Our Home Altar + Inspiration for Your Own

Our Home Altar + Inspiration for Your Own

+J.M.J.+ Once Ethan had a surprise waiting for me when I returned home with Philomena from a visit to see my parents. He had secretly commissioned a friend to build us a custom home altar. It's simple but perfect for our current stage in life. We had utilized a bookshelf for this purpose in the [...]

My Favorite Mental Prayer Guide

My Favorite Mental Prayer Guide

+J.M.J.+ I don't know about you, but mental prayer can be really hard for me. My mind wanders. It can feel dry and boring. Quiet conversation with God seems difficult and one-sided. I feel like I start well for a minute, then soon become distracted and weary. In fact, in the past I always felt [...]

A Transformed Morning in Ten Minutes

A Transformed Morning in Ten Minutes

+J.M.J.+ 7:30 a.m. is the hardest part of my day. Breakfast is over and Ethan packs up his bag and heads off to work. I love my girls and our days together, don't get me wrong, but sometimes knowing the whole days worth of work is just starting is so hard for me to get [...]

Pray for Father When He Receives Holy Communion + A Challenge For Your Week

Pray for Father When He Receives Holy Communion + A Challenge For Your Week

+J.M.J.+ When was the last time you prayed for your priest? In the past at Holy Mass, I had so many intentions, prayers of thanksgiving, and people in my heart that I would forget to pray for the man who is literally there in Persona Christi, in the place of Christ. Our priests never stop working once [...]

Why All the Repetition? – The Rosary

Why All the Repetition? – The Rosary

+J.M.J.+ October is the month of the Holy Rosary, and so I want to quickly reflect on something some non-Catholics object to in the Rosary, and how it is beneficial in so many aspects of our lives...it's repetition. Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed [...]

Am I Enough + Litany of Humility

Am I Enough + Litany of Humility

+J.M.J.+ Something that I really struggle with interiorly is worrying if I am enough to others; enough of pretty much anything. I do know I am never holy "enough". I remember a great FSSP priest at a Lenten mission years ago saying that you can never stand still spiritually. We are either becoming holier and [...]

You Take Care of It – A Novena of Surrender

You Take Care of It – A Novena of Surrender

+J.M.J.+ My husband gave to me a very special prayer this summer, knowing it was at a time I desperately needed it. I am a worrier by nature. I know there is this great God who loves me beyond all comprehension, yet I often fret and worry about my problems as if He doesn't love [...]