The Making Disciples Today Blog has reflections to help you grow in your journey of missionary discipleship, reviews on recommended Catholic evangelization resources, and practical insight on how to evangelize in your daily life.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
An Advent reflection on memory, longing, and the quiet ways God gets our attention
The smell hit me before the cold air even settled behind me. Hickory smoke. Spice. A smell I hadn’t bumped into in years. It landed in my chest before I had time to think about it, and suddenly I wasn’t standing in a little country grocery store. I was eight years old again, listening for the garage door and trying to guess how close Dad was to walking inside.
Growing up, my dad worked at Johnsonville Sausage, and most evenings he brought a bit of the plant home with him. The house carried that faint smoky scent by the time he stepped through the door. It wasn’t strong and it wasn’t unpleasant. It was just Dad. It meant he was home.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
Christmas can feel like a tug-of-war for parents. You want your kids to experience the wonder of the season, but you also want them to know that Christmas is about more than gifts and magic. It’s about a God who loves so freely that He gave us His Son.
I believe that the story of Santa doesn’t have to compete with Jesus. If we use the story well, Santa can actually help kids understand the true gift of Christmas.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
During Advent, we often hear the Gospel stories of John the Baptist, the one preparing people to meet Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel, when the crowds showed up in the wilderness to hear him, they asked a question that lies at the heart of this season:
“What should we do?” (Luke 3:10)
They wanted to be ready. They wanted to respond. And John did not give them a complicated plan.
“Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. Whoever has food should do likewise.”
Before Jesus ever preached a parable or healed a blind man, John was already teaching people how to live with open hands and open hearts. Advent still asks for the same posture.
Not frantic activity. Not spiritual performance.
A steady, generous readiness.
Advent is not a season of waiting around. It is a season of preparing the heart and the hands for Jesus.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
If your family’s Thanksgiving prayer sounds more like a comedy sketch than a quiet moment of gratitude, you’re in good company. The dog’s barking, someone’s burning the rolls, and just as you bow your head, someone yells, “Who’s saying grace?” Stillness rarely finds a seat at the table.
In our family, I usually get the “voluntary” assignment to pray. (Apparently working in ministry means you’re forever it. It’s practically a job hazard.) Some years it’s sacred; other years it’s like being handed a microphone you didn’t ask for. Either way, it’s real life – loud, messy, and exactly where Jesus likes to show up.
Not long ago, a woman at one of our accompaniment sessions shared a story I haven’t been able to shake. She and her brother hadn’t spoken in years. Politics, religion, and hurt feelings had built a wall neither knew how to climb. Then, out of nowhere, he called. He wanted to see her. They planned dinner at her house.
She brought it up during the session and asked quietly, “When is it okay for me to talk about faith again?”
