Five years ago, I launched Smitten with Goodness on All Saints’ Day with trembling hands and a heart full of longing. What began as a personal journey—working out my salvation with fear and trembling and seeking a deeper understanding of my faith—has become something far greater than I ever imagined. A quiet offering has become a place of encounter.
Continue reading “Five Years of Goodness: A Celebration of Grace”
Sometimes my heart aches with longing—for the Spirit to fall, not just on me, but on all of us. There are moments when the lyrics of Bright City’s Come Holy Spirit feel less like a song and more like a cry from deep within:
“Come Holy Spirit, fall on us. Burn like a fire, living flame of love.”
Lately the Lord has been helping me get real with myself. It’s only by knowing myself in a deeper way that I can deepen my relationship with God, and know my true need. It’s the opportunity to grow in humility, thinking of myself less, and allow divine love to stir the generosity in my heart.
Continue reading “Staying in My Holy Lane”
We often pray for God to take away our problems—remove the obstacles, fix the marriage, change the circumstances. But what if the problem isn’t the problem? What if God isn’t changing your situation because He’s trying to change you?
Continue reading “When God Doesn’t Remove the Problem”
During a recent conversation, a friend shared something tender and transformative: that in prayer, God had revealed to her that she is a Daughter of Grace. The phrase lingered in my heart, stirring reflection. What does it mean to live as a Daughter of Grace?
Continue reading “Daughter of Grace: Living Beyond the Ledger”
Today’s Gospel from Luke 18:9–14 pierces through the illusion of self-righteousness and invites us into the quiet truth of humility. Two men enter the temple to pray. One stands tall, listing his spiritual résumé. The other stands back, eyes lowered, heart exposed. Only one leaves justified—and it’s not the one who boasted.
Continue reading “The Better Posture”
Ronald Rolheiser writes, “What God asks is simply that we come home, that we share our lives with him, that we let him help us in those ways in which we are powerless to help ourselves.” It’s a gentle invitation—not to perfection, but to presence.
Continue reading “Coming Home to Grace”
There are mornings when silence feels like sanctuary. Before the news, before the heartbreak, before the world becomes all fire and brimstone. I sink into the quiet Center, and I wonder—is this salvation?
Continue reading “Let This Silence Become a Bridge”
“From the four winds come, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
— Ezekiel 37:9
There is a place in scripture where the prophets cry out to the four winds—north, south, east, and west—summoning breath, life, and judgment to the whole earth. It is a call not confined to one nation or people, but a divine summons that stretches across creation. The four winds symbolize the totality of God’s reach: His message is not local, but universal. His Spirit moves across every border, every language, every soul.
Continue reading “Where the Prophets Call to the Four Winds”
Today, we honor St. John Paul II – poet, philosopher, pilgrim, prophet and Pope – whose voice once rang out across the iron grip of Communist Poland with a message that could not be silenced: God is real, and human dignity is sacred.
Continue reading “The Power of God’s Word”
Smitten With Goodness 