This year I made the resolution to try to pray both the rosary and the chaplet of Divine Mercy sometime throughout the day, and also to exercise for at least 20 minutes per day. I try to do the rosary first thing in the morning, usually with my children when I drive them into school, and the chaplet I reserve for the 3:00 hour (the hour Jesus Himself said was the hour of mercy when He opens His heart to pour special graces on those who ask for them in memory of the hour in which he died for us). Again, I pray this with my children if I'm the one who picks them up from school, or I do it by myself at home if Joseph brings the kids home. It truly warms my mother's heart that even when Joseph is the one who takes the kids to and from school, they are in the habit of praying the rosary and the chaplet to begin and end their school day. If that's the only good habit I've taught my kids, then that is enough for me! :)
The year 2019 has certainly started less tumultuous than 2018 began. 2018 was our year that turned upside down when our son Dominic went to the hospital for a bone infection and came out of the hospital with a serious case of PTSD and recurring panic attacks. He is still in counseling to manage his anxiety and panic attacks. He has healed tremendously---but not completely. The panic attacks now are rare, but still very real. Perhaps this will be his lifelong cross, but I am hopeful that 2019 will bring much hope and healing for him. I humbly ask for your continued prayers for him and our family.
2019 will be a big year for Joseph as he starts to look into colleges, take ACT and SAT tests, apply for scholarships, and discern his future. I ask for your prayers upon him as well.
I am confident that the saints we picked (or did they pick us?) this year will help us grow in holiness too, so that is a consolation and a blessing. I love being Catholic and having this opportunity to have holy intercessors to help us in our daily lives. Here are our saints for 2019:
- Paul: St. Christopher Magallanes (one of the martyred priests during the Cristeros War in the 1920s)
- Maria: St. John the Baptist
- Joseph: St. Bartholomew (one of the disciples, also knows as Nathanael in the gospels)
- Michael: St. Benjamin (deacon and martyr in Persia in the 400s)
- Dominic: St. Cunegundes (holy empress of Rome who gave most of her wealth to the poor and became a nun after King Henry's death)
- Nathanael: St. Bernardine of Siena (joyful and enthusiastic Franciscan preacher of the 1400s)
- Isaiah: St. Saturninus (bishop of France and early martyr of the Church)
I also pick a word of the year for myself, using a randomized word search on the internet, and this year my word is:
CARE. I do feel that God is calling me to reach out more to other people, to be the hands and feet of Christ and show His loving "care" to all those He places in my life. I hope, with His grace, to do better at that this year. Perhaps God also gave me this word to remind me of how much He cares for me, even when I fail over and over again. I have always struggled with believing that God loves me unconditionally and isn't disappointed in me for my sins and imperfections. So this year I will try to adopt St. Therese's spirituality of having childlike trust in God's fatherly love and His infinite mercy for me and for the whole world.
Lastly, some of you might be encouraged by the January message from Medjugorje, which I thought was a beautiful call to holiness and conversion for the whole world for the new year. May it touch your heart and may you and I spread this message through our words and actions this year:
January 25, 2019 message to Marija, one of the visionaries in Medjugorje:
"Dear children! Today, as a mother, I am calling you to conversion. This time is for you, little children, a time of silence and prayer. Therefore, in the warmth of your heart, may a grain of hope and faith grow and you, little children, will from day to day feel the need to pray more. Your life will become orderly and responsible. You will comprehend, little children, that you are passing here on earth and you will feel the need to be closer to God, and with love you will witness the experience of your encounter with God, which you will share with others. I am with you and am praying for you but I cannot without your 'yes'. Thank you for having responded to my call."
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