Layer upon layer of snow was frozen on the ground as I walked out of spiritual direction.
“Perhaps, God is asking you to bear other fruit,” Father had said to me, and the words echoed in my mind as I held them in my heart.
My heart and my womb ached—my heart over the loss of another baby, our third miscarriage from months ago—and my womb from the chronic infection that the doctors could not help me get under control. Yet, the Lord seemed to be directing my heart and my vocation to bear other fruit into the world, fruit different from the bearing of new human persons inside me.
Today, I am delighted, in a deep, melancholic sort of way, to share the release of my first book, a meditative study on the Gospel of Matthew.
This book is the fruit of my suffering, a suffering I was gifted to learn how to offer with Christ’s Sacrifice for us, the suffering of secondary infertility but also of other multiple chronic diseases.
And while we have lost two more babies to miscarriage since that day in spiritual direction five years ago, I am learning to embrace more fully this call to bear fruit in new, different ways. To share the gift of my prayer and offering, to allow the Holy Spirit to work through me to share the Gospel with you.
So, I invite you to join Blessed is She in praying with the Gospel of Matthew through imaginative prayer. This study divides the Gospel of Matthew into eight parts, with an introductory and conclusory reflection to explain the 3-4 chapters of the Gospel in each part, a daily reading plan, and an imaginative meditation on a passage from each of the twenty-eight chapters of Matthew.
You can purchase the study through my affiliate link here. Use the coupon code SUSANNA10 to get 10% off.
I also would love to share with you the new Blessed is She Journaling Bible. It is the NRSV-Catholic Edition translation, equipped with really helpful introductory information from Our Sunday Visitor and lots of maps. Though besides all of that my favorite part of this new Bible is the soft, leatherette cover, the smooth pages, and the way it feels in my hand as I read it. And the ribbons. I love ribbon bookmarks in Bibles. It can be purchased through this affiliate link.