đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. Are your faith and religious practices a transfer of information or a transformation? Do you show up to Mass to check the Weekly Obligation box and grab a bulletin as proof or is the Word of God proclaimed during Mass challenging you to speak and act in better ways? Is the Holy Eucharist just a wafer or the true body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ? Are you living and growing in a transformational relationship with Christ or are you just participating in a religion?
Life in a loving relationship with the Lord is too precious to not pursue. No matter where you and I are at in our relationship with the Lord, there is always immeasurable growth opportunities and possibilities. Ask the Lord what He would like your friendship to be and share with Him what you would like your relationship to be. So often miscommunication is because there is no communication.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. While having dinner with my parents last Friday, I learned some interesting history about our family. I imagine just about every family has some things they do, which they think are completely normal until someone from outside of the family is like, âWhat are you doing?â We have a few of these things in our family. Some stories of my girlsâ experiences with non-family members reactions to our family traditions and sayings crack me up, but the one we discussed last Friday was a prayer.
The customary Catholic before meal payer is: âBless us, O Lord and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.â
At the end of that prayer, our family adds an additional prayer. âQueen of Peace, pray for us.â Growing up, I thought those two prayers were all one prayer. Prayer before meals with Catholic, non-family members, I realized they didnât pray the last part of the prayer. It took me 58 years to ask why we add âQueen of Peace, pray for us.â to our meal prayer. I received an interesting answer. My parents said that was how they learned the prayer and it went back to their grandparents. It was a generational thing. It was a prayer for peace during WW I. Through our generations, I guess our family felt it was important to continue to pray for peace.
Turns out that in a letter dated 05/05/1917, during WW I and feeling all his other avenues had been exhausted, Pope Benedict XV ordered the invocation, âQueen of Peace, pray for us!â to be added universally to the Litany of Loreto. (see link below)
Just eight days later, on 05/13/1917 Mary first appeared to LĂșcia, Jacinta, and Francisco in Fatima, Portugal. Mother Mary spoke with the three children, scheduled future return visits with them in the same location, AND asked them to âSay the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.â (see link below)
Iâm really glad I asked the question. Praying this prayer means even more to me now. Will you join in this prayer for peace and add âQueen of Peace, pray for us!â to all of your meal prayers? I pray that you will and also ask others to do the same. We need peace in this world and it can start with me and you.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
#VinceGill&JennyGill â Let There Be Peace On Earth
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. This past week Iâve still been reviewing my notes from the Glory: Womenâs Gathering and working on unpacking how the words the Lord spoke through those ladies were meant for me. Michelle Benzinger spoke about trials, which got me thinking about them differently. For instance, we canât go over, under, or around our trials. We can only go through our trials. I think there is a lot of truth in that statement. The more we try to avoid or work around our trials, the more we are moved back into the heart of them, where we need to address them.Â
Have you ever noticed that when you say âNoâ to what God asks of you, He will give you a little bit of time, then come back and ask you again, and again, and again, until you finally say âYesâ? He doesnât do this to be a total pain in your side. His persistent pursuit is for the purpose of preparation. Your preparation and anointing for your next purpose. It may seem like a lot to give God your complete âYesâ, but why should we expect that He would want anything less from us. Seriously, Christ gave YOU His complete âYESâ. This is what His âYESâ for YOU looks like.
Is He asking that much of you? NEVER! He will NEVER ask that much of you, which is exactly why HE DID IT FOR YOU!
Every day is the perfect day to thank Christ for His COMPLETE YES. But donât stop there. Thank Him and then ask Him what you can do for Him today. Donât wait for Him to ask you. You have no idea how much pleasure and joy your sincere ask will bring Him. With that ask, you must be prepared to act. Donât shy away from His ask. Remember those trials I mentioned earlier? They have prepared you for Godâs next ask of you. God has a purpose, but itâs not pain. His purpose is pure joy and love of being in communion with YOU.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. You had me at lament. Itâs all about to change. Today will be my last day at my current job. Next Monday, I get to embark on an adventure with my new employer. This past Friday â Sunday, I had the pleasure of engaging in the 2026 Glory: Womenâs Gathering at Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH. The theme was Graves into Gardens. So, so appropriate and relatable for this transition taking place in my life this week. On the surface it may seem like simply a job change, but itâs much more.
My older sister asked me what changes I was most looking forward to in my new role. I replied, âLearning new aspects of HR. Being onsite with my team. Actual in person team interaction. Mostly, Brian and I will be able to spend more time together, especially discussions as we work toward developing our retirement plan.â
Brian and I worked remotely from home, for different employers. We both were then required to work in a physical office location, which after drive times and different schedules, only left us about two hours together on work night evenings, as long as neither of us had some other meeting that night. Over the past 13 months, this separation took a toll on our marriage. As Iâve told people, I like Brian too much to not want to share time with him.
The first talk Saturday morning at the Glory: Womenâs Gathering was about lament. Iâd never really thought about lament in my life. The Biblical meaning of lament is to express our deep regret, grief, and sorrow directly to God. Lament is different from complaining, which is turning away from God. During that talk, I realized I had been lamenting my relationship with Brian. In my act of lamenting with God, I was having conversations with Him and really pressing into Him for help and guidance. The speaker, Debbie Herbeck shared with us the four aspects of lament.
1) Turn to God.
2) Pour out ALL of your troubles to God.
3) Ask God boldly for help.
4) Trust God to the depths of your core. âJesus I Trust In You!â
As conferences do, each talk kept building upon the previous talks. So many great enlightenments and God moments poured forth, which are relevant to this transitional time in my life. With the intercession of the Holy Spirit, more and more Iâm learning that God really wants us to have the blessings He desires for us. The problem is that we donât trust in Him, therefore we donât ask and we especially donât ask for abundance. God is not a genie that grants you your first three spoken wishes, but God does want to bless you with all that He has set aside for you. As we talk with God and grow our relationship with Him, our hearts and minds are open to His will and desire for our lives in communion with Him. With the knowledge of His desires for us, we can then boldly ask for the abundance of what God desires for us.
Think about it for a moment, wouldnât someone that intimately knows you be able to give you more personal gifts, than a stranger you sporadically or never speak with?
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” â John 1:1. Even before the Father brought creation to life, the Word was with the Father. But not just with the Father, the Word was and still is God. In that one sentence from John 1:1 we are given just a taste of the incredible power and awesomeness of the Word. Is it a coincidence that Christ is referred to as the Word? No. Is it a coincidence that the Word was present and engaged from the very beginning? No. The Father chose His words very intentionally when brining life to all of creation.
So then, there should be no surprise that words are powerful, with the ability to raise someone to life or mortally wound someone for life. Words spoken to us, can play back in our minds over and over again like a broken record, wounding us or building us up every single time we hear them. We have all been hurt and have hurt others to different degrees by words and they can hurt worse than any physical pain, which is why prayer should come before words. We cannot control how others will respond, so all we can do is discern our responses and filter out all those words that donât bring forth life. The desire to always be right, by proving the other person wrong, should not be our go to response in a situation. In the movie Bambi, we hear Thumper sharing his fatherâs wisdom when he states, âIf you canât say something nice, donât say nothinâ at all.â Even a fish wonât get caught if it keeps its mouth shut.
Right here, right now, you have the ability and power to turn our culture around by willfully accepting guidance from the Holy Spirit, responding and speaking with words inspired by the Holy Spirit, and starting these God ordained conversations and restoration within the walls of your home, with family. As long as the family is broken, the rest of the world will be broken. The God ordained change and conversion will come when we speak life into our family, that will flow into the church and community.
Start right here, right now! Donât focus on how someone else hurt you. Focus and act upon how you have hurt someone and the reconciliation and restoration only you can bring, with and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. WOOT WOOT, itâs Pentecost week! Pentecost gets me fired up! Yes, pun intended. I have relationships with all three individual Trinitarian persons, but as long as I can remember, my relationship with the Holy Spirit involves the most interaction and communication. Pentecost, sometimes referred to as the birthday of the Church, is the Churchâs reception of the Holy Spirit through the initial reception of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Mary (Jesusâ mother).
Why is the gift of the Holy Sprit so exciting? As I read Acts 2:1-47, I canât help but feel and hear the excitement, passion, concern and call in Peterâs voice. God, through the gift of the Holy Spirit has given you a language and words that are meant for specific people to hear and receive, which is why He has you right where you are and connected to those in your circle of influence.
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
â1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: âArenât all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabsâwe hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!â 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, âWhat does this mean?â
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, âThey have had too much wine.â
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: âFellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. Itâs only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ââIn the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.â
22 âFellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by Godâs deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. 24 But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. 25 David said about Him:
ââI saw the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, You will not let your holy one see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence.â
29 âFellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did His body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
ââThe Lord said to my Lord: âSit at My right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.ââ
36 âTherefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.â
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, âBrothers, what shall we do?â
38 Peter replied, âRepent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far offâfor all whom the Lord our God will call.â
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, âSave yourselves from this corrupt generation.â 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostlesâ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.â
Friends, what shall you do?????
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. I took last Thursday off and drove to North Carolina to visit my daughter and two of my grandkiddos. That night, for the first time, I got to watch my grandson play baseball. Being that I really enjoyed playing baseball as a kid, it was exciting for me and hopefully memorable for him, to pass the ball and warm up together before his game.
Typically on my every other Friday off, I start my day with 8:30 Mass, followed by Adoration. I knew the kiddos had school and Crystal had work, so I checked out her local Catholic church and it turned out that they too had 8:30 Mass, followed by Adoration. As Mass began, I looking around the church. It appeared that the regulars were there and I wondered if I had taken someoneâs pew. Being in no rush, at the end of Adoration I slowly gathered my things together. I noticed that a lady, probably in her 80âs and only about as tall as my shoulder, walking towards me. She said, âThank you for joining us today.â It was the strangest thing, but as she was saying that to me, I felt myself leaning forward. I said to myself, âWhat are you doing? Stand up.â Then this lady held onto me and I instinctively leaned forward again. That is when she gently kissed me on my forehead. I was kind of surprised, but at the same time, not. It was then that someone started turning the lights off. As I tried to collect myself, the lady that delivered this heavenly kiss from God, turned and walked away as if Mass had ended and she was going in peace to love and serve the Lord. I watched Godâs messenger walking out of the church in what seemed to be a natural, normal pace for her.
During my visit, I got to spend time playing, going to a concert in the park and dancing, taught my grandson how to two step, taught both of the grandkiddos how to shuffle cards and play solitaire (with cards, not on a phone), my granddaughter showed me what a great roller skater she is, and I got to celebrate my daughterâs birthday. It was a great visit!
But thatâs not where the journey ended. Driving by myself on the way home Sunday, God was working on me. Itâs amazing what you can hear God speaking to you, when you get some one-on-One time with Him. This entire trip was a journey of contemplation, visitation, rebuilding, and restoration.
At the beginning of March, I registered for a womenâs conference. Upon reading the bios for the speakers that will be at the conference, two of them mentioned that they were part of the Abiding Together podcast. Turns out, they are currently in their 18th season. Their content is excellent, informative, comfortable to sit with, very relatable, and challenging to go deeper in my faith and actions. Below is a link to Season 05 Episode 08: Marriage and Restoration with Dr. Bob Schuchts. It doesnât matter if you are married or not, you will be able to draw some excellent words of wisdom to better yourself in any relationship. I would recommend listening to this episode with the mindset of âHow can I better myselfâ, instead of focusing on the wrong you find in other people. The episode is about 46 minutes. If youâre like me, youâll want to take some notes, so have some paper and a pen ready as you embark on this journey of discovery and growth.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
#AbidingTogetherPodcast â Season 05 Episode 08: Marriage and Restoration with Dr. Bob Schuchts
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. Last Friday I had the pleasure of celebrating my uncleâs life. After the beautiful Mass and graveside service we went to a favorite family location to share memories and support each other. One of my relatives, that I donât recall ever meeting, sat at our table and said that when he saw me, he knew I had to be my momâs daughter. Without knowing who I was, he knew who I belonged to.
When youâre in a room surrounded by family, itâs easy to see those dominant features that run in the family, physical traits, mannerisms, and even those that are chosen, such as a name that is given to at least one or more persons in every generation. Although from the same tree, itâs easy to see and distinguish between the different branches on the family tree.
As we leave our tribe and scattered into the world, we become surrounded by different faces and others that donât have such strong family traits. The longer weâre apart from our tribe, the easier it is to forget those family traits and ties. We are drawn to and focus on those we surround ourselves with. We are enticed by the newness of exploring the world and the people in it. We enjoy meeting and learning about others, and bringing them into our tribe. But not so surprisingly, we have a tendence to find comfort in traits that remind us of our tribe.
Genesis 1:26-27, â”Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness…’ So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them”.
Psalm 139:13-14, âFor You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my motherâs womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.â
Admittedly or not, at the core of every person is the image and likeness of our Lord, Father, Son and Spirit. With that knowledge, itâs no wonder we are able to find similar traits and are drawn to one another. The Holy Trinity are our tribe, a three-strand cord that is not easily broken. They are who and what connects us to every single person in this world.
We are the Body of Christ and it is in receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist, Christâs true body and blood, that we become Christâs living and breathing tabernacle. At the core of it all, it is the Lord that is within every single one of us, that draws and connects us to each other. It is this oneness with the Lord, there by oneness with each other, that we should celebrate. When we focus on and celebrate what binds us together, instead of what tears us apart, we become even stronger in our bonds. I canât say it enough. The common thread, the three-strand cord that binds us is the Father, Son, and Spirit. We become our strongest, most compassionate, most loving, most forgiving, most life-giving person and family when we allow the common thread of our Lord to be the tie that binds.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. It has been an incredibly God filled week, in which God has showed me the importance of never doubting Him and always place my trust in Him and His timing. This may seem a bit scattered and unrelated, but I want to touch on multiple items from this past week.
I was scheduled off work last Thursday, Friday, and this Monday, so that Brian and I, my sister, her husband and their friend, and one of our friends that we met on the Camino in Spain last September, could journey to Champion, WI. So why would we want to go to WI at the end of April? Itâs not like itâs a warm time of year to visit. The reason we were in Champion, WI was to walk the 22 mile, 13th Annual Walk to Mary, from the National Shrine of St. Joseph to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, which is the only approved Marian Apparition site in the United States. There were 10,000+ people on this journey last Saturday. The amount of prayers that were being vocalized and silently prayed was incredible. Some prayers were being answered quickly and others will take years to realize all of Godâs movement as a result of those prayers. The conversations and prayers with family, friends, and those that God briefly crossed our paths with along the road has already made a noticeable impact on me.Â
On 04/29/26 my nephewâs daughter made her worldly debut and on 04/30/26 my uncle took his final breath this side of heaven. Â
About 8 Âœ years ago, Brian asked me to make some chocolate chip cookies for a lunch carry-in at work. One of Brianâs coworkers, loved my cookies and that was the beginning of our faith filled friendship. My friend informed me that she was retiring on 04/30/26, so I brought in some homemade chocolate chip cookies for her. Our schedules didnât align for me to give her the cookies in person, so before I left work last Wednesday, I let her know that the cookies were on my desk waiting for her. Side note, she didnât work in the same building as her coworkers, but I work in the same office space with them. Yesterday my friend called me to share her cookie pickup God moment with me. Unbeknownst to me, there was some tension between her and some of her coworkers. She hadnât planned on stopping in the office to see them before she left, but she was enticed by the cookies to stop in. Being that I wasnât there, it forced her to talk with her coworkers to locate the cookies she so desired. God used that time and conversation with her coworkers to soften hearts and allow His words of love to be expressed. As my friend and I discussed the events of the last week, we discovered that there were multiple different God moments that placed her in the office, while at the same time removing me from the office, when she picked up her cookies, which led to that healing God moment. I thank God that my friend was able to have that healing moment.  Iâm once again in awe of how God works. 8 Âœ years ago He planted the seed of our friendship with chocolate chip cookies, which He then used to bring healing.Â
One of my prayers as I was walking the 22 miles to Mary was that I would be more trusting of the Lordâs will and timing for my life and I would be willing to say âYesâ and act upon His will. In my conversation with my friend yesterday, He was already showing me the fruit of my âYesâ to His ask. I truly love how God works in the simple daily activities of our lives, without us even having the slightest inclination of what all He has in the works. God is still working through these events. Only He knows where they will actually lead. Every moment, every action of your life, God can use in His glory story.Â
Below Iâve included a link to Adele Briceâs apparition of Mary and a link to the Walk to Mary.Â
âTeach them,â replied her radiant visitor, âtheir catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you.â
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. I believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, Three in One. I believe Jesus died for my sins, offering me salvation. I believe Holy Scripture is the inspired Word of God. I have learned these and many more truths through Christian doctrine. Christian doctrine speaks to the core teachings of our faith, but without love, without action, without relationship with the Lord, itâs just words on a page.
Why do some people struggle with belief in the Christian faith? Because all they are seeing are the words.
If someone asked you, âWhat does God mean to you?â What would you say? Would you start reciting one of the Creeds? Would you stammer about your words? Would you even have a response at all?
My faith is not words on a page, itâs a living, breathing, growing, physical relationship with the Lord. Itâs asking Him questions and Him showing me the way to those answers. Itâs taking a walk and feeling His Spirit walking with me. Itâs hearing God laugh and laughing with Him. Itâs me acting childish because I didnât get what I wanted, but God not giving in and doing what He knows is best for me. Are these all things that can be found in the words and stories of the Bible? Yes, they are, but itâs the love, the life, the relationship that makes my faith alive. Doctrine solidly roots us and our relationship grows us.
What does God mean to you?
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
Third Day Devotions 