Say Yes to Holiness Newsletter #345
Inspiration for the week of December 15, 2025
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.
We are now more than halfway through Advent!
Yesterday, we celebrated Gaudete Sunday—the third Sunday of Advent.
Most of us remember it because of the change in liturgical colors with the lighting of the pink candle on the Advent wreath and the rose vestments worn by the priest.
But something far greater is being signaled.
It is joy.
The joy of a promise soon to be fulfilled.
The joy of darknes being overcome by light.
The joy of knowing that Love Himself is soon to be in our midst.
The joy that comes from living with, in, and through that love in our daily lives.
But we tend to struggle with living joyfully, don’t we?
We forget that joy when our dreams are dashed, when we feel overwhelmed by the struggles we face, when we feel alone despite gatherings of family and friends, or when we are observing all the violence, corruption and greed that is a pervasive part of our society.
It almost seems impossible that joy is for real.
But it is.
So, this week’s Food for the Head, Heart, Hands and Feet will focus on how to live out joy in our lives as we continue our journey towards holiness…
Food for the Head
"There are three traps of Satan that steal joy and peace: Regretting about the past, fear for the future, and ingratitude for the present.”—St. Anthony the Great
Saint Anthony the Great gives us insight into why we tend to not be filled with joy and lacking in peace.
Satan is hard at work prompting us to ruminate and regret the past and be fearful about the future. In so doing, we become ungrateful because we are not fully present in the present.
I think it is this preoccupation with the past or the future that is the root cause of our ingratitude for God’s blessings in our lives and present in the world around us.
We simply don’t see His Presence.
We have regrets about the past and fears about the future, so that colors our perspective about what we see now, and that leads us to be ungrateful.
But we have a solution.
Be present in the present.
Don’t ruminate on what has happened and can not be changed, and don’t be anxious about what is to come.
And when we are present in the present, we encounter the One who is love and joy and peace.
And this encounter fills us with hope for the future rather than anxiety.
The present is called the present because it is a gift.
But we tend to leave the gift unwrapped because we are so filled with regret or anxious about all that we need to be about and doing to prepare for the future.
So, unwrap the gift and enjoy the present.
And be filled with joy.
This week, resolve to remain present to the people and circumstances around you rather than be caught in the past or anxious about the future.
Food for the Heart
"At this point in the season, we always stand teetering between a fuller engagement of the real point and purpose of Advent or getting swept away in the often overwhelming material preparations. Gaudete Sunday invites us to pause in the midst of the activity and breathe deeply. The material celebrations of Christmas come and go each year. But if we let the rich invitation of Advent seep to the core of our hearts, we actually find ourselves freed to prepare more intentionally and celebrate more fully with family and friends.” —Fr. John Burns
Father John Burns is spot on about the choice we have to make as we end into the second half of Advent.
Are we going to double down and stay all in? Or are we going to lose focus and get swept away with all of the overwhelming material preparations?
Gaudete Sunday is that point of the Advent season where we get to pause and breathe before heading into the rush of the final ten days before Christmas. It’s our opportunity to intentionally choose whether we are going to let the rich invitation of Advent seep into the core of our hearts.
If we do make that choice, then we will actually be freed to prepare more intentionally and to celebrate more fully with family and friends.
Can you think of a better way to celebrate Christmas?
This week, resolve to choose to let the invitation of Advent to seep into the core of your heart.
Food for the Hands
"Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could.”—St. Gregory Nazianzen
Saint Gregory tells us what each of us inherently knows, but we often fail to live out.
We inherently know that every gift, not matter how small, to somone in need is worth giving because giving a small gift to somone who nothing means that they now have something.
In God’s eyes, size of a gift is of no consequence if we have given what we could.
Remember how Jesus praised the old woman who put two coins—all that she had—into the Temple offertory?
Jesus praised her because she gave what she could—regardless of how small, and we need to do the same.
This means that we can not excuse ourselves from giving simply because we think we have too little. Instead, we need to remember that whatever it is that we give, as long as it is what we can, then God will see it as enough.
Remember the lesson given to us by The Little Drummer Boy who played his drum for the King in the manger on Christmas Eve. The drummer boy felt he had nothing to give, but he offered what he had—a song on his drum.
We need to offer whatever “song” we can to those in need during these final days of Advent.
This week, resolve to offer your “song” to someone regardless of how good you think it is.
Food for the Feet
"Whoever opens his or her heart to the Mother encounters and welcomes the Son and is pervaded by His joy.”—Pope Benedict XVI
Wondering how to be filled with joy no matter what happens?
Open your heart to Mary.
When you do, you are not just welcoming Mary, you are welcoming Jesus, too.
And you welcome Jesus, you are enveloped and pervaded with His abiding joy.
Simple as that.
So, open your heart to Mary and be filled with joy.
This week, resolve to spend time with our Mother in order to encounter Jesus and be pervaded by His joy.
Exhortation
"Joy does not come from positive predictions about the state of the world. It does not depend on the ups and downs of the circumstances of our lives. Joy is based on the spiritual knowledge that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness, God has overcome the world.”—Father Henri Nouwen, SJ
Father Nouwen tells us the bottom line of how to live our lives each day with joy.
Remember that God has overcome the world.
So, all the ups and downs of our lives, or the darkness that you see in the world doesn’t really matter.
Rather, remain present to people around you by not ruminating on things from the past or being anxious about the future.
Allow the invitation of Advent to seep into the core of your soul.
Offer your “song” to those around you.
And open your heart to Mary so you are filled with His joy.
May each of you do WHATEVER IT TAKES to live with joy, 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 appearances on the Religion to Reality podcast:
Catholic Podcasting with Paul Fahey, Christina Semmens, and Jose Manuel de Urquidi
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:
Do Not Be Terrified (Nov 16)
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 #254—”Created to Create—1:1 with Racquel Rose, Founder of The Little Rose Shop”
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The Say Yes to Holiness YouTube Channel
Episode #254—”Created to Create—1:1 with Racquel Rose, Founder, The Little Rose Shop
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.