Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

🌿 Friday, February 20, 2026 The Fast That Sets Us Free Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Friday After Ash Wednesday • Day of Abstinence • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ________________________________________________ ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Isaiah 58:1-9a Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 18-19 Gospel: Matthew 9:14-15 📖 The Gospel - Matthew 9:14-15 The disciples of John approach Jesus with a genuine question, why don't your disciples fast? And Jesus answers them with one of the most tender images in all of Scripture. He calls Himself the Bridegroom. And He says, you don't mourn when the bridegroom is right there with you at the wedding feast. 🙏 Gospel Reflection Isaiah hits hard today. God speaks through the prophet with a kind of holy frustration, you fast, but you keep on oppressing your workers. You bow your heads and lie in sackcloth, but your hearts haven't moved an inch. He's not attacking fasting. He...

🌿 Thursday, February 19, 2026 The Road Before You - Choose Life Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Thursday After Ash Wednesday • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ________________________________________________ ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6 Gospel: Luke 9:22-25 📖 The Gospel - Luke 9:22-25 Jesus looks His disciples straight in the eyes and tells them plainly, the road ahead involves a cross. Then He asks the question that cuts right to the heart of every Lent ever lived: What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose himself? 🙏 Gospel Reflection The day after Ash Wednesday is always a quiet one. The ashes have been received, the Lenten promises have been made, and now we are standing at the beginning of the road, looking out at forty days stretching before us. And right here on day two, Jesus does not let us ease into it gently. He says, pick up your cross. Daily. And foll...

🌿 Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 Come Back to Me With All Your Heart Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Ash Wednesday • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II __________________________________________________ ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Joel 2:12-18 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20–6:2 Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 📖 The Gospel - Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Today, Jesus doesn't open Lent with thunder or a list of rules; He opens it with a whisper about the heart. He pulls us aside and says: When you pray, when you fast, when you give, do it for God, not for the crowd. 🙏 Gospel Reflection Friends, welcome to Lent. Welcome to these forty sacred days where the Church invites us to slow down, strip away the noise, and ask ourselves one honest question: Where is my heart right now? Jesus is so gentle here in Matthew 6. He doesn't say if you pray, if you fast, if you give alms, He says when. He a...

Abundance We Overlook Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. A Reflection on Mark 8:14-21 In today's Gospel, the disciples find themselves in a boat with Jesus, worried because they forgot to bring bread. They have only one loaf among them, and their minds are consumed with this shortage. Yet standing right there with them is the very One who just fed four thousand people with seven loaves. Jesus gently rebukes them, asking if their hearts are hardened, if their eyes cannot see, and if their ears cannot hear. He reminds them of the abundance that flowed from His hands, twelve baskets left over when He fed the five thousand, seven baskets remaining after feeding the four thousand. The question hangs in the air: Why do they worry about bread when the Bread of Life Himself is present? We are so much like those anxious disciples. We carry our worries into the presence of Jesus, fretting about what we lack, forgetting what He has already provided. We focus on the material bre...

The Sign Already Given Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. A Reflection on Mark 8:11-13 In today's Gospel, the Pharisees demand a sign from Jesus, even though He's been healing the sick, feeding thousands, and teaching with divine authority right before their eyes. Jesus sighs deeply, a profoundly human moment that reveals His heartache over their spiritual blindness. They want proof on their terms, a spectacular show to satisfy their doubts, but they miss the greatest sign of all: God Himself standing before them in the flesh. Sometimes we do the same thing. We pray for clear answers while overlooking the graces already present in our lives, the Eucharist we receive, the forgiveness offered in Confession, and the quiet presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. This is where the Rosary becomes our teacher. When we meditate on the mysteries, we're contemplating the signs God has already given us: the Incarnation, the Redemption, the promise of eternal life...

The Freedom to Choose Holiness Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. A Reflection on the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time God places before us life and death, fire and water, and invites us to reach out our hand. This is the startling message from Sirach, that our choices truly matter, that we are not puppets dancing on strings, but beloved children entrusted with real freedom. The Lord commands no one to sin, yet He knows we will face the daily decision between following His law written on our hearts or turning away toward easier paths. Today's readings weave together a single truth: God offers us wisdom beyond human understanding, but we must actively choose to receive it. The commandments aren't just some rules designed to restrict us; they guide us on the narrow road that leads to Heaven. Jesus takes this further in the Gospel, showing that true holiness goes deeper than external obedience. He doesn't abolish the law but fulfills it by revealing its heart. Murd...

Stop Chasing Happiness: The Power of Living for Others Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot We spend so much of our lives chasing happiness, yet the harder we pursue it, the more it seems to slip away. Here's a truth worth remembering: happiness isn't found by turning inward and obsessing over why we're not content. It arrives quietly as a byproduct of something greater fulfillment. When we stop asking "How can I be happier?" and start asking "How can I become something meaningful?", everything shifts. Self-preoccupation breeds misery, but purpose breeds joy. Think about your own experience. When are you most miserable? Usually, when you're spiraling inward, replaying past mistakes, worrying about what others think of you, and anxiously monitoring your own emotional state. This kind of self-consciousness becomes a prison. The key to freedom isn't found in better self-analysis or more sophisticated introspection. It's found in the ...

Building a Legacy Holding onto The World Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. I want you to picture something for a second. Imagine your entire world, everything you've built, everything you've worked for, everyone you love, all your plans, all your security, sitting right here in the palm of your hand. Your whole life. Right there. Now imagine someone taking that hand and smashing it onto a table. Shattered. Like glass. Broken into a thousand pieces. And you're left standing there, trying to survive in the wreckage. That's where I was. We were raising five kids, beautiful, wonderful kids who were the sprinkle of love that made everything work. We had our faith. We had each other. And then my wife got sick. Six years of suffering with cancer. I was working 70 hours a week, trying to hold everything together, trying to provide, trying to be strong. And then I had my strokes. Two of them, back-to-back. And then another one years later, in 2020, five years aft...

A Mothers Persistent Humble Trust Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. A Reflection on Mark 7:24-30 In today's Gospel, we meet a mother whose love refuses to accept "no" for an answer. Jesus has traveled to Tyre, seeking rest and privacy, but this Gentile woman, the Syrophoenician mother, breaks through every barrier to reach Him. She's an outsider by every measure: wrong nationality, wrong gender to approach a rabbi publicly, and yet she persists. When Jesus tests her with words that sound harsh to modern ears, she doesn't retreat in offense or despair. Instead, she meets Him exactly where He is, turning His own image back to Him with wit and humility: "Even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Her faith is so profound that Jesus marvels at it and grants her request immediately. What makes this woman's faith so powerful? She sees what many miss: that Jesus's love is abundant enough for everyone, that His mercy ...