Hi!
Our family is a big fan of Sr. Miriam James Heidland! I especially loved going through the Marian Consecration on Hallow which was guided by her and I love the Abiding Together Podcast which she is a part of!
Recently, she spoke at a local church, one that some of our friends go to. She was talking about healing and hope in the year of the Jubilee! They were also having Adoration and Confession after her talk.
My dad, Ben and I got to go! Unfortunately, my sister Ro was sick and so her and my mom had to stay back which was a big bummer. We recorded the talk so they could listen to it which was good. I’m also glad we did so that the rest of us can go back to it again, we probably wouldn’t have recorded it if Ro and Mom hadn’t stayed back so there was some good that came out of that!
But I’m grateful that we still got to go! We’ve never seen her in person before, I was super excited for it! I love seeing people who I’m a big fan of in person, I tend to geek out a lot!
Overall, it was a really amazing experience. I geeked out when I kept spotting her before the speech! God really talked to me and helped me during the guided prayer time she started the talk with. Her actual speech was amazing, I loved it and I got a lot from it. Adoration was also nice.
What’s something you liked about it (and why)? To top off the whole night… as we were walking out of the church Dad asked, “Want to meet Sr. Miriam?” He must have seen her or knew or assumed she was still in that area on the side of the church that she went off to. I did want to but was also very nervous and kind of didn’t want to! But a couple seconds after he said that, we were there and she was right ahead of us! She was saying hello to someone else and then we walked up to her. Dad shook her hand and said something to her about me being a big fan! He thanked her for her ministry and I shook her hand! I said it was nice to meet her and I thanked her. She smiled super big at me when she heard I was a big fan. I was surprised at how skinny and tall she was and how her hand was so slender and skinny. I loved this all because like I said, I geek out at this stuff and she just radiated so much joy and peace. It was very cool getting to meet her and shake her hand. And I was not expecting we’d do that! So yes, that was the cherry on top.
What’s something you disliked about it (and why)? The main thing I disliked was that Mom and Ro couldn’t go. I know my mom was really looking forward to it and it would have been even more fun to share that experience with them.
I also had a pretty bad headache in Adoration, which wasn’t really anything I could control and it was God’s will, it just wasn’t very nice and made it hard to pray and focus in Adoration. To be fair, I wasn’t doing my best in prayer during Adoration, there was some stuff that Jesus was talking to me about during the guided prayer time and speech and I knew I should focus on that but I was kind of avoiding it. Even still, I wish I wouldn’t have had that headache. It might have been because of the aroma of incense in the church, they hadn’t used much before that point but I know they use a lot in that church at other times!
What was your biggest takeaway or lesson? There were so many takeaways, wow! I’ve since listened to her talk again and wrote down what stood out to me. One of the biggest takeaways from it for me was how this year of the Jubilee is filled with so many graces. I have experienced a lot of cool moments and graces already this year and I really want to tap into that more for myself and others, because she said it’s filled with, especially, the graces of hope and conversion I think? I could be wrong but that would make sense! I’d like to help others experience these graces too!
Again, God really spoke to me through the guided prayer time we had at the start of the talk so stuff from that was a big takeaway. A few other lines that really stood out to me was how the season of spring is like a foretaste of Heaven! This meant a lot today especially, since it was one of the nicest days we’ve had so far! I liked the line, “We don’t hope in outcomes, we hope in Jesus Christ.” And also how at the foot of each of our crosses, we will find Mary. There were so many other lines and takeaways from this talk!
I kept thinking that night about how she is so beautiful! She is very beautiful in appearance, but also in her faith and virtue! She just radiates joy and you can tell she’s deeply filled with God’s peace. She’s got such a beautiful relationship with God. And this beauty that emanates from her isn’t because of what she wears, what her hair looks like or because she wears makeup. It’s so natural and just so gorgeous. Since then, as I’m writing this, just this morning I was reading 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory and it asked if I’m a pilgrim or a tourist on this pilgrimage of life. I realized that Sr. Miriam is a pilgrim. She is filled with such peace, she’s not frazzled but is focused on the few things God has called her to. She’s very aware of other’s needs. She is such a beautiful example of this. Seeing this true beauty was definitely one of my biggest lessons.
One other lesson for me is to bring a journal and something to write with to things like this! They did give you a little handout which had two pages of lines for notes, but I didn’t have a pen. It didn’t really matter much this time since we have the recording to go back to, but I want to remember this for the future!
What is something you’re curious to learn more about as a result of this experience? I’ve been wanting to learn more about the following stuff before this event, partially because of hearing her on Abiding Together and being at these two very traditional parishes two days in a row (we were at their other parish for a fundraiser I helped with the day before) so it probably wasn’t just a result of this experience. But I’d really like to learn more about all the work Sr. Miriam does and what her daily life is like. I’d especially like to learn about the group she is a part of, Friends of the Bridegroom. It seems very cool!
I’d also like to learn more about Mary, especially from Sr. Miriam! I love how she talks with so much love and affection about Mary and calls her our Mama. I oftentimes have a hard time seeing Mary like that. I’ll be renewing my consecration to Mary soon which is guided by Sr. Miriam so that’ll good to experience Sr. Miriam’s love for her and be reminded of neat things about Mary. But I’d be interested in learning more about her in other ways and from other people too.
Thank you for reading!
Lucy