Looking back over 2023
Hi Everyone! Can you believe that it is almost Chinese New Year and Candlemas Day (February 2)? January 2024 is almost over! So much has happened to me and I’m feeling like my year is off to a great start! Hopefully yours is too! (Shout out to my Marian Consecration group! Thank you for being…
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Reflecting on 2022
(Skip the 1st three paragraphs if you already read them in the cover photo 🙂 ) It’s now almost a month into 2023 and almost a week into the Chinese New Year! Wow, time flies! I’m late in posting my reflections since I hadn’t figured out what to write! I did remember that I hadn’t…
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End of 2021 Update
(If you read my personalized cursive intro, skip to the bold sections below. ) December 31, 2021 Dear Take 5 & Strive blog followers, Happy 7th Day of Christmas – New Year’s Eve! It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. For those of you who have been praying for me during my unintended hiatus,…
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Jesus, I trust in You!
Picture: St. Anne in Pleasant Prairie, WI Easter Greetings! I took a two week break from my blogging to fully enter into Holy Week and the Easter Octave. [The Triduum and Easter are my ABSOLUTE favorite celebrations of the Church Year! There are so many reasons why but I won’t go into all the details…
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Do the works of God
Yesterday, the bishop celebrated Mass at St. Michael’s. The Gospel reading was a continuation of the day before. Jesus reminds the people that He did the works of His Father. The bishop challenged us to “do the works of God.” Challenge: Do 5 things this Holy Week to make others more aware of the presence…
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Jesus is God
At the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, IL Yesterday, my family and I virtually when to St. Michael’s in Missouri. The reading was about Abraham’s name change. The Gospel was about Jesus saying to the Jews, “I AM.” Father, in his homily, told us to think about the Gospel reading in…
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Free-knowing the truth
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” (John 8:31b-32) The above quote is from the gospel this morning. “…the truth will set you free,” what does that mean? Today, my family virtually returned to Ascension Parish for…
Keep readingBelieve
“…whoever looks upon it…will live.” This morning, we virtually attended Mass at St. Michael’s in Missouri. The reading this morning was about Moses and the bronze serpent. The Israelites complained and God sent serpents to their camp. When Moses asked for a way for them to be cured, God told him to put a bronze…
Keep readingYour Mercy Remains
“A thousand times I failed, Your mercy remains…” (Singing the song, From the Inside Out by Hillsong) This morning, my family virtually traveled to Ascension Parish in Kansas. The Gospel was about the woman caught in adultery. Whenever I heard this reading, the words “go and sin no more” always jump out to me. I…
Keep reading“Come Out!”
“Come Out!!!”……….Do you hear Him calling? On this 5th Sunday of Lent, the Gospel was about Lazarus being raised. My family and I decided to stick close to home in our virtual Mass hopping. We travelled to Marytown in Illinois. During the homily, Father told us that Lazarus is an image of us bound by…
Keep readingListening
Pause! Listen! Can you hear anything? I hear the ticking of the clock, the sound of the rain outside my window, my younger brother playing guitar in the next room, my older sister turning pages in the book she’s reading, and more. You might be wondering why I asked you to listen. Father mentioned in…
Keep readingThe One Who Cares
Yesterday, my family and I decided to virtually cross the Atlantic again for Mass. We watched Mass at St. Mary of the Isle in the Isle of Man. (We decided to add it to our list of future destinations.) Monsignor reminded us about the Urbi et Orbi blessing which Pope Francis was giving later on…
Keep readingFear Shouldn’t Take Hold
Today, my family and I virtually went across an ocean to the Emerald Isle for Mass. Mass was held in the beautiful Knock Chapel in Ireland. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, this is the site of Our Lady of Knock. (It made me add Ireland as a possible destination in the…
Keep readingMary said: “Yes”
Happy Feast of the Annunciation!!! 🙂 My family and I watched Mass online from St. Michael in Missouri. In his homily, Father spoke about Mary’s yes. Today is when the Church celebrates Mary’s “fiat” – yes to God. She said yes to be the Mother of God’s Own Son. Just think about it! She said…
Keep reading“Change the Things I Can”
Today, my family and I watched online Mass from Ascension Parish in Kansas. The Gospel today was about the paralytic at the healing pool of Betheseda. During the homily, Father pointed out that the paralytic did not help himself to get cured as he sat in that spot next to the pool for many years.…
Keep reading“Social Distancing” and Distance to Christ
This morning, I was able to watch online Mass through St. Peter in Chains Cathedral in Ohio. The Gospel this morning was about the official with a dying son at home. Jesus cured the son at the exact same moment He said that the son would be healed. This miracle happened remotely; Jesus was not…
Keep readingLaetare Sunday 2020
Today was a very interesting Laetare Sunday. Illinois is under lockdown. So my family and I watched Mass online through the Marytown website. During the homily, Father reminded us of the meaning of Laetare- to rejoice. We still have cause to rejoice even though there seems to be none. We are connected to each other…
Keep readingLenten Reflection on Matthew (1)
Lent is a time when people especially take the time to grow deeper into their life of prayer and deepen their relationship with God. One of these ways is by reading little daily reflections, spending time with God in prayer. This Lent 2020, I got the idea to go through the last chapters of the…
Keep readingDo you have enough salt? – 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reflection on the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Isaiah 58:7-10/1 Corinthians 2:1-5/Matthew 5:13-16) During Mass on Sunday, Father talked about why Jesus used the similes of salt and light in the Gospel. In those days, salt was used as one of the known preservatives. It helped to prevent decay in food. It also brings flavor…
Keep reading3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Light in the Darkness
I went to a retreat this past weekend. It was AWESOME! I can honestly say that it has changed my life through a “4 o’clock” moment during the retreat. (This moment is a defining moment, where you encountered Christ.) My story: Before the retreat, I was okay with the status quo, where I was at…
Keep readingBaptism of the Lord
Yesterday was the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It marks the last official day of the Chirstmas Season on the Church calendar. Jesus was baptized before going on to begin His public ministry. Through the Gospel readings of the rest of the Church Year, we will see how Christ lives out that ministry…
Keep readingFeast of the Epiphany
Happy Feast of the Epiphany! Starting today, I’ll be posting, at the very least, once a week. The 5min challenges of the week will be based on the Gospel or the take aways from the homily at Mass. Challenges/Reflection Questions- (Note: There are 5 challenges for the Tuesday-Saturday of the week. They can be done…
Keep readingChristmas Octave and New Year’s Day
2019 draws to a close. So many blessings!!! One tradition that my family has is having a family meal at midnight and talking about what blessings God gave us for the year. For me personally, I have ask myself the following question: “What lesson God had been teaching me this year?” (One of my friends…
Keep readingJesse Tree Days 24-25
Merry Christmas!!!!! 🙂 Maligayang Pasko!!! 🙂 Jesse Tree Readings: Matthew 2:1-12 & Luke 2:1-6 The readings today are about the Visit of the Magi and the Birth of Christ. A very quick reflection today… The Magi came from far away lands to bring gifts to Jesus. They brought presents to honor the King of kings,…
Keep readingJesse Tree Days 21-23
Jesse Tree Readings: Luke 3:2-19 & Matthew 1:18-24 & Luke 1:24-39 A quick reflection for this post since tomorrow is Christmas. The last two days will be posted together tomorrow as they are about Jesus’s birth. The readings for days 21 and 22 are the Preaching of John the Baptist and St. Joseph’s dream before…
Keep readingJesse Tree Days 19-20
Jesse Tree Readings: 1 Kings 18:1-46 & Jonah 1-4. In Day 19, the reading was on Elijah and the prophets of Baal. There was a drought in Israel during the time of King Ahab. Elijah, in order to show the people that God is God, proposed a contest: whichever god sent fire to consume the…
Keep readingJesse Tree Days 17-18
Jesse Tree Readings: 1 Samuel 17:12-51 & 1 Kings 3:5-28 Today, I’ll combine Days 17-18 into one challenge. The readings focused on David and Goliath and the Wisdom of Solomon. In the Day 17 Reading, David knew that God would help him, a shepherd boy inexperienced on a battlefield. If God could protect him from…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 16
Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Today’s reading is on the 1st time David was anointed. Because Saul had disobeyed God, Samuel was sent to Bethlehem to anoint a new king to reign after Saul. This new king would be a son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah. When Samuel met Jesse’s family, he initially…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 15
Happy Gaudete Sunday! We are now halfway through Advent! Rejoice! Today’s reading – 1 Samuel 3:1-18 Today is about the call of Samuel. In the story, Samuel is called by God 3x while he was sleeping near the Ark of the Covenant. Thinking that it was his mentor, Eli calling, Samuel went each time saying,…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 13-14
Day 13 Reading- Judges 16:4-31 This particular reading was on the Israelite judge, Samson. Samson was given the gift of strength if he did not cut his hair. His long hair was a sign of his being consecrated to the Lord. Unfortunately, he fell in love with a woman who manipulated and betrayed him. Delilah…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 12
Judges 6:11-12, 16-23; 7:1-12 Today is on the story of the call of Gideon and his defeat of Midian. When Gideon was called to be a judge of Israel, he was doing a normal chore in his day. He was beating wheat. However, Gideon was beating it in a wine press! As an informed citizen,…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 10 and 11
Jesse Reading- Exodus 20:1-17 The reading for Day 10 is the 10 Commandments. 5min challenge: Read the 10 commandments. Use it as an examination of your day. How have you lived this day? Jesse Reading – Joshua 5:13-15;6:1-20 Day 11 is about Joshua at Jericho. As I was rereading this story, I was struck by…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 9
Jesse Tree Reading- Exodus 3:1-10 Today’s reading in Exodus is about Moses and the burning bush. The burning bush was an attention getter from God for Moses. Moses was content with tending sheep. Then his life was radically changed when he answered to God’s call from the burning bush. From a shepherd to leader of…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 8
Jesse Tree Reading : Gen 37:23-28; 45:1-15 Today is about the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. If you read past the selection for today, you will see that Joseph’s brothers are willing to make amends for their behavior. They are willing to right their wrong. Today is the Second Sunday of…
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Jesse Tree Reading: Gen 25:19-34; 28:10-18 In the reading for today, the first part of Jacob’s story is told. He is given Esau’s birthright and blessing. While he flees from his brother’s wrath, he has a dream. That dream is a vision of a ladder to Heaven and promise from God to protect Jacob always.…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 6
Jesse Tree Reading: Gen 22:1-14 Today’s reading is on Isaac and the ram. Abraham was going up a mountain to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He was probably asking, “Why? Is this a joke? What’s going on? This is my only son.” Abraham, despite his possible questions through his likely sorrow, trusted enough to carry through…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 5
Jesse Tree Readings: Gen 12:1-7; 15:1-6 Today’s selection is on Abraham’s migration to Canaan and God’s covenant with him. As I was reading this selection, I realized how strong Abraham’s relationship with God was. He left to go to Canaan once he was called. His conversations with God were to the point that he was…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 4
Jesse Tree Reading: Gen 11:1-9 Today’s reflection is on the Tower of Babel. As I was reading this story, it came to mind that builders were focused on one perspective. One of the main intentions behind their tower was to “make a name for themselves.” I know that in my life I get so focused…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 3
Genesis 6:5-19; 7:16-24; 8:1, 6-11, 15-22 Today’s selection is on the story of Noah and the Ark. This is a story that is likely to be familiar to many people. But I’ll not assume. (When I was a Totus Tuus Missionary, some of children had never heard of Noah’s ark until my team and I…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 2
Jesse Tree Reading- Gen 2:7-9,15-25; 3:1-24 Today’s selection has two parts: the creation of woman and the Fall of Man. The passage that especially stuck out to me was when God was looking for Adam and Eve in the Garden. They had just given into temptation and ate the forbidden fruit. They had learned the…
Keep readingJesse Tree Day 1
Happy New Church Year!!! Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent. During the homily this morning, Father really brought home to me the meaning of the Advent Season. It is a season of preparation and penance. It is a time to prepare ourselves – our hearts spiritually. He encouraged us to “give Christ a dwelling…
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Take 5 & Strive 