Say Yes to Holiness Newsletter
Inspiration for the week of November 3, 2025 (#339)
Welcome to the latest edition of the weekly Say Yes to Holiness newsletter—designed to help inspire, encourage and accompany you on the path towards holiness.
Welcome to November!
The last two days—All Saints and All Souls—have been rich liturgical celebrations for our Church as we honored all the saints in heaven, particularly those who are unknown, and then all the souls of those who have died.
In my community, we had a parish ofrenda set up in our sanctuary, and it was particularly special as my husband was made a significant part of the display as you can see below…
A truly beautiful way for our community to remember him, and it very special for me as I reflected upon how our Lord gives us exactly what we need, how we need, and when we need in order to be able to make the journey home to Him in heaven—if we are willing to trust His plan for us.
So, in this week’s Food for the Head, Heart, Hands and Feet we’re going to reflect upon our Lord’s Providence in our lives as we also continue to strive to become the saint that He created each of us to be…
Food for the Head
"Do not be afraid to be saints. Follow Jesus Christ who is the source of freedom and light.”—Saint Pope John Paul II
Saint Pope John Paul II began his pontificate with the words, “Be not afraid.”
Why?
Because fear is what stops us from loving.
And loving is what saints do and how they become more fully who they are.
Fear causes us to not do what we can, because it causes us to doubt how we might do it, and if we are the one who can or should do it.
When we don’t allow fear to stop us, then we are capable of doing great things because we begin by doing what is possible and then we eventually find that we are doing the impossible—and it is these people that we call saints.
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a contemporary of Saint Pope John Paul II and each of them encouraged the other to keep doing what others thought was impossible.
Bring down the Iron Curtain by simply visiting your homeland Poland? This small act by John Paul II had reverberating repercussions around the globe as his clairon call to follow Jesus eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Care for sick and dying in the streets of Calcutta? By being Christ for others in this most intimate moment on the journey of life, Mother Teresa witnessed to others that all people have value, and her witness has encouraged others to care for the sick and dying across the globe similarly.
Each saint has answered the call to follow Jesus in their unique and unrepeatable way, and the result has been transformed mulititudes throughout the centuries bearing witness that Christ is freedom and light in a world of sin and darkness.
We, too, are called to be saints.
We need to not be afraid to follow Jesus and love in the way that God asks of us.
Because when we love as He asks, we then will become the saints He created us to be!
This week, resolve to follow Jesus and love just like He asks of you.
Food for the Heart
"The important thing is not to think much, but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.”—Saint Teresa of Avila
Saint Teresa of Avila speaks of loving much rather than thinking much.
This “thinking much” tends to be an issue (at least it is for me!), especially when it concerns my prayer.
I tend to think FAR too much and forget that I simply need to love much. Instead, I get all caught up in thinking about God instead of loving Him.
Now, Saint Teresa gives us the advice we need to overcome this—do that which best stirs you to love.
What stirs you to love might be a beautiful image, or perhaps it is a piece of music, or maybe it is a poem? Or maybe it is being outside in nature? Or maybe it is a good cup of coffee as you sit in a comfortable chair by a fire?
Regardless of what it is, what is best for you might not be what is best for me to stir up love. Therefore, there is probably going to be some trial and error.
However, the important thing is to find whatever stirs you to love and to do that as your starting point for entering into your time of prayer.
This practice is a way of “priming the pump” in order to allow fresh, life-giving water to flow deeply into your heart and soul during your prayer so that you end up loving much rather than thinking much.
This week, resolve to love much by priming the pump to begin your time of prayer.
Food for the Hands
"I die with joy, for I desire to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death.”—Saint Rose of Viterbo
Do you fear death?
Much of our society does for sure.
How do I know?
Well, look at how our world reacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a world. we pretty much freaked out when we confronted the reality of death, didn’t we?
But the fact is that death is a fact of life.
We live. We die.
However, how we live will determine how we die.
Saint Rose lived in such a way that she did not fear death because she desired to be united to God.
Because this was her desire, she was filled with joy at the prospect of her death because she knew that death was how she would be united with Him.
Do we view death similarly?
Do we see death not as a catastrophe or tragedy, but with joy because death is really the winning ticket for the ultimate lottery?
If we see death not as something to fear, then we are free to truly live because we are not afraid to die.
To live in such a way is a powerful and profound witness to others who are shackled by the fear of death, and this fear causes them to ultimately, be afraid to live the abundant life that God desires for each one of us.
So, how are you going to live?
Your choice will ultimately determine how you will die.
This week, resolve to live life in such a way that reflects that you do not fear death.
Food for the Feet
"When Mary guides you, you will feel no fatigue.”—Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Life can be very tiring, can’t it?
All of the responsibilities, expectations, world issues and the like.
It kind of wears you down sometimes.
It is times like these that we need to look to Mary to guide us.
Mary knows what life is like. She knows how all of the worries, concerns and anxieties over stuff, especially stuff that you have no control of can kind of beat you down.
Could Mary control how King Herod felt threatened by the birth of Jesus? Or whether the Pharisees would feel threatened by Jesus’ teaching? Or whether her friends and neighbors in Nazareth would try to kill her Son because their lack of faith was what made it impossible for Him to do miracles in their midst?
Mary gets it.
And that’s why Mary is the one who can guide us through the trials and tribulations and challenges of our daily life.
This is the power of meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.
When we pray the Rosary, we are reminded of how Jesus and Mary’s lives on earth was not perfect. In fact, it was far from perfect—at least in the ways that most of us think perfect means which is no troubles, no problems, no issues.
That isn’t how this life goes.
But God’s care in the midst of it is what causes everything to eventually come up smelling like roses. (Any coincidence that the smell of roses is commonly associated with Mary’s presence? I think not.)
So, how do we bear with all that we do not like, can not change, do not choose, and do not understand? Allow Mary to guide us.
She will help us persevere in becoming the saints we have been created to be while guiding us to our real home in heaven.
And on the way, she will make sure that we never tire or feel fatigue—just like Saint Bernard tells us.
And that’s exactly why Jesus gave Mary to us as our Mother.
Gotta love God’s plan, eh?
This week, resolve to let Mary guide you whenever the challenges of life are weighing heavily.
Exhortation
"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.”—Saint Pope John XXIII
Saint Pope John XXIII reminds us that it is our hopes and dreams that will help us on our journey towards heaven rather than our fears.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this missive, the Lord gives us exactly what we need, how we need, and when we need in order to for us to journey home to Him.
But we need to trust His plan for us.
We need to be willing to not be afraid to follow Jesus because when we do, we will experience freedom and light.
We need to seek what helps us to love much rather than think much by priming the pump before our time of prayer.
We need to strive to live so as not to fear death, but rather to see death with joy as it will help us be united with our Lord forever.
And we need to let Mary guide us on the way, especially when life is tiring.
May we continue to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to become saints and pray for all souls, so that together we can tell the Master of Death, "NOT TODAY!"
All the best,
Christina
Below are the Latest Happenings In the Say Yes to Holiness Community!
Guest appearance on the Religion to Reality podcast:
Living the Works of Mercy: Bridging Faith and Action
(My comments can be found around the 24 minute mark.)
Guest appearance on the Equipcast Podcast:
"When God Asks, How Do You Answer?: The Power of 'Yes' with Christina Semmens
Posts on the Women of the New Evangelization (WINE) blog in 2025:
Gaining Wisdom of Heart (Sept 9)
The Passion of the Passion (Apr 13)
Bearing Fruit in a Pruning Season (March 23)
Putting Out Into the Deep (Feb 9)
Article on Catholic365.com Platform:
We Are All Eucharistic Missionaires!
Latest episode of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast...
Episode #251
“The Invitation & Your RSVP”
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The Catholic Leadership Puzzle content continues! Here is the latest...
The Catholic Leadership Puzzle is a initiative that shares and discusses content from my upcoming book (also to be named The Catholic Leadership Puzzle) that focuses upon how we each can help to create life-giving communities where we can become the holy men and women that God created us to be.