dress a certain way? I certainly didn’t want to look like I didn’t know what I am doing. (That my friends is pride and definitely not the right head space.)

All new things come with a certain level of uneasiness but the more you do them, the more comfortable you become. Trust me when I say I was totally overthinking this! Now I pop in to see Jesus 2 – 3 times a week 😊

Adoration is not going to look the same for everyone. We all have different things going on in our lives with unique situations. God meets each of us exactly where we are and we are all in a distinctive place in our faith journey.

For some, it’ll be a quick prayer of thanksgiving or a request for a special intention. For some there may be a sense of despair or a feeling of helplessness. For others, it’s a time to say the rosary, read the Bible or even write what can’t be said. And still others, it is simply a time of quiet reflection and reconciliation; a way to reset and ground oneself. There is no specific amount of time to spend and no right or wrong way to adore.

For those new to Adoration, expect the unexpected. Tears may fall. Transformations can happen. Pains and fears can become bearable and find purpose. Mindsets can be shifted and weights can be lifted. Answers can be found and doors can be opened. Clear your mind, open your heart and let God lead the way.

What started as an uncertain activity is now one of my favorite parts of the week! Are you ready to get closer to Christ?

Hope to see you there!

See the link below for the perpetual adoration chapels which are part of the Harrisburg Diocese:

https://www.hbgdiocese.org/liturgy-worship-and-prayer/eucharistic-adoration/

Below is the link for adoration sites in the Archdiocese of Baltimore:

https://www.archbalt.org/aob-eucharistic-revival/adoration-sites/

Thank you Fr. John for expanding Adoration at St. Mary of the Assumption (Pylesville, MD).

Traveling in Faith

Tag Archives: faith

It all starts with Faith … Literally

Hey Jesus, I’ll be in the neighborhood. OK to stop by?