Sr. Mary Grace, Sr. Ann Immaculée, and Sr. Marie Veritas explore the profound connection between reverence and chastity. Through lighthearted stories, insightful reflections on Cardinal O’Connor’s teachings, and inspiring examples from the lives of saints, they explore how recognizing ourselves and others as “pearls of great price” can transform the way we live and love. Highlighting reverence for all creation—especially the human person—as the foundation of chastity, the sisters share practical tips for cultivating self-worth, seeing others through the lens of divine love, and embracing the truth that God loves you simply for who you are.

Shownotes

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“God loves you not for what you have done. God loves you not for what you can give. God loves you not for any burnt offerings, any sacrifices. God loves you because you are you.”

Quotes

• “We are going to reflect on this great virtue of reverence, particularly as it is articulated by the way of the virtue of chastity, binding upon all of us whatever our state in lives, single, married, religious, and chastity as a sister of life.
  You can never have reverence for the universe if you’re not going to have it for every human person and for yourself.  And this, to me is the prerequisite for chastity and for vowing yourself to it. It is critical, as I have suggested,  that you have that same reverence for yourself.  Of course, all of us are weak, stumbling human beings with more faults that we can begin to count and all sorts of inadequacies. It’s good to put these in perspective.  You have to have that reverence for yourself.  You have to see that you are the pearl of great price, of which our Lord speaks, that you are made in His image and likeness. The whole world is in you. Christ walks with you and talks with you, and Christ brought you into being in His image and likeness because He loves you for you. Not for your talents, not for your potential, not for any money you may have, not for your educational experience.  He loves you for you.”–  Cardinal O’Connor
  
  
• “When our heart beats with Christ’s heart, we see the whole world differently. We see every human being differently. We look into the womb of every mother and see the image of the Son of God in the wandering word, terrifyingly small in her womb. We see the replica of the Word of God, the Word made flesh. We see in the drunk, the bum, the prostitute, the drug addict. We see in every sinner. We see in the promiscuous, we see in the perverted, the Word of God, Distorted, twisted, but the Word of God.” – Cardinal O’Connor
  
  
  
• “It would be horribly irresponsible to attempt to destroy your individual nature, your temperament. This is what makes you, you.  This is your isness.  You are different from everyone else in the world. You are unique. God made everybody different and this is remarkable. Even the most identical looking twins are different from each other.  Every person is unique. Every person is sacred. Every person is different. Every person is made in the image and likeness of God fashioned after Christ, the blueprint.–  Cardinal O’Connor
  

Challenges of the Week

• Be present to the gift of the people around you. Swap screentime with eye contact! Slow down and encounter the people around you.
• Pray with the poem “I sing of a Maiden”
• Make an effort to go to Confession before Christmas.

The Sisters of Life are women religious, who profess the three traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and a fourth vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life. They were founded by Cardinal John O’Connor in New York in 1991, and received formal approbation as a religious institute in 2004, under Cardinal Edward Egan.
The mission of the Sisters of Life includes serving women who are vulnerable to abortion, giving them the support and resources to be able to choose life for themselves and their children; hosting weekend retreats; evangelization; outreach to college students; and helping women who have suffered after abortion to encounter the mercy and healing of Jesus Christ.