Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

  The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary A Birthday Love Letter to Our Lady - September 8 Written by: James Dacey, Jr. OFS Somewhere in Jerusalem, on a day nobody wrote down, and no one could have known mattered, yet a little girl was born. There was no fanfare. No star in the sky, no shepherds, no angels singing over the rooftops, that would come later, for her Son. Just an older couple who had prayed for years for a child they'd nearly given up hoping for, and a baby girl in her mother's arms at last. And yet, of every birth in the history of the world except One, this is the birth the whole Church still stops to celebrate. Because the moment Mary drew her first breath, everything that was coming- the angel, the yes, the manger, the cross, all of it, quietly began. Her parents were Joachim and Anne, and by the time she came, they had already spent a lifetime waiting.¹ They were an older couple, married many years, and childless, the kind of quiet sorrow that never full...

September 8   Genealogy of Jesus Christ The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Saint Adrian of Nicomedia Today's Gospel: Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23 Today’s Gospel: Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23 (Genealogy of Jesus Christ) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asa...

September 7 A Healing on The Sabbath Today's Gospel: Luke 6:6-11 Today’s Gospel: Luke 6:6-11 (A Healing on The Sabbath) “On another Sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come and stand here." And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?" And he looked around on them all, and said to him, "Stretch out your hand." And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” Reflection: The Scribes and Pharisees didn't see a healing. They saw a threat. Their hearts weren't set on God, ...

September 6   A Brother Who Sins Today's Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 Today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 (A Brother Who Sins) “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Reflection : Look closely at what Jesus is re...

September 5   Saint Teresa of Calcutta Today's Gospel: Luke 6:1-5 Today’s Gospel: Luke 6:1-5 (Debate About The Sabbath) “On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?" And Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?" And he said to them, "The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." Reflection: Today the Church remembers Saint Teresa of Calcutta, a woman who left a comfortable teaching post to walk into the poorest streets of India with nothing but a habit and a conviction that Christ was hiding in "the poorest of the poor." No fundin...

September 4   Question About Fasting Today's Gospel: Luke 5:33-39 Today’s Gospel: Luke 5:33-39 (Questions About Fasting) “And they said to him, 'The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink." And Jesus said to them, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days." He told them a parable also: "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, `The old is good.'" Reflection: Old wineskins....

September 3   Jesus Calls The First Disciples Today's Gospel: Luke 5:1-11 Today’s Gospel: Luke 5:1-11 (Jesus Calls The First Disciples) “While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But...

September 2   Many Are Healed by Jesus Today's Gospel: Luke 4:38-44 Today’s Gospel: Luke 4:38-44 (Many Are Healed By Jesus) “And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they asked him about her. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she rose and served them. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. And when it was day he departed and went into a lonely place. And the people sought him and came to him and would have kept him from leaving them; but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for ...

September 1 Healing of a Demoniac Today's Gospel: Luke 4:31-37 Today’s Gospel: Luke 4:31-37 (Healing of a Demoniac) “And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. And in the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, "Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." And reports of him went out into every place in the surrounding region.” Reflection: Jesus stands up in that synagog...