Scripture Scribbles: March 8, 2026
There is something deeply personal about this encounter at the well. Jesus meets a woman in the ordinary rhythm of her day, drawing water, at the well, and gently reveals her deepest thirst. What begins as a simple request, “Give me a drink,” becomes an invitation into something eternal: “living water.”
For the past six years or so, I’ve been blessed to gather with a group of women, for a Bible study. This group just happens to be called, “Women At The Well.”
Week after week we come, carrying our own jars, our responsibilities, our wounds, our questions, our hopes, and we sit together, thirsty for God‘s word…
Scripture Scribbles: March 1, 2026
He touches them, saying “Rise, and do not be afraid.”
These are the first words Jesus speaks after God tells Peter, James and John to listen to him.
Rise, and do not be afraid.
What tender words these are.
He doesn’t say, “rise and try harder.”
He doesn’t say “rise and don’t mess up again.”
Neither does he say, “stay down.”
He says, “Rise, and do not be afraid.”
Scripture Scribbles: February 22, 2026
In times of trouble, who do you turn to?
In times of desperation, who do you call?
In times of confusion, what do you do to find your way?
In times of desolation, what do you cling to?
The Gospel today has me sitting with Jesus in the desert. It says:
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
What was it like for Christ, to be sitting in the desert, hungry?
Scripture Scribbles: February 15, 2026
The road that leads to heaven is risky, lonely, and costly in this world, and few are willing to pay the price. Following Jesus involves losing your life-and finding new life in him.
— David Platt
Today’s gospel warns us about self-righteousness, killing, adultery, and dishonesty.
This is so far one of the devotions I’ve ever had the hardest time writing in my life. I feel that it’s not because of its length but because its weight. HEAVY! Somehow, it feels like it is directly addressed to me because I am a sinner and am bound to commit the sins that Jesus mentioned in the gospel.
Scripture Scribbles: February 8, 2026
It was pitch dark at 6:00 a.m. on a cold November morning when I pulled in for gas at Penguin Fuels in Hampton, New Hampshire, on my way to Mass. Crystal was already behind the counter, processing my loyalty discount. “It’s so cold and dark,” she said. “I get really depressed when it’s like this.”
Still not fully awake, I wasn’t prepared to respond thoughtfully in that moment. The next morning, after reading about the winter solstice, I found myself ready to continue our open-ended conversation.“It’s true that it will keep getting darker until around December 21st,” I said, “but after that, the days will slowly begin to get lighter.” Crystal offered a weak smile.“Remember,” I added, “Christ’s light is always within you.” Her smile widened…
Scripture Scribbles: January 25, 2026
“The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”
Can I ask you something? Are you sitting in darkness? Do you need to be healed? Are you searching for light? For hope? I would love to share some with you.
Jesus is calling you!
He’s calling all of us. Just like he called Peter and Andrew, just like he called James and John. Jesus is calling you, He’s calling your spouse, He's calling your kids. Do you know what He’s calling us to be? Saints! Yup! We are all called to be Saints.
Scripture Scribbles: January 18, 2026
“Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
The past few weeks have been really difficult. In them, despair has felt overwhelming. The only scripture that has comforted me has been that psalm which Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Psalm 22:1)
Some days, these first few verses have been where my prayer ended: in tears, pain and darkness, drowning in the feeling of abandonment by God, in the feeling of being overtaken by the enemy.
By grace, my rational mind has held onto the truths of our faith. In the storm of overwhelming lies from the enemy tempting me to despair and to desperate self-reliance, I have repeated the things that I know about God to myself:
God is holy. (Psalm 22:4)
God is only good. (Exodus 34:6)
God does not abandon. (2 Timothy 2:13)
God cares deeply about my suffering (Psalm 34:18, Psalm 56:8).
God’s presence is not proven through consolation or circumstance. (Romans 8:38-39)
God’s love is not proven through consolation or circumstance.(Romans 8:38-39)
God began a good work in me and he will complete it (Philippians 1:6)
Scripture Scribbles: January 11, 2026
“John tried to prevent him.”
As I sit with today’s Gospel, asking the Holy Spirit to guide me, this is the line that strikes me most.
How often do we try to prevent God from doing that He has planned for us in our lives?
Even, as it is in John’s case, for seemingly “good” reasons. We can see this time and again in the Scriptures: People try to stop Jesus from doing what He wishes. For instance, Peter tries to stop Jesus multiple times from carrying out His plans (see John 13:8, Matthew 16:22, Mark 10:13). And each time, Jesus corrects Him. Just as Jesus does to John in today’s Gospel.
Scripture Scribbles: January 4, 2025
As for the magi, they incredibly exemplified three things in this first chapter of Jesus’ young life.
First, they manifested care towards Jesus Christ. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
These men from the east cared enough to travel all the way to Jerusalem to pay their respects to Jesus. They did not act indifferently nor passively when they knew that a new king was born.
Second, the three wise men showed reverence to our savior by prostrating themselves, doing homage, and offering gifs of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
According to scholars and Bible experts, the gifts symbolized Jesus’ kingship, divinity, and mortality and future suffering/healing.
Third, the magi were a model of allegiance to God, because they completely eluded the enemy, Herod, by choosing another path that would lead them back home.
These kind men were total strangers and had only a special participation in the holy book. Yet they knew on whose side they should be.
Scripture Scribbles: December 28, 2025
I told Fr. Roo, “I want to be a disciple of Jesus—just without the suffering.” He
smiled gently and reminded me that true discipleship means picking up our cross
and following Him. We do not become holy in comfort. It is the cross that teaches
us how to love as Jesus loves. When suffering is united to Christ, it becomes redemptive.
Scripture Scribbles: December 14, 2025
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.
Rejoice! Go on, rejoice! It’s the third week of Advent!! Gaudete Sunday! The Rose colored candle on our Advent wreath! The Rose colored vestments on our Priests! Gaudete, a Latin word which means REJOICE! I love this “permission” to rejoice, I also love this “reminder” to actually rejoice! Not run around doing all the things, not watching the chaos of the world and swirl with anxiety…..rejoice! Why? Because we are in the season of Advent. We are preparing for our Lord to come. We get this week to taste a little of the Joy that we will get to enjoy fully on Christmas.
On November 30th this year, the first day of Advent, I put these words up on my board in our kitchen; Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, to remind myself, and my family, of what each candle of Advent represents. I was delighted when my “Scribble” fell on this third week. I hope I can encourage you (and me) to recognize what God is doing in our lives. He sent us a savior.
Scripture Scribbles: December 7, 2025
I can almost feel the heat of the sun in the desert as I hear John the Baptist’s passionate invitation to repent to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. The way he preaches is intense and oriented toward urgent change. His deep experience of the holiness of God pulses through everything he says. I hear an echo of the prophet Isaiah’s words from the first reading in John’s preaching:
“He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.”
This is describing Jesus.
He is the Holy of Holies.
His word holds all things in existence.
And right now, this very moment, we have the chance to repent, to begin again, so that we can fully receive him.
Scripture Scribbles: November 30, 2025
Lord, am I awake?
I want to be awake, but I am just not sure. Please enter into my heart. Into my mind. Lead me and guide me. Help me to surrender my ways for Your own. Show me the way. Open my eyes. Open my heart. Help me to trust in You. To wait to hear Your voice and to say yes to whatever You may reveal for me in the year ahead.
Scripture Scribbles: November 23, 2025
Just shortly before the Advent Season in the liturgical calendar begins, I was expecting to read something about Christmas or Mary’s conception of Jesus. Instead, our gospel for this Sunday is about Jesus hanging on the cross next to the criminals who committed really serious crimes. I had to do a double take as I read the gospel because I was a bit surprised. Nonetheless, I particularly liked what the penitent thief on the cross said to Jesus. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." But what I loved even more was Jesus’ reply to this man.
"Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Isn’t this the ultimate reward? Redemption? Shouldn’t this be our major goal while still on earth? Salvation?
Scripture Scribbles: November 16, 2025
“We’re in the end times,” my friend warned, “and we need to be prepared.” Theresa often listened to modern-day prophets who spoke of “powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues … mighty signs from the sky.” She believed these were signs of the last days. She reviewed a list of staples—firewood, bottled water, warm clothing, flashlights, candles, rice, and canned goods—as though I were preparing for a long-term power outage. As she continued, I wondered how prepared my soul was for the final encounter. Matthew Kelly reminds us that Judgment Day is when the person you are meets the person you could have been. I shuddered at the thought…
Scripture Scribbles: November 9, 2025
Most often when I read this passage, I think about Jesus’ righteous anger and how we can relate to Him more because He even was upset at times. Today, however, I encountered something different - trust when we do not understand. How often has the Lord spoken to you in prayer and you misunderstood him? You thought he meant one thing, but really, He meant to help you grow in ways you hadn’t thought of before. In the Gospel, everyone thinks Jesus is referring to the temple building and didn’t understand what He meant until He was resurrected. The disciples remembered what he said in hindsight.
Scripture Scribbles: November 2, 2025 - All Souls
“Come Holy Spirit”
These are the words I whisper inside my head as I sit in the most peaceful adoration Chapel, hoping to write a reflection on today’s Gospel. I want the words to come from the Spirit, I want the Spirit to guide me. The desire I feel is to write about Joy…to write about the beautiful fruits of the Holy Spirit. How Paul lists them in Galatians 5:22-23 “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” I want to feel the abundance of these fruits bubbling up in my heart. Spilling over my cup so they are just pouring out into the lives of everyone I encounter…
Scripture Scribbles: October 26, 2025
Today’s Gospel has me pondering the ways that we hide ourselves. When I read the Pharisee’s prayer, I think about the relationships and situations in my life where it feels really important to be unassailable, where it feels really important to be better than someone else, where it feels terrifying to admit my own need for help and mercy.
Those relationships and situations are ones where there has been deep hurt in my story. And it feels much safer to draw up the walls of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness and put on the armor of my own merit than it does to risk letting anyone get close to (or even see) the tender places. Even the Lord.
In Adam’s words after the fall, “I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10)
Scripture Scribbles: October 12, 2025
Isn’t Jesus the perfect example of embracing and accepting the “least” of our brothers and sisters. When it comes to loving the unlovable, He practically embodies unconditional love.
Jesus teaches us to accept the odd one out. The outcast. The one who doesn’t belong. The sinners.
Who among these Biblical figures left a remarkable impression to you? While Jesus’ gestures of acceptance totally moved us and inspired us to emulate Him, we cannot ignore the people whose lives were changed because of Jesus’ love.
Mary Magdalene, Paul, Lazarus, the Gentiles, the Samaritans, the lepers, the blind, the sick, and the tax collectors were never the same again after Jesus touched their lives in the most amazing way possible.
Scripture Scribbles: October 5, 2025
Yes, I would love to have a faith that commands an obedient mulberry tree to be “uprooted and planted in the sea,” a faith that accomplishes the seemingly impossible: softening a hardened heart, converting wayward children, restoring damaged relationships, mending broken hearts, healing deep wounds. A faith that conquers all fear. How do I increase my faith?
Faith means not only believing that God exists and that everything He has revealed through Scripture, Tradition, and the Church is true, but also living according to these truths. Fr. Mike Schmitz teaches that faith in Jesus is inseparable from obedience: living this life for the next, becoming His disciple by striving to obey Him in all things. It is not perfection, but a sincere effort to “do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).