Coming Home to the Catholic Church

Author: Mark Melillo of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Queen It starts long before I hit the Church doors. I wake up early to prepare myself with prayer and quiet surrender to the newly emerging sunlight peeking through my window as the dawning of the new day begins.  I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me and ask Our Sweet Mother Mary to prepare me as an offering in exchange of the offering that is being prepared for me by the Holy One.  He doesn't rise with the sun. He raises the sun in silence as a secret gift waiting for me like a parent with great joy wraps the perfect gift for their child on Christmas. The giver of all Good gifts, who never sleeps. Always ready with an outstretched Hand with one replacing the other.  This one is different though. The Sacred Mystery that He is. It's waiting for me on the other side of my front door just around the corner. I leave my house and walk right into the sunlight which now sits high over His Sacred dwelling place, the Holy T...

Since it's June, I’ve been contemplating a lot about the Sacred Heart of Jesus lately, not just the image we’re used to seeing, burning with love and crowned with thorns, but what that heart must have been like when He was still just a baby. In a previous post, I told the story about how the Sacred Heart Devotion is in my DNA , from both of my grandmothers to my mama singing to me the hymn " O Sacred Heart, O Love Divine, do keep us near to Thee... " Then, I saw the post of my friend, Mark , of Immaculate Heart of Mary Our Queen , that had me contemplating on holding the baby Jesus in our arms , all leading me back to His Sacred Heart.  So small. So soft. So completely dependent. That same Sacred Heart, beating inside the Infant Jesus, a baby Sacred Heart, entrusted to the arms of a young mother.  His heart was unpierced then. Whole. Unbroken.  Pure in a way we can hardly grasp. Can you imagine that?  The Son of God letting Himself be held, nursed, rocked to sleep, t...

This morning, my friend Mark , shared a beautiful meditation that completely re-centered me.  It was simple but so vivid: " Can you imagine the Lil Baby Sacred Heart beating in His sweet little chest?" Just those words invited me into something more tender, more intimate than I had let myself ponder in a long time.  A real baby.  Our God as a child, fragile and small enough to be held. I tried to imagine it. I really did. As a mom of four grown-up girls, I can still remember the feeling of holding a baby in my arms. What a beautiful thought. The baby Jesus, His tiny breath, the rhythm of His little Heart pressed against mine. That feeling of being trusted with something so Perfect. Something so full of Love itself.  And almost instantly— I pulled away.   Not because I didn’t want to be close. I did. So much.  But because something inside whispered,  “You are not worthy.”  And honestly? That felt true.  I’m not.   I thought, " How could...

It finally happened. I caught a cold. Since moving to the U.S. in September 2022, I’ve been pretty healthy (thank God!).  But this week, my body decided it needed a break. A near-but-not-quite sore throat, sniffles, sneezing, the whole thing.  Nothing dramatic, but enough to make me curl up with tea and a blanket... and think. What surprised me most wasn't the cold itself but how I responded to it.  In the past, the moment I’d feel even slightly unwell, I’d ask my mama to pray for healing. “Please pray I feel better soon,” My mama would text her friends (prayer warriors) or I'd whisper in prayer. But something’s shifted. Now, instead of asking for the discomfort to go away, I found myself offering it.  In my morning prayer, I always say, “I offer You my joys, works, and sufferings…” And this time, the sore throat joined the list.  It’s a new rhythm of faith I’m settling into where even the small aches can be lifted up. I’m learning that being sick can be mo...

A reflection on how Advent, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost reveal the God who comes close. The Quiet Miracle of a Love That Came Close There’s a line I stumbled today in one of my friend's facebook post from Fr. Robert Baer.  It felt like a soft whisper of truth that just hit the spot as I read and contemplated on it. I sat with it for a while, and then I realized, this isn’t just theology.  It’s my story.  It’s our story.  It’s the story the Church has been faithfully helping us live, through the manger, the cross, and the fire of Pentecost. It’s a love story that’s still unfolding. And somehow, it leads straight to the quiet corners of my heart. When God Drew Near – Bethlehem I love the hush of Advent . The waiting. The candles. The longing wrapped in hope. Then, suddenly, Bethlehem. Bethlehem always feels soft and warm in my mind—candlelight services, carols, and nativity scenes. But think about the wonder of it: God wrapped Himself in skin and came close. “The Wor...

As Catholics, did you know we have a second birthday?  Yes, you read that right. As Catholics, we celebrate not just the day we were born into this world, but also the day we were born into the Church. That second birthday? It’s Pentecost . Pentecost, which comes 50 days after Easter, is the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and the early believers. It’s often called the birthday of the Church , and because we are part of the Body of Christ, it’s our spiritual birthday , too. Can you imagine what that moment must have been like? The disciples were gathered together; afraid, uncertain of what would come next, when suddenly: A mighty rush of wind filled the room. Flames appeared and rested above each person. And everyone began to speak in different languages, yet they all understood one another perfectly. It was in that moment that the Church came alive . The same Apostles who had once hidden in fear were now fearless. Peter, the first Pope, stood up...

Today, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I’m reminded of the gentle persistence of God’s love. A love that never gives up on us, even when we run, resist, or forget. As someone who wandered away from the Church and later came home, the image of Christ with His Heart exposed, burning with love, speaks deeply to me.  It tells the story of a Savior who isn’t distant or disinterested, but One who feels , bleeds , aches , and waits . This feast reminds us that Jesus didn’t just suffer on the Cross; He continues to suffer in His Sacred Heart when we turn away, when the world rejects Him, when we forget who we are in Him. But even in that pain, His Heart remains wide open, offering peace, healing, and home. When I look back at my own spiritual journey, I can see now how many times the Sacred Heart was calling me, through moments of beauty, sorrow, even what seems to be confusion.  He never forced Himself in, but He was always near.  And when I finally turned back, I d...

For years, the Mass felt.. flat.  I didn’t understand it, didn’t look forward to it.  My mom always asked us to join her, when we were younger, we were obligated to. I sat, stood, knelt, and left. Sometimes I would count the minutes. When I left home, I did not attend Mass anymore - for decades. But something changed when I returned to the Church with open eyes and a willing heart.  I began to study what the Mass actually is , the  re-presentation of Calvary , not a reenactment, but a living mystery.  Heaven touching Earth. I realized that I wasn’t just watching a ritual.  I was standing at the foot of the Cross with Mary, offering myself along with Christ. The Fiat Faith (@thefiatfaith) | TikTok Now, I try to arrive early.  I read the readings beforehand.  I ask God to show me something.  I even take down notes during the Homily and some insights I have all throughout the Mass. And I offer everything, my fears, hopes, work, during the Offe...

A reflection for you to think about when you cook your next meal. The soul, like a good meal, takes time to prepare. It’s not instant.  It’s a slow, sacred process, one God Himself oversees. He begins with the raw ingredients: our brokenness, our hopes, our past, our potential.  Nothing is wasted.  In His hands, even our wounds become flavor. Faith is the base, the flour in the bread, the stock in the soup. Without it, the soul stays flat and unformed. Scripture is the recipe, God’s voice guiding every step, always nourishing. And prayer is the stirring, consistent, sometimes silent, sometimes desperate, but always drawing everything together. There’s heat, too. Life brings suffering, trials, delays we don’t always understand but in God’s kitchen, heat transforms.  It softens pride, brings out truth, and deepens compassion.  What feels like burning is often refining. Then comes forgiveness, our own, and what we extend to others.  Like yeast, it makes room f...

Last December 8, I completed something that scared me and deeply moved me:  Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. I had read about it before but thought it was too intense. Too mystical. Too Marian. But as I grew in prayer, especially through the daily Rosary, I began to see Mary not as a distant figure, but as a gentle mother who leads us to her Son.   She isn’t in competition with Jesus, she draws us closer to Him. The 33-day consecration preparation was a spiritual boot camp. I was following Gabriel Castillo's Gabi's 2nd Channel in Youtube which I documented in my Fiat Faith Facebook (for those who want to start their Consecration by St Max Kolbe) It exposed my pride, my distractions, and my hunger for God.   And when the day of consecration came, I handed over everything, my prayers, sufferings, joys, and future, into her Immaculate Heart. Since then, I’ve felt a new confidence in my walk. I still struggle. But I no longer feel alone. “Totus Tuus ego sum, et omni...