There has been a lot going on behind the scenes as I rediscover my writing mojo as well as clarify what I want to be writing about. Lots of Gospel reflections, quite a few magazine articles, and most importantly, a brand new Substack.
The past few years my writing here at Daily Graces has been intermittent at best, and even that is generous. To those of you who are still sticking with me, wow. You are absolutely amazing and I am so grateful for your presence and patience as I struggled to get words to page in this format.
Over the summer, at the Chicago Mariapolis, I heard from a friend about this platform called Substack that I’m sure many of you are familiar with. I knew something about Substack but had not really taken the time to figure it out. The more I learned, the more I liked.
At the same time, I started seriously journaling. With the goal of taking time to journal 4-5 times a week, I quickly realized the things I want to be writing about are specifically Focolare in nature. Focolare spirituality continues to become more and more a part of my everyday life. Looking back on the posts here, that is pretty apparent in the writing I have been doing. My new Substack is building on that and really running with it.
Faith Through a Focolare Focus is my new space. There, I’m sharing about the spirituality in general, but also how it’s weaving its way into my life and bringing a beauty and richness to our everyday ordinary. A lot of what I wrote about here I am still going to be writing about there. But, Focolare will be more seamlessly and intentionally woven in, rather than stuttering and starting like I felt it was here.
Daily Graces has been such a gift for me. I have been writing here on and off for 10 years. 10! That’s crazy! I never dreamed when I started it I would be sitting where I am, writing consistently for 2 different websites as well as contributing to 2 different magazines on top of this blog.
Thank you, so much, for everything you’ve shared with me. For the time you have taken reading my work and sharing it with others. I would love to have you continue in my writing journey over on Substack.
A few details about Substack:
Substack offers both free and paid subscriptions. I am still internally struggling with this but am trying to be brave and honestly recognize that this writing I do is work, good work. Work is deserving of fair payment. However, I also want to build a community grounded in the communitarian spirituality of the Focolare, so I do not want the financial element to be a burden to anyone. I have written 2 months worth of Wednesday Gospel Reflections that are free to read. While they are related to specific dates on the calendar, the words of Scripture are always speaking to us. So even if you read them a 3 months away from their dated assignment, there is still something to hear from God.
Starting in Advent, the weekly Wednesday Gospel Reflections went behind the paywall. There will be some posts each month available to everyone. There is already some content up and I hope you will consider checking it out. The most recent fully post is about the November Word of Life:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Mt 5:9)
This blog will be staying up for the time being, so the free resources aren’t going away. Should that ever change, I will let you know in as many ways as possible.
My thanks, friends, for these last 10 years. I hope to see you over on Substack.
Peace and all good,
Kate
Daily Graces 