Say Yes to Holiness Newsletter #360
Inspiration for the week of March 30, 2026
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.
Holy Week has begun.
Yesterday, we celebrated the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and then the ridiculous quick turn of events which ultimately led to His Passion.
It is the institution of the Most Holy Eucharist and Jesus’ suffering and death that we commemorate this week as we prepare for His great triumph over darkness, sin and death which we will celebrate this coming Sunday.
It is important that we do not skip over this week and jump straight to the celebration. If we do, then we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn how to live life as Jesus showed us, and the greatest lesson He bestowed upon us—that it is only through suffering and death that we come to eternal life.
Whatever it is that we have going on in our lives, we need to move through it.
So, this week’s Food for the Head, Heart, Hands and Feet will look to help sustain you to walk through this Holy Week so that each of us is truly prepared to celebrate Easter next Sunday…
Food for the Head
“The commemoration of Christ’s saving Passion is at hand, and the new, great spiritual Passover, which is the reward for dispassion and the prelude of the world to come. Lazarus proclaims it in advance by coming back from the depths of Hades and rising from the dead on the fourth day just by voice and command of God, Who has power over life and death (cf. Jn. 11:1-45).—Gregory Palamas
The raising of Lazarus was Jesus’ final sign that indicated that God truly was amongst His people. Now, for those who had eyes to see and ears to hear, the reality that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah was evident. But for us, two millenia later, we might miss this reality and we need to be reminded.
We need to be reminded of God’s great love for His creation—of His great love for each and every one of us. And there is no greater reminder than Christ’s saving Passion.
The Passion is the new, great spiritual Passover in which darkness, sin and death are conquered, and the rewards of the Resurrection are possible—merely from the voice and command of God who has power over life and death!
God does have power over life and death.
Yet, we forget this reality because we see and hear death all around us, so we forget that God can bring life out of death—if we have the faith of a mustard seed.
We think that we must believe something is possible before we can move through anything, but the reality is quite different. For it is faith that we can do it that makes the difference. This week, we must have faith that we have what it takes to move through the Passion with Jesus.
If we have but the faith of a mustard seed, it will come to pass.
This week, resolve to step out in faith to accompany Jesus and help Him get through His Passion.
Food for the Heart
“Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may go to heaven.”—Saint Rose of Lima
All of us want to go to heaven.
Yet, we try to get to heaven by not having to endure any crosses.
How do I know this? Because we all tend to complain, rail against, and battle against the crosses we encounter in our lives.
It takes a lot of time (and grace!) before we understand the wisdom that Saint Rose of Lima offers here. But she gives us what can help us move through the individual Passions of our lives as well as accompany Jesus through His this week.
To recognize that there is no other way to get to heaven except through the cross.
This week, resolve to accompany Jesus on His Way of the Cross this week while accepting the crosses in your own life.
Food for the Hands
“No one should fear to suffer for the sake of justice; no one should lose confidence in the reward that has been promised. The way to rest is through toil, the way to life is through death.”—Saint Leo the Great
Similar to Saint Rose, yet Saint Leo’s wisdom can encourage us in the face of those crosses that can be hardest to bear—the crosses of injustice and betrayal.
There is nothing easy about being misunderstood, slandered, or being made the outcast. It could be that someone presumed you meant something else, or someone tells a falsehood about you by twisting your words or actions, or through circumstances where you have been made responsible for something you did not do. Worse is when that “someone” is a person you considered a good friend.
But the result is you are unjustly accused and falsely convicted.
In these situations, we must not be afraid to suffer for the sake of justice, or lose confidence in the reward that has been promised to anyone who is “persecuted for my sake.” Any time that we experience the crosses of injustice and betrayal, we are being persecuted for Jesus’ sake.
And how should we respond?
Saint Leo tells us—to toil through.
This is what he means when he writes, the way to rest is through toil, and the way to life is death.
Jesus shows us how to do that this Holy Week, so let us draw close and observe so we may learn how to toil to gain rest and find life through death.
This week, resolve to observe and walk closely with Jesus to learn how to toil through the crosses of injustice and betrayal to find life through death.
Food for the Feet
“O souls! Seek a refuge, like pure doves, in the shadow of the crucifix. There, mourn the Passion of your divine Spouse, and drawing from your hearts flames of love and rivers of tears, make of them a precious balm with which to anoint the wounds of your Saviour.” — Saint Paul of the Cross
Saint Paul of the Cross points toward a reality which many of us forget. That because of the nature of eternity, the flames of love from our hearts and rivers of tears we offer NOW make a precious balm with which to anoint the wounds of our Savior on the cross.
In other words, anything we do this week to draw close and accompany Jesus during His Passion will bring Him comfort during His actual suffering and death two thousand years ago.
Sounds far fetched, but the communion of saints joined together for eternity makes this possible. We step into the eternal Banquet feast of the Lamb at every Mass, and are present at His suffering and death (therein the language we sometimes hear about the “Sacrifice of the Mass”) because of this great mystery of eternal, or kairos, time.
Therefore, let us resolve to seek a refuge in the shadow of the crucifix. Let us mourn the Passion of our divine Spouse. Let our sorrow draw from our hearts flames of love and rivers of tears so that a precious balm is made with which the wounds of our Savior can be anointed.
We can do this for our Lord! We can make the unbearable, bearable for our Beloved through our love and faith.
This week, resolve to mourn so that flames of love and rivers of tears creates a precious balm that anoints the wounds of our Savior to help Him endure the unbearable.
Exhortation
”All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” — St. Francis of Assisi
Throughout this Holy Week, we must remember what Saint Francis tells us—that all the darkness can not overcome a single candle.
We can be that single candle for Christ this week to help Him endure the unbearable.
We can step out in faith to accompany Jesus throughout His Passion this week trusting that He will sustain us just as we can help to sustain Him.
To remember that it is only through the cross that we can get to heaven.
To resolve to accept whatever crosses may come in our lives, especially the crosses of injustice and betrayal.
And to be determined to mourn our Lord’s Passion so that flames of love and rivers of tears prepare a balm that anoints His wounds and helps Him get through His Passion so that He helps us get through our own passions.
This most holy of weeks, I pray that you may do WHATEVER IT TAKES to move through the Passion alongside our Lord, 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!
The Lenten Online Retreat is concluding!
This retreat has seen us read the spiritual classic, Rooting Out Hidden Faults: How the Particular Examen Conquers Sin by Father James McElhone, CSC.
This online retreat included a brief reflection and daily resolution that is designed to help you incorporate the use of a particular examen in your daily life to help you take the next step on our pilgrimage towards holiness. If you are interested, you can click here to go to the Say Yes to Holiness podcast (you can also find the podcast on Spotify and Apple) or watch on the Say Yes to Holiness YouTube channel.
The link above will take you to my Substack page where you can find all the latest podcast posts for the Lenten Online Retreat. If you are not subscribed yet, I invite you to do for free—or you can make a donation in support of the work associated with this endeavor.
Latest Post on the Women of the New Evangelization (WINE) blog:
Harden Not Our Hearts (Mar 9)
Do Not Be Terrified (Nov 16)
Gaining Wisdom of Heart (Sept 9)
Guest appearance on the Equipcast Podcast:
"When God Asks, How Do You Answer?: The Power of 'Yes' with Christina Semmens
Article on Catholic365.com Platform:
We Are All Eucharistic Missionaires!
Latest episode of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast...
Episode #260—”Helping Your Marriage Flourish—1:1 with Katie Zulanas, Executive Director, Couple to Couple League”
Subscribe to the Say Yes to Holiness podcast!
You can listen to the latest episodes of the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
You can also watch the podcast on the Say Yes to Holiness YouTube channel
Click Here to Check Out All the Podcast Episodes
The Say Yes to Holiness YouTube Channel
Watch the Lenten Book Online Retreat—”Rooting Out Hidden Faults” by Father James McElhone on YouTube—Click here to be taken to the playlist
The content found at the Catholic Leadership Puzzle is now going to be in a book!
Solving the Parish Puzzle: One Person, One Disciple, One Leader at a Time is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 21st!
More information will be coming soon, so stay tuned!
The Catholic Leadership Puzzle is a initiative that shares and discusses content from my upcoming book (Soving the Parish Puzzle: One Person, One Disciple, One Leader at a Time) that will be released on April 21st! The book 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.