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Here. At the Foot of the Cross.

Reflections on Faith, Hope & Love.

Love letters to the King...

Sarah Raad

Freelance Writer

When my little niece was born with a rare and severe congenital heart defect, we had no hope other than to prostrate ourselves at the Foot of the Cross and beg for prayers. Somehow, in the days and weeks and months that followed, by Grace and the Infinite Goodness of God, my faith, the size of a mustard seed grew into a tree. Now I pray that this faith, which is such a new and glorious gift for me, will shelter others and give them hope in the Goodness and Love of God.

Thanks for submitting!

Talking

“My soul is restless until it rests in You.” (Saint Augustine).

Sarah Raad

16 hours ago2 min read

Say

It seems to me that the greatest barrier to prayer in my life is not TIME, but rather LOVE.

Sarah Raad

2 days ago3 min read

Really

Relativism says that there is no one truth. And when you think about it, this is the OPPOSITE of what Christ tells us. Christ is the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE.

Sarah Raad

3 days ago3 min read

Sanctifying

“Sanctifying one’s work is no fantastic dream… I am overwhelmed with happiness when I think how true it is that while I am working at the lathe and singing - singing all the time, on the outside and on the inside - I can become a saint. How good God is!” (Saint Josemaria, “Furrow”, at 517).

Sarah Raad

4 days ago3 min read

Poverty

“…‘Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’” (Matthew 19:24).

Sarah Raad

5 days ago3 min read

Bearing

That bearing – that is the gift of the Virgin. And THAT is what I pray for the Grace to bear – the bearing of the Virgin – who brings God Himself to me, wearing a cloak of perfect humility…

Sarah Raad

6 days ago3 min read

Moment

“Conversion is the matter of a moment. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime.” (Saint Josemaria, “The Way”, at 285).

Sarah Raad

7 days ago3 min read

Removing

“You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Sarah Raad

Jan 153 min read

Unobtrusively

When I think back to those times when my children were so young, I am quite overcome by how as I held on to my children so unobtrusively in the Church and when I felt the most frazzled, God Himself, held on to me…

Sarah Raad

Jan 143 min read

Purity

It takes such fortitude – the fortitude of the Holy Spirit – to be able to prevail in this wicked world.

Sarah Raad

Jan 133 min read

Courage

Those small little bits will require a lifetime of courage to master…

Sarah Raad

Jan 123 min read

Consequences

God does not just act for the good of the whole population or in a general sense. But rather, God does everything for the Good of my individual soul.

Sarah Raad

Jan 113 min read

Simplicity

And I have been reflecting on all of that. And yet – in all this power that I now yield, I hold no power compared with the Blessed Virgin.

Sarah Raad

Jan 103 min read

Called

I have spent a lifetime behaving as my younger sister behaved as a small child – hiding beneath the dining room table when my Eternal Parent is calling.

Sarah Raad

Jan 93 min read

Toil

“Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His Body, which is the church.” (Colossians 1:24).

Sarah Raad

Jan 83 min read

Finishing

I am reminded to offer just that little bit extra. Because perhaps – for God – that is the best bit!

Sarah Raad

Jan 73 min read

Adoration

“My Lord and my God.”

Sarah Raad

Jan 62 min read

Prayer

If I cannot thank Him by working, then how ungrateful I must be…

Sarah Raad

Jan 53 min read

Forget

I have come to realise that I am called not to remember myself, but to forget…

Sarah Raad

Jan 43 min read

Friends

“‘I say to you, my friend, arise and walk’ (Mark 2:9), leave that narrow life which is no life at all.” (Saint Josemaria, “Christ is passing by”, at 93).

Sarah Raad

Jan 33 min read

Habits

I am able to form habits – of virtues or vices – all based on the things that God send my way.

Sarah Raad

Jan 23 min read

Start

“Lord, here I am in my wretchedness and frailty, a broken vessel of clay. Bind me together again, Lord, and then, helped by my sorrow and by your forgiveness, I shall be stronger and more attractive than before!” (Saint Josemaria, “Friends of God”, at 94-95).

Sarah Raad

Jan 1, 20263 min read

Care

“And Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?’” (Luke 6:11).

Sarah Raad

Dec 31, 20253 min read

Peace

“A secret, an open secret: these world crises are crises of saints. God wants a handful of men 'of his own' in every human activity.” (Saint Josemaria, “The Way”, at 301).

Sarah Raad

Dec 30, 20253 min read

Quickly

“Go quickly to Confession…” (Saint Josemaria).

Sarah Raad

Dec 29, 20253 min read

Absolutely

My Beloved gives absolution absolutely. And today I can think of no greater miracle than that!

Sarah Raad

Dec 28, 20252 min read

Mother

“How villainous has been my behaviour and how unfaithful I have been to God’s grace. My Mother, Refuge of sinners, pray for me. May I never again hinder God's work in my soul.” (Saint Josemaria, “The Forge”, at 178).

Sarah Raad

Dec 27, 20253 min read

After

This pouring out of the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ and makes us acknowledge that we are children of God.” (Saint Josemaria, “Christ is Passing By”, at 87).

Sarah Raad

Dec 26, 20252 min read

Contrition

I feel such contrition, because it seems that I never thought that perhaps that was the reason that God entered time and space on this day Twenty Centuries ago…

Sarah Raad

Dec 25, 20253 min read

Distance

“The God of our faith is not a distant being who contemplates indifferently the fate of men…” (Saint Josemaria, “Christ is Passing By”, 84).

Sarah Raad

Dec 24, 20253 min read

Quiet

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” (Victor Frankl, “Man’s Search for Meaning”).

Sarah Raad

Dec 23, 20253 min read

Personal

Understanding the personal nature of my relationship with God means that I can understand how God loves me PERSONALLY.

Sarah Raad

Dec 22, 20253 min read

Lunch

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:26-27).

Sarah Raad

Dec 21, 20253 min read

Slaves

It is with great shame that I think I have spent a lifetime seeking idols to worship rather than slaves with whom to pray…

Sarah Raad

Dec 20, 20252 min read

Chattering

“You are asking for something that would be harmful to your salvation if you had it – so by not getting what you've asked, you really are getting what you want.” (Saint Catherine of Sienna).

Sarah Raad

Dec 19, 20253 min read

Preach

“Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.” (Saint Charles Borromeo).

Sarah Raad

Dec 18, 20253 min read

Work

I have found myself wondering over the years how many businessmen become Saints.

Sarah Raad

Dec 17, 20252 min read

Hidden

“Mary, teacher of the sacrifice that is hidden and silent! See her, nearly always in the background, co-operating with her Son; she knows, yet says nothing.” (Saint Josemaria, “The Way”, at 509).

Sarah Raad

Dec 16, 20253 min read

Heavy

“The Cross is not pain, or annoyance, or bitterness. It is the holy wood on which Jesus Christ triumphs... and where we triumph too, when we receive what He sends us with cheerful and generous hearts.” (Saint Josemaria, “The Forge”, at 788).

Sarah Raad

Dec 15, 20253 min read

Near

“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25).

Sarah Raad

Dec 14, 20253 min read

Worth

My faith has made me strong enough and humble enough to trust in God whether He walks into my home or not!

Sarah Raad

Dec 12, 20252 min read

Lukewarm

“All the graces that I pour out upon them flow off them as off the face of a rock. I cannot stand them, because they are neither good or bad.” (Saint Faustina, “Diary”, Entry 1702).

Sarah Raad

Dec 11, 20253 min read

Time

For now, I must work – for I have no time to waste…

Sarah Raad

Dec 10, 20253 min read

Really

I have been thinking of that – that terrible suffering – as I have been reflecting that I really REALLY want to be a Saint!

Sarah Raad

Dec 9, 20253 min read

Interior

“I see clearly with the interior eye, that the sweet God loves with a pure love the creature that He has created, and has a hatred for nothing but sin, which is more opposed to Him than can be thought or imagined.” (Saint Catherine of Genoa).

Sarah Raad

Dec 8, 20253 min read

Temple

“‘‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Matthew 21:14).

Sarah Raad

Dec 6, 20252 min read

Sensed

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26).

Sarah Raad

Dec 5, 20253 min read

Darkness

If I died tomorrow, then that is because my death at that time and place would result in the best possible ETERNAL outcome for myself and my children and perhaps for a million billion other souls.(Matthew 19:26).

Sarah Raad

Dec 4, 20253 min read