Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

Humble Hearts  Meet The Holy Family Photo Created by: James Dacey Jr using Co-Pilot A Reflection on The Presentation of the Lord Today, we celebrate a moment when the ordinary requirements of faith became the stage for extraordinary recognition. Mary and Joseph brought their infant son to the Temple simply to fulfill the Law of Moses, to offer the sacrifice of the poor, two turtledoves, and to present their firstborn to the Lord. They came in obedience and humility, expecting nothing more than to fulfill their religious duty. Yet waiting in that Temple were two elderly souls, Simeon and Anna, whose patient years of prayer and longing had prepared them to see what others could not. When they looked upon this child, they saw not just another baby being presented, but the Light to the Nations, the Glory of Israel, the Salvation of the world. Their encounter teaches us that God often reveals His greatest works not in spectacular visions or dramatic signs, but in the faithful fulfillm...

The Upside-Down Kingdom Photo Created by: James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot A Reflection for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Today's readings speak a radical truth: God's kingdom turns our world's values completely upside down. The prophet Zephaniah tells us to seek humility and lowliness, to become people who take refuge in God's name rather than in worldly power or prestige. Saint Paul reminds the Corinthians , and us , that God deliberately chose what the world considers foolish, weak, and lowly to shame the wise and powerful. And in the Beatitudes, Jesus himself teaches that the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourning, and the persecuted are the truly blessed ones. These aren't three separate messages, but one unified call: to embrace the humble way of Christ, trusting that God's strength is perfected in our weakness and that his wisdom confounds all human pride. This is precisely what Mary understood when she prayed the Magnificat, and it's what we con...

February Marian Days Opening Prayer O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, as we enter this blessed month of February, we consecrate these days to your Immaculate Heart. Through the centuries, you have appeared to your children, worked wonders in countless shrines, and drawn souls ever closer to your Divine Son. We ask you, O Star of the Sea, to guide us through each day of this month. May these reflections on your holy places and apparitions kindle in our hearts a deeper love for you and a more fervent devotion to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Obtain for us the grace to imitate your virtues: your purity, your humility, your obedience to God's will, and your unwavering faith. As we meditate upon your many titles and the graces poured out through your intercession, may we grow in holiness and draw nearer to the Sacred Heart of your Son. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us now and always. Amen. February 1 - Baptism of St. Louis de Montfort On t...

Trust: Even when... Jesus Sleeps in the Storm A Reflection on Mark 4:35-41 The disciples had witnessed Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, and teach with an authority that left crowds astonished. Yet when the wind began to howl, and the waves crashed over their boat, they forgot everything they had seen. Fear erased their memory of who was sleeping in the stern. This is the paradox of our faith journey: we can know Jesus intimately through prayer, receive Him in the Eucharist, and still panic when life's storms arrive. The disciples' fear reveals something profound about human nature. We often trust Jesus with our souls but struggle to trust Him with the circumstances that are in our lives. Their question, "Do you not care that we are perishing?" echoes in our own hearts during trials. Yet Jesus was never unaware of the storm. He was present in the boat, and His peace in the midst of chaos was itself a lesson they needed to learn. Today, we celebrate St. John Bo...

  Building Your Legacy Beyond the Grave What Are You Building That Will Last Beyond The Grave? Let me ask you something, and I want you to really sit with this: If everything you own disappeared tomorrow, your house, your car, your bank account, every possession you've accumulated, what would remain of you? Not what people would remember about what you had. What would remain of who you were? I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Maybe it's because I'm getting older. Maybe it's because I've watched too many people spend their whole lives chasing things that turned to dust the moment they took their last breath. Or maybe it's because I've walked that road myself, building, accumulating, striving for things that I thought would make me happy, make me secure, make me somebody, only to realize that none of it was coming with me when this life ended. Here's the truth we all know but rarely want to face: We're not staying here forever. Thi...

The Light That Multiplies A Reflection on Mark 4:21-25 Jesus teaches us something extraordinary in today's Gospel: light is meant to shine, and what we have is meant to grow. When He asks if anyone brings a lamp only to hide it under a basket, He's revealing a profound truth about our faith. The light of Christ that we receive through Baptism, through the Eucharist, through prayer, isn't a private treasure to keep locked away in our hearts. It's a living flame meant to illuminate the darkness around us. Every time we pray, every act of kindness, every moment we choose truth over compromise, these are ways the lamp is placed on the lampstand. The question isn't whether we have received light from Jesus, but whether we're allowing that light to shine where others can see it. Here's where the mystery deepens and connects to something beautiful: Jesus tells us that nothing is hidden except to be made visible, and whatever measure we give will be the measure we...

The Soil of Our Heart A Reflection on Mark 4:1-20 Today we celebrate St. Thomas Aquinas, the brilliant Dominican friar who spent his life exploring the deepest mysteries of God with both his mind and his heart. How fitting that on his feast day, we encounter Jesus teaching about seeds and soil, because Thomas understood something profound: our faith is meant to grow. In this parable, Jesus describes four types of soil: the hard path, the rocky ground, the thorn-infested earth, and the rich, fertile soil. Each represents a different condition of the human heart. The seed, God's Word, is always the same. The difference lies entirely in how we receive it. Thomas Aquinas received God's truth like that good soil, allowing divine wisdom to take root so deeply that his writings continue to nourish the Church centuries later. The beauty of the Rosary connects perfectly to this parable. When we pray the mysteries, whether Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, or Glorious, we are doing exactly ...

A Family of Faith A Reflection on Mark 3:31-35 In today's gospel, we encounter a moment that might initially seem puzzling or even harsh. Jesus's mother and relatives are standing outside, asking for him, yet he responds by gesturing to those gathered around him and declaring, "Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." This isn't a rejection of Mary or his family, far from it. Rather, Jesus is revealing something profound about the nature of discipleship and the universal call to holiness. He's showing us that God's family extends beyond bloodlines, that we're all invited into an intimate relationship with him through obedience to the Father's will. Mary herself, the perfect disciple, exemplifies this truth better than anyone, for she became the Mother of God precisely because she said yes to doing God's will. The beauty of the Rosary becomes even clearer when we consider this passa...