It is time to REFLECT.........women of ENDOW, reflect!

What a beautiful and SPARKLY SEASON we are enjoying....

.....candles...light....shiny things reflecting and sparkling LIGHT during the darkest days of the year......Look around....SEE.....be alert......watch! So many beautiful and SHINY reminders of reflecting....what does “reflect” mean? Reflect on the meaning of reflection.....

“to give back or exhibit as an image, likeness...” Are we preparing to best and fully REFLECT being created in God’s image and likeness? Called to reflect........called to BE the LIGHT of CHRIST to all.......take inspiration from all the shiny things of the season....silver balls.....sparkly snow....Christmas lights........make a “glance” to God.......reflect and GIVE THANKS........ask him to BE reflected in us......as the moon so beautifully reflects the sun....May we be shiny reflections of God’s love....let us make manifest JOY this week! Let us reflect on our call to reflect and SHINE and to be God’s light to those around us! SPARKLES........and bouncing light.......dancing.....JOYOUS.......enjoy each REFLECTION! .....I thank God for the many reflections of God’s light and love in the women of ENDOW! What a sparkly group of hearts set on fire!

LET US REFLECT!

Immaculate Virgin, our sweetest Mother, pray for us!

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Benedict XVI visited the image of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza Di Spagna in Rome. His address was titled "Her 'Message' Is None Other Than Jesus, Who Is Her Whole Life.” He spoke of “Immaculate Mary” who, with a “look of hope and compassion,” looks upon each of us with the “very love of the Father and blesses us....She behaves as our advocate and knows fully the power of Divine Grace. Our Mother knows “nothing is impossible for God.”

Let us thank Our Blessed Mother for always being with us and let us ask her to interceded for us to live in the joy of being loved by God and by being blessed by Him as His beloved children. (full Zenit article here)

Blessed Mother, please intercede for us that the gift of your son, our Lord Jesus, comes to dwell within our hearts! Prepare all hearts to humbly and fully receive your Son, Our Lord.

Slow down....say NO to being swept away by the rush of commercialism.....

During this second week of Advent.......let is keep preparing our hearts.....Stop into a church to pray...... Attend mass during the week..... Say a rosary for those who need special graces this season.......offer up frustrations for graces for others.........let your heart sing JOY TO THE WORLD by giving of self to God and others as we wait in joyful hope!

Imagine.....God’s promises are always greater than our expectations! .....

JOY!

Be expectant!

How blessed are we to live in the certainty that we are loved by God and are protected by His perfect Providence? Pope Benedict XVI continues to highlight women saints in his weekly audiences. He says that St. Julian speaks about God’s love as being like maternal love: tender, sweet and full of goodness. Pope Benedict says “Only when we open ourselves totally to this love, only when we allow it to become the one guide to our existence, does everything become transfigured and do we find true peace and joy which we can pass on to others.” Read more about St. Julian of Norwich in a recent CNA article here.

Open the biggest gift of all today! Invite and expect Infinite Love Himself!

Let us open our hearts to fully receive the gift of God who is Love.

Come Holy Spirit! Fill the hearts of your faithful, enkindle in them the fire of YOUR LOVE!

Come Lord Jesus!

ADVENT.....Prepare.....await....be ready..... be expectant.....Come Lord Jesus, Come!

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 523-524) “ St. John the Baptist is the Lord’s immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. ‘Prophet of the Most High,’ John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother’s womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being ‘the friend of the bridegroom,’

whom he points out as ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’ Going before Jesus ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah,’ John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion and through his martyrdom.

When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor’s birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’”

Let us be aware during this holy season of preparation that we too must decrease and that Christ within us must increase. Let us take the time to slow our minds and to sit quietly in prayer to prepare our hearts and souls for the coming of our Lord Jesus. Let us open our hearts to prepare to receive Our Lord more fully. St. John the Baptist, please intercede for all who are involved with ENDOW and all faithful souls may receive grace to actively set ourselves aside in pointing others to Jesus. May we become a full gift of self during this Advent season and until our Lord Jesus comes again in glory.

Called and equipped to be “living images”.......make a special visit.....

What is a “living image?” St. Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, (St. Edith Stein) describes what she called “living images” as ordinary people who by their small daily actions revealed their deep love for Jesus Christ. St. Edith/Sr. Teresia once encountered one of these ordinary people when she entered a church to look at artwork and noticed a woman who was in the church praying. There was something very different in this as St. Edith was struck that she seemed to be in prayerful conversation with a person. This lady’s attention and prayer in front of the tabernacle in a Catholic Church struck Edith Stein to her core and increased her desire to her search for the truth which ended in a person...the Person of Jesus Christ. (more on ENDOW's St. Edith Stein study here).

In an article by ZENIT news organization recently, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his joy at a “Eucharistic Springtime” within the Church. The Pops says it is “manifested in the numerous people who pause before the tabernacle to enjoy a ‘conversation of love’ with Jesus.” (full article here).

We never know when we might be an influential “living image” when we visit Jesus in the tabernacle or in Eucharistic Adoration. What blessing we receive when we draw near to Christ in love and faith to experience his promise: “And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20)

During this bustling time of year spend time with Our Lord to have a conversation of love. This is certain to show our love to Jesus in a very special way while we increase our faith and make reparation for offenses to the Most Holy Sacrament.

I’m praying for safe travel for you all during this Thanksgiving week. COME HOLY SPIRIT!

The attitude of Gratitude! Let us GIVE THANKS..........

Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito says in a recent CNA article ....“The attitude of gratitude is one that is part of God’s very nature. Gratitude is an expression of love. God is love and for all eternity gives himself away and literally sacrifices himself. It is that love which is his life as a community of persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In their eternal expression of love for each other, the persons of the Trinity also express gratitude to each other. That gratitude was so often reflected in the life of the Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, who always prayed to his Father in a stance of thanksgiving.”(full article here).

Let us pray that all who are part of ENDOW celebrate this wonderful time of year with heartfelt thanksgiving and step forward in actively living our lives with greater attention to gratitude! We thank God for all of the abundant blessings received through ENDOW studies!