Author: lexicaliblog

AN UNMERITED GIFT OF GRACE TO ENTER INTO THE DIVINE MERCY

When my parents dropped me off I said, “Turn the car around. I’m not staying here overnight.”

For the record, whenever you are about to encounter a great good, there’s always a force to pull you back into yourself. In my case whenever I’m leaping forward in the spiritual realm, the dust really kicks up. Thankfully, with time, I can see the signs of this warfare and can actually plan for it, but in my early days, I couldn’t recognize this little battle within myself. The enemy doesn’t want our growth into truth but wants to isolate us and keep us in the dark. This weekend was going to be God’s unmerited gift of grace to enter into his Divine Mercy.

Despite my mini meltdown, at seventeen my faith was exploding. My parents were dropping me off at my first overnight retreat as a high school senior and it was simple and profound. I had strong faith that drew me to the Sacraments, a rapidly blossoming prayer life and Marian devotion, but to share it so openly with others who believed was truly life changing. It made me vulnerable. It made me aware of the power of the community. The friendships that forged and the new aspects of what being the Body of Christ meant, really shaped all the days to follow. Let’s face it. If you don’t have anyone to walk with, it can be a lonely journey on the narrow road of faith, AMIRIGHT?

Thank God my parents in their goodness told me to give it a night and see. I soon forgot about the parking lot drama upon arrival as well as my parents as soon as I was immersed into a weekend retreat full of fun, the power of God, prayer, the Sacraments of the Church, and in a profound way – new friendships – the type of people who would teach, instruct and simply walk with you on your journey of faith.

Kate was my roommate on this overnight retreat and just a year ahead of me as a freshman at Merrimack College. She was part of the leadership team. I was a Framingham kid and she was a north shore girl from Malden. We were roomed together in this old convent and never slept because we stayed up all night sharing everything about ourselves. She already knew she was going to be a lawyer and I already knew I was going to work in television. We talked all night about our family lives, our faith walk, career dreams, desire for boyfriends and eventual husbands – and were amazed at the ease in which we connected and the juxtaposition of our teen selves pouring our hearts out across twin beds at this moment in time. She became a big sister in the faith to me and was very much God sent.

After our Quincy weekend, Kate and I kept up our fast forging friendship all through college and young adult life. I would borrow a car to meet her half way in Boston, Quincy or I would ride up to Malden as I was enamored with her huge Irish family and amazing brothers and sisters. I later joined the retreat team and all through college we had special continual formation weekends with amazing priests and other young adult leaders and married couples. We led weekend retreats delivering faith and sharing our testimony to high school teens from around the Archdiocese of Boston. One of these late nights sitting in her parked car talking, praying together – Kate taught me the Divine Mercy chaplet and spoke to me about this devotion. How come I never heard of this? The Divine Mercy now, and especially then, circa 1990, was a rather new devotion in the Church and though on the rise had not made a permanent fixture into parishes and dioceses until Pope John Paul became its chief herald.

Jesus appeared to a Polish nun, now saint Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, OLM in 1931. Sister Faustina wrote in her diary that on the night of Sunday, February 22, 1931, while she was in her convent cell, Jesus appeared to her as the “King of Divine Mercy” wearing a white garment with red and pale rays emanating from his heart. Read more here.

What is the chaplet? You pray the Divine Mercy chaplet on your Rosary beads and pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and the Creed and then on the big bead “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” And on the little beads x 10 you pray, “Have mercy on us and on the whole world.” In conclusion you pray 3 times, “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, Have Mercy on us and on the whole world (Diary 476).” We prayed it right then and there.

Jesus said to Saint Faustina, “Unceasingly recite this chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death..Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this chaplet even once, will receive grace from My infinite mercy (687) …Oh, what great graces will I grant to souls who recite this chaplet (848)…Through the chaplet you will obtain anything, if what you ask is compatible with My will (1731).. I want the whole world to know My infinite mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My mercy (687).”

Grace. Great graces. Infinite Mercy. Obtain anything. Unimaginable graces. Trust in My mercy.

The message of Divine Mercy, is truly profound and it really attracted me because of my Polish heritage. I began to read the Diary of Saint Faustina, to whom God revealed his message of mercy and study what it meant. Jesus revealed his message of mercy through a simple Polish nun and all of this recorded revelation – all approved by the Catholic Church (after scrutiny and investigation) is available in the her Diary. This blossoming devotion led us to spend time at the Western Massachusetts National Shrine of Divine Mercy  in Stockbridge – a place of extraordinary grace and blessing right in our New England back yard.

Tomorrow, the first Sunday after Easter is the Sunday that the Church designates each year as Divine Mercy Sunday. Churches around the world will have celebrations and devotions in honor of the Divine Mercy, which will include the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Eucharistic Holy Hours, the reading of excerpts from the Divine Mercy diary, veneration of the image of Divine Mercy and perhaps in some special places include veneration of the relic of Saint Faustina.

Jesus told Saint Faustina, “At three o’clock, implore my mercy, especially for sinners and if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of my Passion.” OK that right there is BOSS! Let me repeat what Jesus is saying to you and to me:

I WILL REFUSE NOTHING TO THE SOUL THAT MAKES A REQUEST OF ME IN VIRTUE OF MY PASSION.

We can immerse ourselves at 3 o’clock each day (I call it the hour of power), but on the day where we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday there are extraordinary graces and I implore you to stop everything and enter in. Even if you have never participated in this devotion, enter in for yourself, your family and the knots in your life. I promise you, you will not be the same.

What are the key elements of Divine Mercy?

• Ask Jesus for His Mercy (by prayer, repentance) and ask him to pour His mercy on us and the whole world (if you have not been to confession in a while – even years – this is important – don’t be afraid, but let God undo those knots and visit confession this weekend if you can)
• Be Merciful: God wants us to receive it and share it (share the message of mercy and share his love and forgiveness)
• Trust!! God wants us to trust in Him – the more we trust, the more He can do for us. Jesus, I trust in You!

I don’t know if I ever would have received the Divine Mercy message as soon or as profound if not in the parked car with Kate that night. Would I have answered something from a church bulletin in the same way as a teenager? Like Kate, I want to be your friend of mercy. If you have never heard of this devotion, consider this a turning point for you to enter in. If you recall this devotion and have waned, consider this a re-entry. I want to teach you how to pray this chaplet and invite you to this profound aspect of our faith that opens to us an ocean of His Mercy that is transforming for our lives and the whole world. I want to encourage you to immerse your life, your sins, your failures, your shortcomings, your longings, your sickness, your wounds, your pain, your family, your dreams and your destiny deep into His ocean of Divine Mercy. When Jesus was upon the Cross and his side was lanced, the Blood and Water poured forth as an ocean of Mercy for you and for me. This ocean of Mercy is transformative. I encourage you to stand underneath His side and receive all that he has for you. And then, go out and be a friend of mercy to someone who needs this message.

Jesus, Mercy, Jesus – we trust in You.

Praying for you, my sweet friends+

Lexi

JMJ

I NEVER WANT TO FORGET WHERE I STOOD ON APRIL 2, 2005

I still don’t know how I ever made it. Grace is like that.

It was the end of March 2005 and I was on a two week vacation in Palm Beach with my family begging, “Pope, please live. Please, live a few more days.”

I desperately needed a few more days off and a mental and physical break from the frenetic pace of my 24/7 newsroom life where, for the most part, the days bled into each other. I had a ton of “comp” days from working through Boston breaking news events of the year and was chilling down around the pool enjoying the sunshiny monotony of vacation days before it was too late to cash in the time.

In the previous several months, Associated Press was constantly breaking news on Pope John Paul II’s failing health, something I knew was imminent as a newswoman but as a Catholic daughter of his Pontificate that spanned my entire life, I didn’t ever want to consider Catholicism without him.

Every time the AP alerts chimed on my desktop, I started to go through our Pope death plan and a subsequent prospective travel fire drill that had me reorganizing a designated suitcase with just enough toothpaste, suits, and pajamas that ultimately would never be worn as we would never change outfits or sleep except for a 10 minutes here or there on the floor of the NBC workspace. The AP breaking updates would ping, we’d make some calls to sources and check flights. Papa would rally. Rinse and repeat.

Everyone has that squad at work that keeps you informed – even on your vacation. In a newsroom environment, put that loyalty on speed dial and it’s a daily read in with the 411. While I was around the pool, I was getting calls from those colleagues about how this time it was “different” and “maybe you should fly back.” The word at the Vatican was that the pope was in really grave condition. The news director called and told me that he wanted me to get on the next flight back because our designated Papal crew was getting booked on the next flights out of Boston to Rome.

I remember I had one night left to scramble and get everything together that I would need for international breaking news travel. I’d been there multiple times before for work and personal trips, but the suddenness and geographic maze was a complete fire drill. I was not ready. I was not home in Boston. I did not have my passport. I only had flip flops and casual clothes and needed to get to the mall to scoop up a few serious outfits and sturdy shoes that would handle what could be weeks on standing feet covering his death, funeral and coverage of Pope John Paul II’s successor.

My mom drove me to the little Palm Beach International airport and somehow I missed the first flight out. That NEVER happens. I started to pray and said, “God if I’m going, you have to make a way. This other plane barely will land on time for me to make the connection. I can’t worry about this. Either you are sending me or not. I’m surrendering this.” My mother hung with me until I made a run for the next flight and we prayed together.

No one had a key to my little house except the landlord who was out of town. My passport was in a purse hanging on my bedroom door in the zipped interior pocket. The ninja newsroom assignment desk arranged for the news director’s assistant to cab to my house (pre Uber you guys), and as she reluctantly rode to my seaside Winthrop cottage, I was giving  instructions for a breaking and entering through the kitchen window. The Pope was about to die, I was in an emergency travel situation and I didn’t care if my place had a broken window for the duration. It was THIS crazy and more, “Tell her to get one of the outdoor pieces of furniture, climb up, cut the screen window with keys, climb in – she will fit – and when she is in there, there is a park bench piece of furniture to catch her. Then go to my bedroom and the passport is in my purse hanging on the door.” It was like Holly Hunter from Broadcast News meets Holly Hunter from The Firm. It got done. God bless this young woman forever.

My dad wasn’t with us in Florida and he met me when I landed in Boston. He went to the news station to grab my passport from the break-in, my Pope folder of sources and contacts, and the travel cash that we would need for the trip to hand off to me as if we were in some sort of Spartan race. I just remember running and running and running until I made it through international security. On the other side, I met with our team and we were all hugs and smiles that we were ready to be wheels up. It was a literal miracle.

With all the logistical hurdles, we were already in breaking news mode. I didn’t expect that we would actually get to the Vatican and the Holy Father would still be alive. It was truly God’s grace to make it in time to be one of the first in St. Peter’s Square while our beloved Papa was still with us.  Our team connected with NBC where the network had their live location space right on the ground level until we would later be positioned on a nearby roof for the duration of the continuous coverage. We hooked up with the network bureau, Rome correspondents, former Ambassador Ray Flynn and other thought leaders like George Weigel who were all piling in to be part of history.

It was April and freezing cold in Rome. A coat was left off the mall scramble list of must-haves in my last minute shopping spree. We shook off the cold as best we could as we stood in the square and observed the people coming in one by one and later in streams. The Holy Father was drifting, but still with us. We were there. We were praying for him. Observing. Talking to people, hearing their stories and what compelled them to urgently come to St. Peter’s and stand in vigil. A compulsion that we shared in our own professional “pilgrimage” to be positioned beneath the Papal apartments with the people. Before his death on April 1st Pope John Paul II said, “I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.” This was the essence of the return of the love he poured out on the entire world, God’s love. God’s passion. God’s pursuit. God’s constant presence. The swell of people who came in droves to make a return to the one who called them, spoke of God’s love to them, cajoled them, was epic. The Church was alive and not dead. Love was responding to love. The emotions were like nothing I’ve experienced with grief and love intertwined.

We’d work. Quietly reflect. Observe. Point out observations to each other. It was the calm before the absolute crush of humanity that descended upon the square as far as the eye could see which culminated on the day of his funeral.

I’ve never felt emotion like what I felt when the announcement of his passing was made. It was 9:37 p.m. The bells began to toll. To be standing there so close to his window where we stood below many times before in the same square experiencing his many Wednesday audiences, the canonization of St. Edith Stein and the Jubilee 2000.  I first experienced his Papacy up close as a teenager at World Youth Day in Denver. I covered his United States Papal visits as a journalist and now this-  this momentous full circle moment in time seemed to stand still. Immediately at the passing, doves flew to the Pope’s window almost like a signal and then up to the sky. We marveled at creation’s response in this moment.

As he passed, I believe so much grace was imparted. I know I received it. My life changed forever after this experience. It was as though the old was passing and the new was coming. He showed the world how to live and how to die. He brought the Gospel to the ends of the earth as the Vicar of Christ on earth. And he also showed us how to embrace every ski slope, every stage, every man or woman of good will, every baby, the sick, the forgotten, the young from all over the world, the sinner, the poor, the wealthy, athletes, the aged, the unborn, other saints, the Eucharist and the blessed Mother. He taught about family, friendship, and authentic love between a man and a woman. He lived his life to the full, proclaiming forever the name of Jesus, up until he could not breathe one more breath.

A year after his passing, I was in Rome again. I was working for the Diocese of Palm Beach and traveling on vacation with Fr. Benedict Groeschel on a little pilgrimage through Italy. I went a few days early to enjoy private time in Rome and heard that there was a huge Polish celebration of Pope John Paul II’s life and that Fr. Stan Fortuna from Fr. Benedict’s order, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, would be performing as part of this gala event. I contacted Fr. Stan and to our amazement, he got us primo front row seats to this blessed occasion. It’s was a huge Polish scene that was broadcast live on Polish television. JP2s peeps and a few American priests (episcopal secretaries to Bishops) and us. (Thank you Fr. Stan!)

I actually may not have fully grieved his death until a year later because I worked right through it. This Polish remembrance crystalized everything about Saint John Paul II and gave us all time to process the loss, the legacy and how we were being called forward. It was deeply moving and we wept as if his death was the day before. It still hurt. There is a rap song that Fr. Stan wrote and performed about JP2 that you may have heard. It’s called “I’m loving you.”  He nails it. Imagine this swank Polish event and then introducing “the American priest, Fr. Stan Fortuna” who in his Franciscan garb and dreads rapped this ode to our hero in full street Jazz – all soul.  You can listen to it here. Here’s one verse I want to leave you with as we remember his passing – the passing of Saint John Paul II, the Great.

In the first days that you was gone

There was a void in my heart, dark like the 

dawn

There you was helping me not to be 

withdrawn

Pushing me to move on with energy, 

purpose and determination, like you been

With the courage and the heroes of the Polish nation

With no hesitation, you went deep into the greatness of your vocation

I’m loving you

Another thing that this Pope did and did well was connect his kids. My dear friend Paul George and I were both in Denver for World Youth Day 1993. We both had profound experiences. If you are part of the JP2 generation and are feeling nostalgic, take a listen to my appearance on The Paul George show here. We talk about JP2, Denver and where we are now.

John Paul II, we love you! Saint John Paul II, pray for us!

Praying for you+

Lexi

JMJ

CRASHING INTO GRACE AND THE AIRWAVES THROUGH BROKENNESS

A few years back, I was working at a faith-agency that abruptly shut down. Like a crash landing. When this agency closed it left many of us unemployed for a significant time waiting and praying for the next right move. It was worse for the men who had families, but let’s face it: one day out of work is a long time. Yet, I’ve learned over time to never question and have seen over time that God always has my back and comes through bigger and better than if I planned anything for myself. If one door closes, another is opening and had the one door not closed, I wouldn’t have the need or desire to go where His prompting leads. If a job is uncomfortable or challenging, sometimes it’s a cue to plan your exit. Sometimes God wants to strip us of attachment and give us a greater sense of Divine Providence, lest we ever think it all depends upon us. It doesn’t. And sometimes it’s simply because better things are ahead and that next step leads us closer or deeper into His Divine Will and the destiny He’s called us to.

The whole crashed agency thing is, in a roundabout way, what moved me to Los Angeles – had not “the crash” occurred, I would not have had my feet re-positioned across the country. God used that short but action packed and foundational crashed agency to bring several key people into my life who would 100 percent be part of my future. Around this time I re-consecrated myself to Our Lady (a 33 day time of prayer which concludes with an Act of Consecration to Mary). Why would anyone do such a thing? Why wouldn’t you is the question. Getting under the mission of Christ is to get under everything he held dear including choosing to make his entrance on earth as the Son of God through Mary of Nazareth. If she’s good enough for Him, she’s more than good enough for me. I can entrust everything I am to her and know that she will lead me to Her Son and His plan for my life, to know Him, love Him and serve Him. He passed through Mary, so in a similar manner, by this consecration I would let my life pass through her Immaculate Heart.

Enter Mary’s Touch. Mary’s Touch is an award-winning thirty-minute Catholic radio program dedicated to the Blessed Mother broadcast weekly on stations around the U.S. and around the world. I never imagined when I met and represented Cheri Lomonte, founder and show host that I would someday be asked to carry the torch and take the helm upon her retirement. Never, ever did I see this coming – not in a million years…. So thank God for the crashed agency because it was a divine set up to meet some of my future collaborators including Cheri. Cheri founded the Frontline Faith Project, a national apostolate to serve men and women in the military, which formed as a result of Mary’s Touch, and I directed the PR for this incredible apostolate to bring faith to our military serving on the frontlines on bases and in war zones.

When we crash, we sometimes want to curse, you know? “Blast that. How could that happen? I can’t believe I left this for that,” and so on. But God in His infinite wisdom is moving our feet under a path set only for us, and each twist and curvy, sometimes seemingly dangerous, turn, leads us to that destiny. The world will never understand this frenetic messy dynamic, but will always wonder who your “agent” is when the scattered pieces all start to fall in place.

So when I was asked to consider taking over as show host for this radio program that reaches thousands around the globe, at first I was not sure how it would fit in with my Hollywood day job that turns into a 24/7 around-the-clock job. I would have to travel from LA to Austin every few weeks and be present in a new territory for this evangelization.

God’s will is sort of a no brainer: It’s the start of a Marian Year dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima’s 100^th anniversary of her apparitions (look that word up) in Fatima, Portugal, a rather significant time in the Church. You can read more about Fatima here. I remember a time in my youth and young adulthood when I began to explore and learn about these apparitions (and others) that are approved by the Church. My family had a tremendous devotion to the Miraculous Medal and we had numerous Marian Shrines including one dedicated to Fatima near our home in the suburbs of Boston. I don’t remember any religious education teacher telling me about Mary in a deep way, but we did have a family devotion to Mary and her presence in the northeast is really quite unparalleled. If there were trials and hardships, we would pray a Hail Mary together. When my sister and I witnessed our beloved neighbor drop dead next door, my sister led us in praying the Hail Mary. This was an impressionable moment. Later, my family, best friend and I were part of a weekly Marian cenacle where we met in a family home in Malden, MA each Sunday to pray all decades of the Rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet ending in consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This shaped my 20-something years and was a firm foundation for a lifetime of Marian devotion.

Today, I still plant myself at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as Mission Church in Roxbury pretty much every time I land in and depart from Boston. I think I left my entire heart there and a few outstanding intentions. I sometimes wonder, had I missed out on this truth of our faith, where exactly would I be? I can’t imagine my life without Mary’s guidance and Divine Motherhood in every area of my life. I guess it’s with that urgency for today’s culture that I feel it an imperative to advance the teaching and practice of Marian devotion for a new generation and so I responded with my little “yes” to host Mary’s Touch.

This past week we pre-taped our farewell show with beautiful Cheri Lomonte and her co-host Fr. Jim Evans. Cheri built an incredible legacy of storytelling about Mary, the Mother of God, and the ways and places Our Lady has left her touch on humanity through the ages. We also began our new shows featuring some of the great Marian apostles of our day who are working to make God’s love present in today’s world.

I’m truly overwhelmed by God’s love and grace and how He uses brokenness to lead us to new places of assignment for His glory. My prayer is that I will honor Cheri’s legacy and decade-long labor of love to honor Mary with the same reverence and purity of heart as we begin this new decade of programming.

If you experience a crash like I did, know that the crash is not the final say in your life. Know that Romans 8:28 is operative and that ALL things, not some things, work together for good for those called according to His purpose. Even if you feel like you are going through a crucible, you will be led to places you cannot imagine to do things you may feel unworthy of and even unsure of once you get there. A few years ago if anyone ever told me I would be moving entirely across the country to work in Hollywood and host a national radio show called Mary’s Touch, I may have laughed. I’m learning now that God wants us to laugh the entire way of our life’s journey. Laugh in trial. Laugh in the waiting. Laugh in the pruning. Laugh at the impossible. Laugh at the opposition. Laugh because He has it all under control and all is well in the Holy Spirit. He is the beginning and the end. And He’s yours and mine. Be joyful even in adversity as your joy and trust in His plan will accelerate its arrival.

When you entrust your life to Mary, she will truly touch you in ways you never thought possible and leave an indelible mark on your life.

Please pray for me as I embark on this new evangelization and please visit www.marystouch.org for more information about how to tune in!

Praying for you+

Lexi

JMJ

DODGING CONFUSION IN A DATELESS CULTURE

It’s happened to you. A creep or a stud has asked you, “Do you wanna hang out?” and as much as your Friday night has a vacancy sign hanging all over it, you know that you know that you know that the blurred lines of a hang out just aren’t for you. Ain’t nobody got time for that, Hangman.

It’s become so frustrating I actually wanted to quip back to some of these hang-er outers, “Hang out and DO what?” I feel for the guys in today’s society who have lost their ability to risk it with the masculine art of approach and chivalry that seem to be from a bygone era. Yes, the Cinderella lives in every woman: we love our doors held open for us, surprise flower bouquets, and most of all, we love a well-planned date. I know you princes are out there. This may very well be as much for you as all my Cinderella sisters out there.

I grew up listening to my dad talk about his courtship with my mother from the first blind date meeting to the second date and the rapid succession of dates to follow, all thoughtfully planned, meals and elegant date-spots remembered, conversations shared, pivotal moments of knowing, recounting the carefully plotted outfits selected to impress, hilarious flubs while trying to woo, the involvement of family quietly cheering from the sidelines, the thoughtful and beautiful expressions of love and romance, the danger and toil as the love of two souls began to merge into one and a lifetime of marital dating and romancing to follow.

Sorry if I just can’t hang out.

I can’t quite pinpoint the exact time and space that the hang out (and hook up) culture emerged bringing courtship and plain old dating to near extinction. Hanging out seems noncommittal and an easy way out if you suddenly change your mind, don’t click but don’t want to be humbled in saying so, or just want to keep things strung along for a back up plan. These hangers want to hang out with you, check you out, give you the once over, have their friends vet you, litmus test you in a riskless format and never suffer the vulnerability of an authentic chase. It’s like a dang-out. Date that’s a hang-out, but no one knows “is this really a date? Does he like me? Did he just ask me out?” I’m confused. We are all confused.

My sweet sisters, if any guy is asking you to hang, I dare say hang on and wait for the authentic pursuit of your time and your heart from an intentional man with a plan. Don’t waste your precious time conforming to the cultural confusion because by enabling it you feed the beast of the serial hangers who want to get away with dating murder!

Here are my top encouragements to protect your heart and time as you wait for the worthy one to pursue you:

1. Stay strong! Don’t be seduced by a man’s desire to hang out – the intentions are either not pure or he’s not risking it – you were made for more! Wait for it sweet one.
2. You’re worth it! Sister, know your worth…Even if it seems like an impossible feat to be pursued by a loving intentional man in today’s culture, know that you are worthy of that pursuit and by staying firm in your conviction, you will attract the man worthy of your heart.
3. Be approachable. Let your light and fun factor shine, because joy and happiness begets the same. As you live a life second to none, you will attract those who want to be in your life and will not be afraid to let you know it, plan for it and pursue you.
4. Have FUN while waiting and develop a strong posse of bold, loving, sisters who will uplift and encourage you never to cave, but to live your best life now as you prepare to be the woman you are called to be now as you ready to merge lives with God’s best.
5. Define your time! Know what a hang out is… it’s for friends, family and Google, but not for the one who is pursuing you!

Gals, the guy who risks it is out there and not far off, especially when you step out of the dreadful rhythm-less groove of hanging. He’s thinking of you, planning his approach and the way to your heart right now. Don’t be hanging when he comes for you.

I’m in your corner sweet ones! Hang tough+

Praying for you!
Lexi

JMJ

ALTERNATE ROUTES TOWARD YOUR BLESSING

This spring brought the culmination of a year’s worth of work opening a new film and the excitement, exhaustion and all that goes with a movie campaign’s gargantuan team effort. All the toil, never ending days of work and travel encircled my whole being this past weekend upon opening weekend. And then the crash. . . body burn out, adrenaline rush to a screeching halt and not knowing if you should head first to the bed, the refrigerator or the gym became almost like a major life decision resulting in ignoring them all. So when my sister friend spontaneously called me and said “we need to get out of here and go somewhere holy to pray,” at first I was like YES and then all the excuses morphed like it would be better to have an entire day of sleep and a day of maid service, aka my own Cinderella style spin around my cottage that currently looked like it had been ransacked.

Yet amid fatigue, a mini pilgrimage up the 101 to the Old Santa Barbara Mission was exactly how God wanted me to press in and get my mojo back. Because this is the lesson of life. This is the lesson of the spiritual realm. A week prior, another friend and I were pleading God for a miracle for an unborn baby expected to die upon birth unless God intervened. We were appealing to Fulton Sheen, our hero who is rife for another miracle right about now, and why not for this mama and baby? I had an exchange with a nun in the Midwest with about this urgent prayer need who concluded our conversation with, “Alexis, thanks for your prayer fight.” PRAYER FIGHT. Exactly. Her words really moved my heart.

We need to fight. You see the enemy wants us tired. The enemy wants us discouraged. The enemy wants to use the negative reports and the natural to depress the spiritual within us and convince us that what God has promised or that thing we are praying for isn’t possible and maybe even ludicrous or even to make us think He’s not with us. It’s at this very time of fatigue, questioning and at the final push, we need to FIGHT.

God recently gave me the word “at hand” about some of the prayers I’m praying and really that to me means – NOW – at the door – not tomorrow, next month or next year, but IMMINENT – this instant, any minute. In the natural realm, nothing is really feeling “at hand” and such is my quick-witted personality to quip back to our Lord about his snail’s pace, “Are you coming again before this goes down?” God also showed me that it’s better to wait for His Will than to, as Frank Sinatra sang, do it my way. He’s doing things behind the scenes that we can’t necessarily see. As a Broadway show opens, there are a lot of things that happen that the audience cannot see such as the writing of the script, the casting, the rehearsals, set design and costuming. All that has to happen before the curtain goes up. Everything has to be prepared, perfected and in order otherwise the show bombs.

I was able to enter into my “prayer fight” on the first Sunday of Lent and just sit before His throne and remind God that I’m still in it. Our Sunday escape landed us at the Old Santa Barbara Mission. Weak, tired, but in it, I stayed there in the silence of a couple of hours to show Him that He’s forever the first portion, that I’m reminding him by sitting before Him of His promise to me, that as I sit, He can fill me and ready me, costume me, put me center stage and put the new song and script on my heart. There was an extra shot of grace because at the Old Mission of Santa Barbara, faith built this spiritual haven – the saints trod there. Grace was flowing. The presence of God and the mystical body of Christ – profound – a manifest feeling of a convergence of collaborative grace. As I looked at St. Clare and St. Francis, God reminded me that when they joined together in prayer, Holy Spirit FIRE! I also like that Saint Barbara is a patron of fireworks because, come on, Lord, through the intercession of St. Barbara, light some pyrotechnics under some of these long awaited promises. Are you feeling me?

The evening culminated with Mass at a nearby parish, where as visitors from LA, we were zealously greeted by the leadership with special devotional books to St. Raphael. On the one hand I just wanted to sink into the anonymity of prayer in a town with no added pressures or pressing in from humanity, yet at the same time I felt like a little schoolgirl getting singled out and receiving a gift at church. After Mass I wanted to retreat more into the word and devotion blossoming from this day and not just toss the gift in the abyss of my giant purse to be lost into time and girlie space. When I opened it and refreshed my memory with the awesomeness of Saint Raphael and the miracles recounted in the Book of Tobit, it’s scripture that we know and have read again and again, but pushing into the prayer fight and little pilgrimage up the 101, God confirmed what He’s doing with these words from St. Raphael:

“Joy be to thee always…Be of good courage, thy cure from God is at hand.”

– St. Raphael (Tobias 9:10-11)

AT HAND.

I could have stayed home to do laundry, that Cinderella spin around a dusty cottage, hit the movies, my dance class, tune out, zone out, get my nails done, whatever. But sometimes we have to get up, move, and go somewhere else to see and hear what God is doing for us behind the scenes. Don’t give up because your miracle, too, is at hand.

Fight on my sweet friends.

Praying for you+

Lexi

JMJ+

54 DAY NOVENA TO OUR LADY QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY

Whoever desires to obtain favors from Me should make three novenas of the prayers of the Rosary, and three novenas in thanksgiving.”
— Promise of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

I’m on the fly but here are 7 quick takes about this efficacious novena to Our Lady that my soul sister and I are going to pray starting Tues. Jan.  24 – March 19th, feast of St. Joseph.

The first time I prayed this novena I was in Palm Beach and my “spiritual mamas” directed me to take my Rosary devotion to a higher level. I didn’t quite understand what that meant since I was already a devotee of Mary and the Rosary, but I took this seriously and I prayed the big “54” in the fall of 2010. On day 55 my life changed forever. God responded in a mighty way and the domino that fell that day was a movement of grace that ultimately pushed me all the way to Los Angeles. LA came later but “day 55” was the tipping move that catapulted me to what connected me to my now so to speak.  As I reflect on that season and consider the “now” of my life, I clearly see Our Lady’s maternal hand in moving the ribbon of my life forward in ways that I could not have imagined or achieved on my own.

Two weeks ago my little sister in Christ (Hi Kelly!)  texted me and asked if I wanted to pray a 54-day Rosary novena with her to begin on January 24, feast of Francis De Sales and concluding on St. Joseph’s feast on March 19. At first I felt a little intimidated by the numbers game, considering the length of an entirely long streak of prayer (eye roll) and already being the novena queen, how about someone else wear the tiara! But then like a rush, I heard God say that He really wants me to be under Mary’s mantle in this new Year and that He wants to show me how He’s bringing everything together. He wants me to know that the results will be from My Father in Heaven and through my Mother. That He’s shaping this year, the people I will walk alongside, the places where I will enjoy new territory and the surprises He has for me. How can I say no?

I believe this is as true for you as it is for me. If you want to join us here’s a little bit about the novena and you can Google more:

1. In 1884 little girl in Pompeii, Italy was extraordinarily sick (dying) – the family had been praying for several months and the child cried out invoking the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary.
2. When Our Lady appeared to the child the Blessed Virgin said “Child, thou hast always obtained favors from me. Now since thou hast called me by the title so pleasing to me, ‘Queen of the Holy Rosary’ I can no longer refuse the favor thou dost petition; for this name is most precious and dear to me. Make three novenas, and thou shall obtain all.”
3. The novena consists of five decades of the Rosary each day for twenty-seven in petition and twenty-seven in thanksgiving, whether or not the request has been granted.
4. The Blessed Mother appeared in a vision on a high throne with St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena.
5. When you pray the 27 days in thanksgiving, pray CONFIDENTLY trusting that God will hear you and answer you. Don’t have a pity party about what you don’t see. God is working for you. BELIEVE.
6. This novena has been called a laborious novena, but a novena of love!
7. Each Hail Mary is a rose you lay at Mary’s feet.

Finally, and not to scare you, the devil HATES this novena. Why? Because the results are certain and generally miraculous. You are turning your will and life over to Heaven to be in total alignment and under the mission of Christ. You may be sluggish, nearly forget and to avoid all that I highly recommend praying this first thing when you rise or setting special time aside. If you wait until night. You will snooze and as my peeps would say “STAND UP” .. sometimes I literally had to stand up and pray the novena to just take authority and make sure it was prayed and prayed well.

Press in for the blessing of 2017. God is on your side! With all the talk about what it means to be a woman in today’s society, let’s seek Heaven for those answers and lean into the Woman who received God’s highest favor. Let this be an unprecedented season of grace as we let our intentions pass through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  (shoot me a message if you need more information)… And fasten your seat belt!

Praying for you! JMJ+

Lexi

JOURNEYING TOWARD JESUS

This year my birthday falls on the Feast of the Epiphany, which I will admit the timing of this has me calling myself “Little Miss Christmas” at this point! Who doesn’t want to be a Christmas baby? Birthday-connected in this manner to Little Christmas makes me personally feel deeply and intimately linked to Christmas and the most ultimate core of who we are as Christians in His coming and in the aha revelation of what the wise men experienced.

The Epiphany of the Lord, or as many cultures associate it as, “Little Christmas” has always been one of my most favorite times during the Christmas season. It’s like a Christmas sneak-attack extended celebration of grace and sometimes prompts just one more family gathering, special dinner, and one or two additional gifts. I love a party and I love presents!

Little Christmas has always been a lure for me because there are these three somewhat mysterious figures that are the central characters with Jesus in the Gospel and subsequent celebration of the Epiphany or “revelation” of Christ. The wise men are enlightened, directed, obedient, (yet somewhat sly )and followed the star to the manager to, according to St. Matthew, bring three gifts to Jesus, each having prophetic meaning: gold, the gift for a king; frankincense, the gift for a priest; and myrrh – a burial ointment, a gift for one who would die.

The Gospel for the Epiphany of the Lord on January 8^th reads like this:

 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

in the days of King Herod,

behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?

We saw his star at its rising

and have come to do him homage.”

When King Herod heard this,

he was greatly troubled,

and all Jerusalem with him.

Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,

He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,

for thus it has been written through the prophet:

And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

since from you shall come a ruler,

who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Then Herod called the magi secretly

and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.

He sent them to Bethlehem and said,

“Go and search diligently for the child.

When you have found him, bring me word,

that I too may go and do him homage.”

After their audience with the king they set out.

And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,

until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

They were overjoyed at seeing the star,

and on entering the house

they saw the child with Mary his mother.

They prostrated themselves and did him homage.

Then they opened their treasures

and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

they departed for their country by another way. Matthew 2:1-12

There is a lot in this scripture, but let’s start here: I feel like the wise men are men who can teach us what it means to be in tune with the revelation of heaven (“we saw his star at its rising”) AND what it means to be in fellowship with Jesus (“we have come to do him homage’) not just on Epiphany, but every day of our lives.

Second and profound: Do you know what prostrated means? The dictionary definition of prostrate is “stretched out on the ground in adoration; or in submission; lying flat.”

Have you ever been prostrate before the Lord? Maybe in Eucharistic adoration? Maybe not. This is a form of total and complete surrender, total worship, total recognition of One higher than you. These wise men KNEW who was in their midst, who they journeyed to despite the danger of Herod’s counter plan. The physical body goes down, symbolic of where our personal will needs to be – in submission to God (under the mission of God).

I want to be a child of the Epiphany, for real. When your birthday lands on this day it’s like JACKPOT. It feels like I’m born of Epiphany and I like to claim that all year long because it’s like a secret of Christmas that keeps on delivering a manifold level of grace – while Herod and his gang look elsewhere to find the Divine Child, this trio is with the infant Christ.

Because one of the most famous pilgrimages in scripture made it into Holy Scripture, clearly God wants us to have a take-away here! We should imitate the wise men is what I’m thinking. God came and He came for us but the wise men embody faith in action – they are men who encounter, men who respond and men who when they see, recognize and bow down. I want to be like the three who laid their bodies and wills down so His presence and Divine plan could rise above.

You don’t need to have your birthday fall on Epiphany to be a child of Epiphany. While the rest of the world dims their Christmas lights and most homes clear out the last ornament and are packing up or trashing their tree, it’s important for us to remain in Christmas. Leaving the season now would be like leaving the ballpark before the game is over. Why to avoid the rush, get the train early and miss the final score and a possible underdog game-changing grand slam?

Here’s the now Christmas posture. Epiphany teaches me (us) that our faith is not one-sided. Jesus didn’t come to just to lie in that manger with Mary and Joseph. Jesus came and He invites US to fellowship with him, He invites US to journey toward Him for a life-changing encounter and He invites US to worship. We have to do our part and move our feet toward Him. Consider where Jesus can be found. He can be found in a Eucharistic Holy Hour, He can be found at Mass, He can be found in the Word, He can be found in the Sacramental life of the Church.

Follow the star. Maybe this blog is your current star situation prompting you to remain in Christmas. Epiphany is this Sunday. Let’s prepare. Let’s consider how we will move toward him, no matter what type of distraction, danger, inconvenience or cost. Let’s bring our precious gifts and fall prostate before Him, giving God our total selves. Our journey toward him may be fraught with challenges (Hello HEROD!) but God will always enlighten us when we come to Him and show us the way to go even if we have to depart by another route.

Christmas. Is. Not. Over. Let Christmastide wash over you. Praying for a mighty revelation for you and for me.

Praying for you+

Lexi

JMJ+

LIVING IN COUNTERCULTURAL EXPECTATION

Boomerang and suddenly it’s December again. For some people, the end of a year can evoke melancholia over dreams and plans not realized and missed opportunities, not to mention the stark reality of the rapid passing of time. For Christians the Advent season that we enter into in the weeks before Christmas is in fact supposed to be preparation for Jesus’ “coming” at Christmas and it’s the start of a liturgical NEW year. New, not old or ending, but, in fact, we are beginning.

The Thanksgiving turkey carcass is barely soup and the twinkle lights have to go up, red and green everything has debuted, the carols are on a continual loop, a mad rush to get homes and apartments decorated, and finally bedeck ourselves in extra glittery get ups. It seems everything we do now in the world is cloaked in the instantaneous because of the rapid growth of technology and our ability to know, relate and consume more and more faster, sooner, always. Insta-everything is not always #Instagood. Plus social media is like a zoom lens into seemingly how much grander everyone else is living which sometimes perpetuates unhealthy coveting and competition.

Growing up my mom told us about how they wouldn’t really see evidence of Christmas until Christmas Eve when the tree would be decorated and their home would radiate at last the delights of the season. A generation older, my grandmother would never see evidence of “Christmas” until Christmas morning when their family would awake to a dazzling display of a fully lit and decorated tree, smells of cooking and shiny gifts. Significant of the glory of God’s coming. Significant of His timing and also a memory of a time gone by when we as a people waited better.

If you are already waiting for God’s long awaited promises for your life, more waiting and a season called Advent can stretch your spiritual stamina at just the thought of more waiting with even more preparation that is proposed when the world seems to have it all now. Didn’t we just have Lent? Commercials, magazines and Pinterest lure us to get this party started! And I’m a sucker for the lights and sounds as much as the neighbor next door, but there’s more.

Advent leads us to Christmas and Christmas is the promise of God for the whole world, our salvation and shared destiny for a heavenly home and a plan to live within the family of God here and especially in the next life. Living new in Christ leads us to the universal call to holiness that suggests that each one of us is called to be holy in the manner in which God calls us to live out our individual vocation, be it priest, religious, or laity (married) as our pathway to this destiny – and that by our Baptism we are missionary (sent).

Why I love Mary, the blessed Mother, so much is that she truly is the most patient of all and lived in radical waiting for God’s destiny and fulfillment in her life, all for us. With out her “yes” to God, we would not be having Christmas. It’s her Advent we should examine.

In those moments when waiting can seem like an impossible feat, I look to Our Lady who was such a vessel of grace and purity that she received God’s favor and illumination of things to come. Yes, Mary, set apart, waiting on the Lord, surrendered to His will brought about a heavenly response by grace. In the Gospel of Luke we hear about the angel Gabriel who appeared to Mary to announce ahead of time God’s plan for her life. (So, while we can ask “Mary did you know?” Rest assured, she KNEW). The good news here is that WE can know too. If we follow Our Lady’s example of prayer, sacrifice, and expectancy, God will visit us and illumine our path as well.

Mary lived in the prophetic. She was an open vessel with a disposition toward the Divine and was in relationship via prayer. Relationship necessitates communication and communion. Here’s what the Word of God says about this act in the life of Mary:

The angel Gabriel was sent from God

to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,

of the house of David,

and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said,

“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly troubled at what was said

and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Then the angel said to her,

“Do not be afraid, Mary,

for you have found favor with God.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall name him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,

and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,

and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

But Mary said to the angel,

“How can this be,

since I have no relations with a man?”

And the angel said to her in reply,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born

will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,

has also conceived a son in her old age,

and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;

for nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word.”

Then the angel departed from her. Luke 1:26-38

This Advent, if you are waiting for the fulfillment of prayers that have not yet been answered, if the world seems to have turned on you and the thing or person destined to or for you appears to be nowhere in sight, or you suffer with an insurmountable struggle, you need only to wait for your breakthrough. You might be in the moment where the angel has departed. You may have a glimmer of what’s on the horizon, but the details have not been put together just yet.

In these waiting days, the best activities of the season are daily acts where we marry our self-will to the Divine Will of God and with that we communicate trust to our Creator no matter what our situation looks like. Mary’s situation to the outside world was a scandal. The world wasn’t privy to what she knew. Trust becomes a key to unlock the promise. Mary initially said, “How can this be? I do not know man?” And the angel instructed, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” That was enough for her. And her response was “May it be done unto me according to your word.” No further instructions, no further questions.

I want Mary’s Advent to be my Advent. I want her trust to be imparted into the areas of my life that are in waiting for the fulfillment of God’s spoken promises to me. The reality here is that once Mary had this big illumination, the path was not paved with hearts and flowers. She received this promise, it was declared she would be with child (the Savior!)… Joseph had to figure out his role in this Divine plan and also hear from God. He eventually caught up. (Matthew 1:20) She was patient with every aspect of the unfolding of His plan like when God’s collaborators had to be illuminated as well.

This profound knowing that Mary received in the foretelling is the hallmark of the Advent and Christmas season and should be an element of our faith that we keep all year long. Sometimes it may not seem fair that we have to wait. But look at the waiting as a sign of your destiny and a season of great preparation to receive the greater. We should decorate ourselves this Advent in authentic preparation for His coming anew into our lives with a power that is transformative. This Advent we should ask God’s grace to have the confidence to truly know that like Mary, that God has called us, destined us, planned for us, will speak to us, will use us, will instruct us, will make us an example in our trials, will ask great things of us, will send us, and He will do the impossible through us in His time.

If you are slow to get the lights up or whatever, go easy on yourself, Advent on and let His plan for your life unfold in this season of unmatched grace. I will leave you with this from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly…. God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.”

Blessed Advent!

Praying for you+

Lexi

JMJ+