"Jesus likes to intervene in the smallest details of our life, and He often fulfills secret wishes of mine that I sometimes hide from Him, although I know that from Him nothing can be hidden. There is a custom among [the sisters in our convent] of drawing by lot, on New Year's Day, for special patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning during meditation, there arose within me a secret desire that the Eucharistic Jesus be my special patron for this year also, as in the past. But hiding this desire from my Beloved, I spoke to Him about everything else but that. When the sisters gathered for breakfast, we blessed ourselves and began drawing our patrons. When I approached the holy cards on which the names of the patrons were written, without hesitation I took one, but I didn't read the name immediately as I wanted to mortify myself for a few minutes. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul: I am your patron. Read. I looked at once at the inscription and read, "Patron for the Year 1935--the most Blessed Eucharist." My heart lept with joy, and I slipped quietly away from the sisters and went for a short visit before the Blessed Sacrament, where I poured out my heart. (entry 360)
So, here are the saints God chose for us this year:
Paul: St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Maria: St. Elizabeth of Portugal
Joseph: St. Bernadino Realino
Michael: St. Barbara
Dominic: St. Charles Lwagna
Nathanael: St. Anthony
Isaiah: St. Juan Diego
All you holy saints...pray for us! Pray that our family grows closer to Jesus this year and helps others to do so too!
I have also continued the tradition that I learned from Ann Voskamp to pray for a "word" to be my New Year's resolution---a word that the Lord wants me to adopt as my motto for the year to help draw me closer to His heart. So on New Year's Day we went to Mass and I asked the Lord what word He was placing on my heart, and the word that popped into my head was "Peace." But I wasn't totally sure (because I'm scrupulous and second-guess everything), so I kept searching for another sign for confirmation. As I listened to the Mass readings, I head the familiar words that my parents used to pray over me as they tucked me in bed at night, "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord let His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you with kindness and give you PEACE." There it was again! The Lord wants to give me the peace this year that I so desperately desire. Peace like a child being tucked in by her loving parents, secure in being loved and taken care of. Peace that I have somehow lost as I have let the world's worries distract my childlike trust that I once had. I pray that the Holy Spirit will help me find that peace again this year and help me to focus on what is true: that I can be at peace in ALL circumstances because I am still very much loved and being taken care of by a trustworthy God.
Let me know if you want me and my kids to draw a saint name for you! :) Just reply to this post or send me an email (pmhurlbert@gmail.com).
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