The Infant in My Womb Leapt for Joy

A snail on a weeping cherry reflects on the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: "The Word of God leapt from heaven, / Taking flesh in Maryโ€™s womb. / Unborn John leapt with abandon / As the friend of the Bridegroom."
โ€œThe Infant in My Womb Leapt for Joyโ€
A reflection on Wisdom 18:15, Luke 1:39-45, John 3:29
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
ยฉ๏ธ2022 Gloria M. Chang

โ€ฆyour all-powerful word leapt from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomedโ€ฆ

Wisdom 18:15 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised)

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When

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Saint Matthias, Apostle

A snail and crabapple blossoms meditate on John 15:16: "I chose you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last."
โ€œSaint Matthias, Apostleโ€
John 15:16, adapted from the Communion Antiphon
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from usโ€”one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.โ€ And

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Saints Philip and James, Apostles

A snail and yellow tulips recite this couplet: "Hail Philip and James on the third of May, Apostles who followed Jesus the Way!"
โ€œSaints Philip and James, Apostlesโ€
ยฉ๏ธ2023 Gloria M. Chang

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

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Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, Shalom Snail
โ€œHoly, Holy, Holyโ€
Sanctus in the Holy Mass from Isaiah 6:3
Sunday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C)
ยฉ2022 Gloria M. Chang

In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were

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A Light From the Sky

Light from the Sky, Paul's Conversion, Shalom Snail
โ€œA Light From the Skyโ€
A reflection on Acts 9:1-9
The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle
ยฉ2022 Gloria M. Chang

Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.

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God’s Seed

God's seed, saints, Shalom Snail, deification
โ€œGodโ€™s Seedโ€
A reflection on 1 John 3:7-10
ยฉ๏ธ2025 Gloria M. Chang

Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning.

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John Saw and Believed

โ€œJohn Saw and Believedโ€
John 20:1-8 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

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Isaiah 35, Day 4

Shalom Snail, Isaiah 35, glory of the Lord, Advent
โ€œIsaiah 35, Day 4โ€
Isaiah 35:2c
ยฉ๏ธ2020 Gloria M. Chang

They will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.

Isaiah 35:2c

First Witnesses of the Glory of the Lord

About seven hundred years after the prophecy of Isaiah, the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to the promised Messiah in Bethlehem under the protection of St.… Read the rest

Saint Andrew, Apostle

โ€œThe Call of the First Disciplesโ€
Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
Matthew 4:18-22 “in a snailshellโ€
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He

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