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Many young saints from the past couple of centuries are famous for their prayer journals. St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Faustina Kowalska, and Bl. Chiara Badano are just a few that come to mind! Obviously, prayer journaling is a great tool that can help you to grow your prayer life and grow closer to God. It's also a great way to keep track of your life, times of desolation and consolation, and see how far you've come spiritually. Personally, I have had an AMAZING experience with prayer journaling. I've had a prayer journal for about three years now, and I fill up about one journal every 9-ish months because I journal SO MUCH!! Even if you don't like writing or don't already keep a journal, THAT'S OKAY! I encourage you to just give it a try. There are so many ways to do this, and it's totally between you and God. He'll guide you and I promise, you'll receive so many graces through it. Letters to God: I primarily do this type of journaling! Basically, it's just a regular journal. You can write about your day, what's going on in your life, things that are worrying you, but you make it into a prayer. This type of journaling has helped me so much in growing my prayer life and I am so grateful for the graces I've received! It helps me to be more aware of the Lord in my everyday life. It's also so beneficial to look back and see where and how much I've grown spiritually since I began journaling. An example from my own journal looks like this: (This is just in my own words, how I talk to God. Yours will probably look totally different, and that's completely great! God loves whichever way you speak to Him.) Lord, I'm overwhelmed this morning. And why? I mean, I'm nervous about drama, but other than that I think I'm okay. Please give me peace and help it all to go well... I praise You, Lord, my Jesus. It's amazing to think that You walked this Earth. You were here. You are here in the Eucharist! But it's amazing to think that you were here. There is a stone your body was laid on; rooms you were in. The Bible is real! I think I'm somehow just now realizing the reality of it all. I want to learn more so I can live and love like you, Jesus. Bible Journaling: Bible journaling is such a beautiful way to dive deeper into God's Word! This has been such a big help to me. Bible Journaling is useful for so many people because it allows them to interact with the text in a very tangible way. It's fun to (reverently and respectfully) mark up the pages of your Bible with notes, highlighted passages, drawings, and prayers. You can take notes in the margins or in a separate journal about how God is speaking to you through Scripture. There is so much inspiration online and it's a great way to use your creativity (or for some of us, organizational skills...) to glorify God and dive deeper into Scripture. I have the Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Notetaking Bible. But I've also seen and like the looks of the Blessed is She Journaling Bible. You can find some of my Bible journaling examples in my Instagram story highlights or just google "bible journaling" to see some examples. Intention Journal: A prayer intention journal is a great way to keep a prayer journal if you're not someone who particularly enjoys writing. You can make it your own, but what I do is write an intention, the date I wrote it down, and then once the prayer is answered I write down how it was answered and the date it was answered. It's a great exercise in trusting in God, His mercy, and His plan for our lives! A prayer intention entry of mine might look like this: That mom's sore throat will be better by the morning - 2/23/22 Yes, she's feeling better! Thank you, Lord!- 2/24/22 Gratitude Journal: This is exactly what it sounds like! A gratitude journal is a journal in which you keep a list of things you want to thank God for. And there are so many ways to use this for prayer! You could write down what you're grateful for at the end of each day; go through your list daily or weekly and thank God for each thing on your list; or just use it as a way to reflect on and pray with your blessings, thanking God for all He's given you. As St. Gianna said, “The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day.” Journaling is a beautiful form of prayer, and I am confident that it will have a great impact on your spiritual journey if you give it a try! Do you have a prayer journal or a style of journaling that I haven't mentioned? I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to shoot me an email or comment below! God bless!

Pope Saint John Paul II once said: It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise...: Jesus is what and who we are looking for. Nothing but Jesus, no one but Jesus, will ever fulfill our deepest desire for love- for God. The logical question that follows this realization that it is Jesus we are searching for is, "Well, where is He?" Friends, it is so simple. He is here! Our God did not leave us orphans! He gave us a Church, to continue to serve, to love, to pray, to teach, to minister to His people here on earth. Jesus remains with us in the Holy Eucharist. He has not left us. Each Mass, through the graces He's given to the priest, He transforms ordinary bread and wine into His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. What remains is only the appearance of bread and wine. It is Jesus. He is there, spiritually present within His people that make up the Church, and physically present in the tabernacle of each Catholic church building. He is there for you. If you were the only one who came to be with Him, He would still remain there, waiting, just for you. That's how much He loves you. Nothing else- only Christ- can make you happy. For that reason, only the Church that Christ established, and which contains the fullness of the faith and the true presence of Christ, will satisfy your hunger and desire for love. For happiness. For God. No, the people that make up the Church are not perfect. But Christ is. And isn't that enough? Our faith is for God, not for other people. Other Christian communities may have better music, more entertaining forms of worship, more people at their events, or easier teachings to accept. The list could go on and on. These different ways of worship, these other congregations, are not bad. They are SO CLOSE to the fullness of Truth. But until one comes to fully know, believe in, and live out Christ's teachings, they will not have the complete Truth. It is only when you are totally one with Christ in His Church, living totally for Him and with Him in the fullness of Truth that you will be happy. You dream of happiness! We all do. I beg you, begin to fulfill that dream here on earth. It is possible! He is so near to you! Seek our Lord. Find Him in the Holy Eucharist. Go to the Catholic Church. Remain in the Church. Only there you will find Truth, Beauty, Love, as He is.

Catholics are not REQUIRED to abstain from meat today since it's the Feast of the Annunciation, but you still can if you'd like.

^^ There was a correction made to this post earlier. The email may not reflect the real task for the day. I apologize for any confusion!

This topic has been on my heart lately. What we believe does not determine reality. What society believes does not determine reality. Truth is truth. It's not my truth or your truth. It's just the truth. My beliefs do not determine reality. TRUTH determines reality. And how do we find that truth? God. God Himself is Truth. Therefore, what God teaches is Truth. That means: -God created the world. - God is three persons in one. - Humans are both body and soul; physical and spiritual. - God became man in Jesus Christ, died and rose from the dead to save us from our sins, and ascended back to Heaven where He reigns with God the Father. - Mary is the Mother of God. -Jesus founded one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church to continue His mission here on earth, and He desires for all His people to be united in it. - The Pope is the visible leader of Christ's Church here on earth. - Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist. - Purgatory is real - Faith and works sanctify us, not one or the other. - Abortion is wrong, contraception is wrong, pornography is wrong, and sex is sacred and to be reserved for marriage. - Men and women are different. - God intended the Priesthood to be only for men. - War is wrong and to be avoided. - All approved forms of the Mass are valid and beautiful. (TLM, Novus Ordo, Eastern Rites, etc.) - Everything that the Catholic Church teaches and professes to be true IS THE TRUTH. It does not matter what you and I don't like, whether we're Catholic or non-Catholic. Our beliefs and feelings do not determine reality. God does. And He has made it EXTREMELY clear, through His Word, and through Sacred Tradition, what the Truth is. Our job is to pursue that Truth and then live it out to the best of our abilities. When we die and receive our particular judgment from God and go to Heaven (or Purgatory and then Heaven) or Hell, what we believed will not matter. All that will matter is what is. We will be judged on how we lived, how we loved, and we will be judged by God's standards. And yes, He will judge us with the heart and love of our merciful Father who wants nothing but the best for His children, but He will judge us by the standards of Truth. Not our truth; not our feelings. His Truth. The Truth.* (Please read my side note about this at the bottom of the post!) What we believe does not determine what is. We do not have that power. Only God does. And so, I ask you, what will you believe? Will you believe the Truth? Will you make Truth the reality that you live by, choosing to live life in joy and peace, no matter what the rest of the world chooses? Or will you make something else, someone else's ideas your truth? *Even if one has not heard or understood the Truth, they will still be judged by the standards of Truth. However, God knows the hearts and souls of each person, and if someone truly practiced and lived out the beliefs that they thought were good, true, and beautiful, our Lord knows their hearts and would judge them accordingly, but they would first be made aware of the Truth that God teaches and would have to choose whether to accept or reject it, thus choosing Heaven or Hell.