Today’s Advent reflection turns to Isaiah’s promise that “the desert and the parched land will exult.”
We meet Evelyn, a widow standing at the window of her winter garden — a place that looks finished, bare, and cold. But with one small act of kindness, she discovers what Isaiah has always taught: God begins new life long before we cansee it.

This episode is for anyone carrying quietgrief, for anyone who feels they’re in a season of waiting, or for anyone who wonders if hope is still possible.
It’s a reminder that God works beneath the frost… that love is still stirring…and that what looks barren is never the end of the story.

Celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a story of roses,processions, unexpected courage, and the Mother who walks with her people.Whether you know the tradition well or are hearing it for the first time, thisepisode invites you into a love that crosses borders, lifts the lowly, and reminds each of us: you are not forgotten.

Isaiah 41:13–20

“There are seasons when love feels like letting go,
and the silence that follows asks a different kind of faith.”

Matthew 11:28–30“There’s a kind of tiredness that sleep can’t fix —the kind that comes from carrying too much alone.”

(Isaiah 40:1)

“Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.”
This Advent, we’re invited to hear those words not as distant poetry, but as a promise spoken into our own weary lives.

Join me for A Franciscan Heart in the World, a weekly podcast of quiet reflection, gentle storytelling, and scripture that opens the heart.
Each episode offers a moment of stillness, a place to breathe, and a reminder that God is already drawing near.

If these reflections support you on your journey, you’re welcome to follow the podcast so you won’t miss what comes next.

Grace doesn’t always show up with an angel and a trumpet.
Sometimes it comes disguised as an interruption —
and it waits to see if we’ll say yes.

Romans 15:4–9, , Isaiah 11:1-10 This episode invites us to see Advent as the season when Christ makes room for us — and we learn to make room for one another. Through a simple story of unlikely brothers serving together, we explore Paul’s challenge: “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.” A gentle, hopeful reflection on belonging, humility, and the quiet work that heals the world.

Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6–8

In every classroom, office, and kitchen table, the invitation of Advent is the same —to see with compassion and to give without counting the cost.

“In Advent, God comes to us in the dim light of ordinary days, nudging our eyes toward what we’ve been missing-where we have been somewhat blind.”

Scripture: Isaiah 2:1–5 • Matthew 7:24–27
“Advent doesn’t begin with perfection.
It begins with noticing what’s shifting under our feet —
and turning toward what can hold.”