Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

Time to Reflect & Prepare: 2026 A Spirit-Led New Year Part 2 Hey friend, welcome back! Grab that coffee, is it still warm, and let's continue our kitchen-table conversation. If you're just joining us, we've been reflecting on Chuck Swindoll's powerful end-of-year message, one that's been challenging me since 1983, when I first started listening to his teachings. In Part 1, we examined our thoughts and treasures through a Catholic lens. Now, as we prepare to step into 2026, Chuck brings us to the heart of the matter: how we actually live out our faith in the everyday moments that make up a life. As a Catholic who has treasured Chuck's humor, insights, and the way he brings Scripture to life, I'm sharing my interpretation of what I heard, filtered through the richness of our Catholic Faith. Because honestly, there are so many gems in his teachings that speak directly to the heart of what we believe about transformation, stewardship, and living as saints...

The Word Became Flesh A Reflection on John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word. John opens his Gospel not with a birth announcement or a genealogy, but with a statement that echoes the very first words of Genesis. Before anything was created, before time itself existed, the Word already was. This Word isn't merely speech or sound, it's the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, existing in perfect communion with the Father. John tells us something remarkable: "The Word was with God, and the Word was God." This isn't a play with words, but a revelation of the mystery at the heart of our faith. Jesus is fully God while being distinct from the Father, united in the Holy Trinity. Through this Word, everything came into existence. The stars above us, the ground beneath our feet, the very breath in our lungs, all of it came into being through him. Nothing exists that he did not make. When we look at creation, we're seeing the fingerprints of the Word made visible. The...

Time to Reflect & Prepare: 2026 - A Spirit-Led New Year Part 1 Hey friend, grab your coffee or a tea, and sit with me for a minute. I just finished listening to part one of Chuck Swindoll's end-of-year messages, and man, after listening to this man teach Scripture since 1983, he still manages to cut right through all my defenses and get straight to the heart of things. There's something about Chuck's teaching style, that kitchen-table honesty, that refusal to play games, that has kept me coming back for over forty years now. As a Catholic, I absolutely love his teachings, his humor, and his insights. He brings Scripture to life in a different way, and back in the 80s, there just weren't many Catholic teachers on the radio, so I was drawn to him. I use my Catholic Faith to guide me through everything, so I can pick out the gems of his teachings, and there are so many. What follows is my own interpretation and reflection on what I just heard, filtered through my Catho...

Growing in Grace Through Sacrifice A Reflection on Luke 2:36-40 Anna the prophetess had been waiting in the Temple for decades. Day after day, night after night, she prayed and fasted, watching countless families bring their children to be presented to the Lord. How many babies had she seen carried through the Temple? Hundreds, perhaps thousands. Yet when Mary and Joseph arrived with the infant Jesus, something stirred in her spirit that had never stirred before. After eighty-four years of faithful waiting, after a lifetime of wondering if she would see the consolation of Israel, the moment arrived. And Anna did what she had been preparing to do all along: she gave thanks to God and began to speak about this child to everyone who was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. What strikes us most about Anna is not just her recognition of Jesus, but what she did immediately afterward. She didn't keep this encounter to herself, treasuring it as a private spiritual experience. She becam...

The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple Reflection on Luke 2:22-35 In the quiet temple courts, amid the ordinary rituals of daily worship, something extraordinary unfolds. Mary and Joseph arrive with their infant son, following the ancient law that required every firstborn male child to be presented to God. They bring the humble offering of two turtledoves, the sacrifice of those who cannot afford a lamb. They come in simple obedience, not knowing that they carry the Lamb of God himself. Here we witness the fourth Joyful Mystery: The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, and yet when we pray this mystery with the rosary beads in our hands, we might not fully grasp what's unfolding. This moment is the completion of a pattern that began with the Annunciation. Mary's "yes" to the angel, the Visitation where she brought Christ to Elizabeth, the Nativity in Bethlehem, each mystery has been about offering and gift. Now that the pattern reaches its fulfillment, Mary and J...