by Editor | Sep 1, 2019 | Newsletter
The highlight of each summer is our annual eight-day retreat, which is always a time of many blessings and graces for the year ahead. Helpful meetings of Mother Maria Catherine with superiors, formation directors, Sisters in formation, and Sisters recently final professed also took place during these months.
Four Sisters participated in Camp Veritas, a week-long prayerful and fun-filled camp for teens. Other Sisters took part in Vacation Bible School programs in various parishes as well as other events.
On July 2 we celebrated the jubilees of five Sisters who followed Jesus for many years and continue to follow! Sr. Mary Beata and Sr. Maria Arlene celebrated 25 years, Sr. Eileen Marie and Sr. Marie Cecile 70 years, and Sr. Mary Elise, 80 years in religious life! That adds up to 270 years of dedication to the Lord, giving oneself to God through the vows of religious life, communing with Him in prayer, and serving His people zealously. Here is a photo from the day:
August 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is also the anniversary of our 1920 foundation. The formation Sisters dramatized a reenactment of the day of our foundation, with Mother Mary Teresa arriving by train and subway from Utica, New York after many years of praying and planning, and difficulties.
The following day was the official “kickoff” of our 100th anniversary celebration, which will take place August 15, 2020. We had an ice cream social, with tours of the Chapel, motherhouse family room, and Mother Foundress’ heritage room, as well as games for children. The event ended with a prayer service to Mary in our Chapel. About 150 people came to share the evening with us. Here are a few photos of the event:
On August 25 we joyfully celebrated the first vows of Sr. Maria Rowena. That same day Sr. Mary Imelda and Sr. Jhoan Marie also renewed their vows. May God bless them all with happiness, holiness and apostolic fruitfulness!
Our beautiful apostolate continues during the summer, and I‘d like to share with you a story from a few years ago, when Sr. Jhoan Marie was in the Philippines.
It was a hot and humid day in the Philippines, and the houses on this particular street were owned by well-to-do people. As I went along on visitation, trying to help them spiritually, I found that many were not home. However, one kind woman, a good Catholic, told me of her church involvement and said to me, “Whenever I can be of any help to you, just let me know.” Going further down the street, I noticed a gap between houses. There was a fence with an opening and beyond it an extremely poor area. I went through the opening and was immediately surrounded by many smiling, friendly children trying to grab my hand, Filipino style.
My heart went out to them. They were obviously so poor. In speaking with them I also found out that they were spiritually poor. Supposedly Catholics, they knew next to nothing about their faith, and most of them had never even been baptized.
I spoke with some of the mothers, and when I returned to the convent I was able to arrange for religious instructions for them.
The following week I went there again to have an informal first class. Because of the heat and the noise, we decided to go through the fence to the “nicer” area, where there was a small park. One of the girls, however, said she couldn’t come unless she could bring her baby sister, who was about two years old. I agreed to this, and off the whole group went, to the park.
We began our informal class. Several of the children interrupted to say they were hungry, but I hadn’t brought any snacks with me. I said, “I can’t promise, but maybe later we might be able to get something,” thinking that there might be something I could get for them at the church. After a short while I heard screams! Baby sister had been climbing on a park bench and fell off, and now she was bleeding profusely. Her big sister wrapped a shirt around the bleeding head, and I stood there, trying to decide what to do next.
Then I remembered the kind lady in the big house. I went there quickly and called, “Emergency.” I knew she had had some first aid training, and she ran back with me to help the child, who thankfully was not seriously hurt.
Then, out of nowhere, she said, “ Have the children had snacks this afternoon?” I said, “Not yet,” and the children very eagerly voiced their agreement. Then she encouraged them to learn their faith well, and to the delight of the children, she left us to get snacks for everyone. How God provides!
Some time passed, and plans were made for a group baptism. Several mothers were hesitant at first, but finally all of them agreed to allow their children to have the grace of baptism and then to learn even more about the beauty of our faith.
The group baptism was held, with some of the children wearing borrowed clothes. May Jesus hold these precious children in His loving heart all their lives!
We pray daily for more young women to dedicate themselves to the Lord in love and to bring all His people closer to Him!
May God bless you and continue to guide you in your discernment of His will for your life!
In Jesus,
Sister Dolores Marie
by Editor | Mar 1, 2019 | Newsletter
Sr. Alina Marie and Sr. Marie Meaghan, now in their second year of novitiate, will be making first vows before long. I asked them to share some of their thoughts for this newsletter. (Sr. Maria Rowena‘s vows will be a few months later.)
Sr. Alina Marie remembers the day she began her novitiate. “I cannot express what joy filled my heart! When I put on the habit and the white veil for the first time, what awe of God filled my soul. It was real! It had happened! I was actually a novice! With the veil upon my head, it was as though God had covered me with His love.
“Since that day, the novitiate has been a very special time for my relationship with the Lord. It has been all about learning the intimate love of Our Lord and how I can respond to it by seeking to give myself completely to Him through the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience.
“The evangelical counsels are beautiful. Chastity is about striving to have a single-hearted devotion to Christ and seeking to give my whole being to Him in response to His total gift of self to me.
“Poverty is about placing myself in complete dependence on and trust in God for everything I need, and seeking to have a spirit of simplicity, gratitude, and attachment to God alone.
“Obedience is about seeking to abandon myself totally to the will of God through my lawful superior, with confidence that God will assuredly bring me to a closer union with Him through my obedience.”
Sr. Marie Meaghan adds, “The novitiate is a time of further discernment and going deeper in prayer with the Lord, in preparation for what He has in store for you. This is similar to when Jesus went into the desert for a special time before He started His public ministry.
“As I look in awe and excitement to professing my first vows, it is so amazing! And, ‘Only by the grace of God, go I.’”
The novices recently helped these little girls to put on a skit about St. Catherine Laboure. You’ll see the Blessed Mother, St. Catherine, and her guardian angel.
The other little girls are St. Catherine’s fellow novices. Perhaps one or more of them will be a real novice one day!
Events
Our Philadelphia convent opened on February 1 with a beautiful Mass, the enthronement of the Sacred Heart, and a blessing of the entire convent. It’s great to have another convent home from which the Sisters will go out to bring Jesus’ love, and it’s great to have another tabernacle home for Jesus.
We have participated in several vocation events, in parishes and at a college, spreading the word about consecrated life and our beautiful charism.
In our last newsletter I told of our plans to have World Youth Day here at Marycrest this August. Plans have changed, due to various circumstances, and we won’t be having it this summer. Instead, a number of the Sisters will be taking part in other youth events in the area, such as Camp Veritas, Camp Spiritus, and others.
Lent is upon us, and the Sisters have been finding many people in need of Jesus! This holy season is a special time of grace; please pray with us that many whom we find who have been away from confession for years will seek His mercy and return to Him. This is also a time for preparations for those who will be received into the Church, for those who will make their First Communions in May, and for those who will be confirmed. Pray for them all, and ask the Lord if He wants you to help with this beautiful contemplative-missionary apostolate!
Keep close to Jesus, trusting in Him, and He will never fail you! God bless you!
Sr. Dolores Marie
by Editor | Jan 1, 2018 | Newsletter
The Story of a Vocation
The seed of a vocation to religious life is sown at our baptism, and it is nourished within us over the years—whether or not we know it! Then one day we realize that He might be gently calling us to be His bride.
A lot of prayer, maybe resistance, perhaps tears, goes into discerning a vocation. Finally one says “yes” and makes plans to enter the convent. Follow Leah as she becomes Sister Maria Leah and makes her final vows (which took place on January 25, 2018).
Postulancy is a time of transition from “the outside” to living in the convent. There is much to learn about prayer and about so many other things in the life of a Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate.
Time flies, and the novitiate begins. The novice is helped to grow in her love of the Lord and in knowledge of the faith. She has classes on the vows and on the spirit and life of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate, on Catholic doctrine, and on prayer and Scripture.
She learns more about our contemplative-missionary charism and sees even more clearly its vital importance.
There’s time for fun, too! Convent life is never boring!
With first vows her vocation continues to grow and develop.
She learns the joy of bringing people closer to the Lord, of being a spiritual mother, of sharing God’s word, “face to face and heart to heart.”
Finally the big day of final profession comes, the day of vowing to live chastity, poverty and obedience for life as a Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate, and to be “a willing holocaust for the redemption of the most abandoned souls” (our mission crucifix prayer).
What a privilege to love and serve Him all our days! Through sunshine and rain, through health and sickness, throughout the years. The rose crown at final profession is the symbol of the crown of heaven which will be given to us for faithfulness to our vows.
Is God calling YOU to this?
WHAT IS A SISTER?
“What’s a Sister?” asked Tommy, age four. When he was told, “A Sister is someone who loves God so much that she’s married to Him,” he responded, “Wow! That’s cool!”
There is a beauty in a life of prayer, a life close to God, a life of giving ourselves to God to praise Him and to be used to help others love and praise Him.
We are happy to wear our religious habit as a witness to Jesus, as well as a sign of our life of simplicity, our vow of poverty.
It’s a help in the apostolate, as well, since we are immediately recognized as Sisters. It’s amazing how even those away from the Church will say something like this when answering the door, “Sister, you’re not interested in me, I left the Church long ago. Go to the lady next door.” That can begin a good conversation! Without a habit that would never happen!
Every person has a soul, and every person is important to Him. But, how many don’t know Him? How many have given up on God? How many don’t care? To how many is He just a word they have heard?
The Good Shepherd’s loving, merciful heart longs for these persons. He wants to seek them out, to talk to them, to tell them of His love.
The Good Shepherd, the Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy—all are one! Jesus is the Good Shepherd with a loving, merciful heart, longing for each one of us and for each person that exists!
The children especially tug at His Heart. How many haven’t been told of Him? Haven’t been taught to pray?
Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate are His instruments in seeking out the straying sheep, in lovingly helping the children to know and love Him. Our life of prayer gives power to our words and actions.
Sometimes the Good Shepherd also uses us as wordless witnesses! One Sister had a long wait at the dentist’s office, and a woman long away from the church approached her and a good conversation ensued about the faith and about returning to the Lord.
Another woman said to a Sister, “I see you so often, and even though I’ve never spoken to you, whenever I see you I think I should go to confession and return to God. She did, after 10 years! A teen was touch by Sister’s kindness to a difficult child, and without speaking to Sister, decided to return to church.
Yes, there is such a beauty in “being married to God” and in helping his straying sheep and lambs return to Him. Does this strike a chord in your heart, too?
MISSION TERRITORY
This sign we saw is so true! Going from our convent we also go into mission territory, which is all around us!
In every town and city there are people needing to be reached by the Good Shepherd.
Some are Catholics in name only. There are those whose faith has wavered and weakened. Some are agnostics or atheists.
Others are confused and searching, or angry with God or the Church. There are parents who neglect the religious education of their children, poor persons who don’t know where to turn, immigrants unfamiliar with the city and the language. This list could go on… and on… and on. This is mission territory. This is Parish Visitor territory!
Since our foundation in 1920 we have been going out to the people, bringing the love and message of the Good Shepherd. He is with us all the time. We seek out His straying sheep, one soul at a time!
He is with us, all the while. It’s an exciting and satisfying apostolate, dear to the heart of the Good Shepherd. During our formation we are taught to be gentle, non-threatening apostles while upholding the teachings of the Church.
Our prayer life gives us God’s grace as we go among the people, “face to face and heart to heart,” as our foundress, Mother Mary Teresa Tallon, said. This combination of deep prayer—contemplation—and missionary zeal is the essence of the Parish Visitor vocation!
The soul behind that door may be just waiting for the Lord! What a privilege to be His instrument in this apostolate!
What a joy when someone says, “Yes, it’s been many years since I’ve been to confession, but now I’m going to return and make a fresh start.” Or they might say, “Sister, I’ve been putting off the baby’s baptism too long. You’ve spurred me on to do it right away.”
Instructing in the faith is part of our mission. We try to “make the truth lovable,” so that persons will have a real relationship with Jesus.
If only we had more Sisters, we could reach so many more people in so many places.
What about you?
PERPETUAL VOWS
On October 13 Sr. Theresa Marie, formerly of Michigan, professed her final vows in a very beautiful ceremony.
As part of the ceremony she was asked to confirm her determination to make her vows, before proceeding forward to profess her vows in these words:
Called by the Holy Spirit to a greater perfection of love in union with Jesus, I desire to give myself totally to God in this congregation.
For the honor of Almighty God, and under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and our holy patron St. Joseph,
I, Sister Theresa Marie Moore, before you Mother Maria Catherine Iannotti, our general superior,
Vow for life to live the Gospel counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience according to the constitutions of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate,
And I promise, with God’s grace, to observe them faithfully.
May God grant Sr. Theresa Marie many holy, happy, and apostolically fruitful years as a Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate.
May He also guide and bless you as you discern His will for your own life.
by Editor | Jan 1, 2017 | Newsletter
PRAISE GOD!
How good God is! One year on Valentine’s Day morning we looked out and saw every tree, every twig, every bush, covered with ice, glistening in the morning sun! A “forest” of diamonds! What spouse except Jesus could give a whole forest of diamonds to His beloved brides! (A photo can’t do it justice.)
God is so good to us in so many ways. Yet, so many people don’t know about our good God, or don’t care.
Many years ago our foundress felt God leading her to begin a community where women would be “formed in the contemplative spirit and go out in search of the lost lambs and bring them back to the fold by means of instruction in the faith.” Her daughters, the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaulate, have been doing this since our foundation, and this charism is more needed now than ever.
Imagine the joy when a Parish Visitor goes to heaven and meets the ones she helped to reach there:
“My soul had strayed from God
and you came to me.
I was confused
and you helped me to see.
I made a mess of my life
and you sought me out.
I thought I could never be
forgiven and you told me He died for me.
My faith was lukewarm
and you sought me and helped me.
I thought God didn’t care about me
and you visited me and told me He loves me.
I was growing up without knowing God
and you found me and taught me.
I thought learning the faith was a bore
and you showed me how exciting it really is.
I longed to fill the emptiness of my soul and didn’t know how
and you came to my door.
I said the roof would cave in if I ever went to church again
and you told me how much Jesus longs for me.
I was lost
and you sought me out, found me, and helped me to come home.”
Wouldn’t you like to do this with us?
Our foundress, Mother Mary Teresa Tallon, knew in her heart that the Sacred Heart would always be the strength of this community and of the apostolate. We could never do it alone; He would always be with us! And He has been!
The contemplative spirit, a life of prayerful union with God, and seeking out those away from the Lord and instructing in the faith—what a beautiful charism our foundress bequeathed to us!
Our community life is an essential part of our life, too. Not only does it give us strength for our prayer and apostolate, it also is a witness that women from different places, of different backgrounds, can live together in peace and joy!
A VOCATION STORY
“Our greatest joys are found in loving God, in speaking to Him in prayer, and in serving Him with all our strength.” These words of our foundress, Mother Mary Teresa Tallon, are echoed in an article which Sr. Mary Emmadona, who made her final vows last May 31, wrote for her diocesan vocation ministry. It shows her joy in the Lord at being a Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate, and I’d like to share her article with you.
I thought of becoming a Sister when I was 6 or 7, but as I grew older, I convinced myself that there is no chance that God is calling me to be one.
After experiencing the personal love of God for me in a Life in the Spirit seminar, everything changed. I was spending more time in getting to know this God that loved me. It was at this time that the thought of becoming a Sister resurfaced.
I met the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate through the Legion of Mary meeting. I realized God was really calling me to be His.
However, as I was nearing my entrance to the convent, God called my father to eternal life. During the funeral, I was thinking of postponing my entrance, worried that my family might not be able to bear another “loss,” so to speak. But God wanted me to come and not delay. I couldn’t say “no” to Him. Uncertainties were present, yet God helped me to respond.
In the convent we have a Chapel where Jesus is present all the time in the Blessed Sacrament. He lives under the same roof with us. That joy of knowing I can run to Him any time is a tremendous gift. You see, we always want to have tickets to be in audience with the most famous people. But here is the King of Kings, and I get a private audience with Him every day! He comes to me every day in Holy Communion, visits my poor soul and refreshes me.
He gives me strength to persevere in the call He has given me. He is my Joy. Without prayer, without God, without Jesus, one cannot be truly joyful. Because joy is God’s gift. Joy is Someone. Joy is Jesus Himself. God is the only one who can give us true, everlasting and enduring joy.
My joy started when I decided to follow God’s will and not my own. Finding joy in God opened up new joys for me that I never thought I would have.
For those discerning their vocation, I ask God to give you the strength to do His will. Say “yes” to God in whatever road He has prepared for you. And joy will be realized in your life.
Do not be deceived by the passing joy the world gives, nor the false happiness the devil promises, nor the instant pleasure you get from following your own will, but find your joy in God. The joy that comes from Him will rest in you and nobody can take it away.
May the joy of the Lord be your strength.
Sister Mary Emmadoña
NEW NOVICES
The feast of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, May 31, is always a very special day for Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate. Mary reached out to someone in need while pondering in her heart what God had just done in her—a contemplative missionary!
This year the Visitation was made even more special as our two postulants, Alina Nieser and Meaghan Baldwin, were received into the novitiate. The simple ceremony begins with these words:
“Dear daughters, what do you ask from us?”
“Drawn by God’s mercy, we have come here to learn your way of life. We ask you to teach us to follow Christ crucified and to live in poverty, obedience and chastity.
Teach us to persevere in prayer and penance, in the service of the Church and mankind. Teach us to live out the Gospel every day of our lives. Teach us your rule and help us to learn to love our Sisters as Christ commanded us.”
The photo shows the reception of the white veil. They also received our community Constitutions and Spiritual Directory. As is our custom, Alina kept her baptism name, as it already included a form of Mary, and she is now Sister Alina Marie. Meaghan had a form of Mary added to her name, and so she is now Sr. Marie Meaghan. They’re excited to begin this new step in their journey of following the Lord!
Just what is a novitiate?
The novitiate is the official beginning of religious life, and it’s a time of growing to know the Lord more intimately, a time of many special graces. It’s also a time to know ourselves better and to recognize anything in ourselves that may hinder our relationship with the Lord, as well as to spiritually prepare to go forth to spread God’s word.
This time of spiritual preparation is so important. In Scripture so many persons who were chosen to serve God in a special way, first went apart. Jesus, besides His 30 years of hidden life, went into the desert for 40 days. John the Baptist lived in the desert, Paul spent a time of quiet in Arabia (Gal. 1:17), and the apostles had a three-year preparation before Pentecost.
The novitiate is a time of learning the Parish Visitor way of life more deeply, of learning the way the vows are lived in this community, and of deepening one’s prayerful relationship with the Lord. Then, when the time comes for vows, the Sister, knowing what is involved, is able to make her vows of chastity, poverty and obedience peacefully and joyfully and then serve God’s people as a vowed Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate.
In Nigeria we have another new novice, too, Sister Rita Marie. With the same words she began her novitiate a week earlier, on Ascension Thursday, May 25. Unfortunately we don’t have a photo of her to share with you. May God bless all three new novices with much joy and peace in following Him more deeply!
NEW POSTULANT
Rowena became a postulant in our community recently, in the Philippines. She’ll be coming to New York soon to continue her postulancy and then have her novitiate. Please keep her, and all those in formation in our community, in your prayers.
CONTEMPLATIVE-MISSIONARIES
To be a contemplative missionary—what a wonderful privilege! Not just a missionary, but also a contemplative! Not just a contemplative, but also a missionary! As our foundress, the Servant of God Mother Mary Teresa Tallon told us, “In proportion as I am a contemplative…in that same proportion shall I be a missionary, and also in that same proportion shall I be a cheerful, generous missionary.”
Once when I was at a monthly youth Adoration gathering, someone asked me, “How often do you have Adoration?” When I said, “Every day,” he was so amazed he didn’t know how to respond! Yes, we have a Holy Hour of Adoration daily! All our convents have the Blessed Sacrament in their chapels. In addition, we have a half hour of meditation daily, and of course, Mass and Communion every day. What a grace to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, all the time.
The Liturgy of the Hours (also called the Divine Office) is the prayer of the Church, for the Church. We pray Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer together and Night Prayer privately. Of course, we, as daughters of Mary Immaculate, honor Our Lady daily with her favorite prayer, the rosary.
Spiritual reading is done privately, using Scripture, various spiritual books, the writings of our foundress. We have so much to nourish our prayer life! Our contemplative-missionary vocation is also nourished by a monthly retreat day as well as a yearly retreat of eight days.
During the day, in the midst of our duties, we strive to have “cloistered hearts,” as our foundress advised us. Our duties, the apostolate as well as convent duties, are done for God and should not detract from our prayerful spirit, even if our minds need to be engrossed in what we are doing. Jesus, too, was occupied with His mission as well as daily tasks of eating, sleeping, traveling, and so on, and yet He had a prayerful spirit, a contemplative spirit. Mary, too, had this contemplative spirit as she went about her daily duties at Nazareth and as she visited her cousin Elizabeth in her time of need.
SUMMER
In June we had our general chapter, with elections, and our new general superior is Mother Maria Catherine, who had been the U.S. formation director. Sr. Carole Marie, the former general superior, will be moving soon to the novitiate as novice and postulant director.
We celebrated two jubilees on July 2. Sr. Mary Gemma marked 60 years in religious life, and Sr. Mary Josita, 50 years. Their picture is on our website under “Events.”
July was also busy with Vacation Bible School in the local parish, as well as Camp Spiritus in the same parish, for young teens. Our formation Sisters assisted Sr. Mary Josita in these.
In August two Sisters will be giving an evangelization workshop in Michigan, and two others in Illinois. May much good fruit come out of these workshops!
NEW NOVICE
Another new novice! Sr. Maria Rowena began her novitiate on September 8, beginning her journey into a deeper love of the Lord as a Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate. Soon we’ll be one novice less—Sr. Rebecca Miriam is counting the days until November 21, the day of her first vows!
Each Sister has her own unique story of how she realized her call!
God brought our novices from far and wide to love and serve Him here. On the left in the photo is Sr. Alina Marie, who grew up in Georgia but was working in Michigan before she entered. Next, Sr. Rebecca Miriam, from Arizona. Sr. Maria Rowena is from the Philippines, and Sr. Marie Meaghan comes from Long Island, New York.
In Nigeria we have another novitiate with two more novices, and Sr. Leona Marie completed her novitiate and made her first vows on August 28.
OUR LADY OF FATIMA
On September 13, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima, we held an evening of prayer at our motherhouse, which included Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the rosary, an outdoor procession with the image of Our Lady of Fatima, a talk, and Benediction. Many persons attended and many of them took advantage of the opportunity for confession. May we all heed the call of Our Lady of Fatima for prayer and sacrifice!
OUR HABIT
We recently added a cape to our habit. All the Sisters took a vote on this not long ago, and we began wearing the cape on October 16, with a blessing of the habits after Mass. This photo shows Sr. Alina Marie in the habit with the cape.
THE WISE STILL FOLLOW HIM
Did you ever realize that following a vocation can be compared to the wise men following the star?
The wise men of old wanted to follow Him. They had to leave family, home and possessions to go forth.
You want to follow, you may feel you probably should follow, but ………….. it’s hard. Are you willing to leave all to follow Him?
It was probably hard for the wise men, too. Perhaps their friends and relatives laughed, or thought they were a bit strange to consider such an idea. Perhaps the wise men had a hard time deciding if they really should go ahead and set out on this journey.
What about you? If your friends think you’re crazy, will you still go forward? Will you keep praying for the grace to know God’s will and the courage to really do it?
Perhaps there were cloudy or foggy days when the star was obscured.
Are you waiting until the way is 100% clear, not realizing that clarity will grow as you follow Him?
Traveling through the desert, of necessity they had a minimum of distractions and could concentrate on their goal.
Are you avoiding unnecessary distractions and overstimulation so as to pray better and discern God’s will more clearly?
They didn’t know how long their journey would be until they reached their goal. Would it go relatively quickly, or would it perhaps take years?
Your discernment, too, may move quickly or may take years. But, like them— don’t give up!
With all the many stars in the sky, they looked for the one special star, The Star.
Will you keep your focus on Him?
What if they had stayed home? They could have still been good people, but look what they would have missed! They would not have been able to adore Jesus, and they would not have been able to spread the good news upon returning. The journey was worth it!
God showed them the way, but they needed the courage to follow, perhaps despite cold feet and the fears of facing the unknown.
God does His part, and we must move forward to do ours!
Upon reaching their destination, they offered their gifts.
We offer ourselves and all we are, for God to use for His glory and for His people.
How pleased He was with the wise men, and if He is calling you, how pleased He’ll be if you follow His call and give yourself to Him! His help will be there. The road may look rough, until you begin walking upon it. His peace, His joy, and He Himself await you if you follow the star!
