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Thus says the LORD: I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.

Hosea 2:16bc, 17cd Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin, and martyr

Part of my journey into the Catholic Church included rejecting everything that I had come to believe before, and eventually lead me to identify as an atheist. It was in that "desert" of atheism, when I questioned everything, that Christ and His Blessed Mother spoke to my heart and led me into the fullness of the Church. Similarly, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, born into a devout Jewish family, also entered into the desert of "atheism". It was there, amidst the background of academia and then later on her career, that Christ began to work on Stein. As the story goes, Stein eventually not only converted into the Church but joined the Carmelite Order, becoming a nun and taking on the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. We ought to remember that crosses are part of the journey in following Christ. Oftentimes, those crosses are deserts. In the desert, we lack everything we need, except that which we need to survive: Christ. We often have no idea when we are being led into the desert, but it is always meant to help us grow closer to Him and to follow him more fully.

Like St. Teresa Benedicta, how can we better hear Christ in the desert, to do His will more fully?

Edith Stein, pray for us.

Today's Reflection is by...

Isaac Cruz

Did you know...

Isaac Cruz is a seminarian for the Diocese of St. Petersburg in his freshman year. His home parish is St. Michael the Archangel in Clearwater. He was born in Deland, Florida, and raised in Mount Olive, New Jersey. He is a convert to the Catholic Church. 

Thus says the LORD: I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.

Hosea 2:16bc, 17cd Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin, and martyr

Part of my journey into the Catholic Church included rejecting everything that I had come to believe before, and eventually lead me to identify as an atheist. It was in that "desert" of atheism, when I questioned everything, that Christ and His Blessed Mother spoke to my heart and led me into the fullness of the Church. Similarly, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, born into a devout Jewish family, also entered into the desert of "atheism". It was there, amidst the background of academia and then later on her career, that Christ began to work on Stein. As the story goes, Stein eventually not only converted into the Church but joined the Carmelite Order, becoming a nun and taking on the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. We ought to remember that crosses are part of the journey in following Christ. Oftentimes, those crosses are deserts. In the desert, we lack everything we need, except that which we need to survive: Christ. We often have no idea when we are being led into the desert, but it is always meant to help us grow closer to Him and to follow him more fully.

Like St. Teresa Benedicta, how can we better hear Christ in the desert, to do His will more fully?

Edith Stein, pray for us.

Today's Reflection is from...

Isaac Cruz

Did you know...

Isaac Cruz is a seminarian for the Diocese of St. Petersburg in his freshman year. His home parish is St. Michael the Archangel in Clearwater. He was born in Deland, Florida, and raised in Mount Olive, New Jersey. He is a convert to the Catholic Church.