LIVE IT TODAY: Monday, September 29, 2025 | Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels
I see you. I know you. I call you into a greater vision of heaven breaking into your life.
LIVE IT TODAY: Monday, September 29, 2025 | Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels
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GOD’S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
I see you. I know you. I call you into a greater vision of heaven breaking into your life.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
GOSPEL | John 1:47-51
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Nathanael answered him,
“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this.”
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
Heaven opens where Christ is present.
Nathanael begins the scene skeptical, even doubtful, but in one short encounter his entire world is turned upside down. Jesus reveals that He not only sees Nathanael outwardly, but knows him inwardly—his integrity, his story, even where he sat before Philip called him. The Greek word for “duplicity” here (dolos) literally refers to deceit, bait, or hidden agenda. Jesus sees Nathanael’s purity of heart: no tricks, no masks, no manipulation. And because Nathanael is willing to be seen, he is able to behold.
There is a paradox here: heaven opens not to the strong who pretend, but to the weak who are transparent. Not to those who control their image, but to those who surrender their hearts. Not to the hidden duplicity of the fig tree, but to the unveiled faith that says, “You are the Son of God.”
Jesus promises him something staggering: “You will see heaven opened.” This image recalls Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28, where angels ascend and descend on a ladder reaching to heaven. Now Jesus Himself is that ladder, the living bridge between heaven and earth. What Jacob once saw in shadow, Nathanael now sees in flesh.
Families today often live beneath closed skies—overwhelmed with bills, schedules, screens, and silent estrangement. Parents wonder if God really sees their hidden sacrifices: the late-night diaper changes, the quiet tears over a struggling child, the constant attempts to shield their kids from a culture that prizes duplicity over truth. But Christ comes into our homes as He did to Nathanael: “I see you. I know you. I am with you.”
Duplicity is easy to slip into in family life—pretending everything is fine when marriages are strained, saying prayers at the table while avoiding forgiveness afterward, presenting faith publicly while harboring resentment privately. Yet Jesus honors Nathanael precisely because there is no dolos. He invites us, too, into undivided honesty. The domestic church becomes radiant when family members allow themselves to be truly seen by God and by one another.
Parents, today you are called to tear down any duplicity that hides Christ’s glory from your children. Lead with integrity. Admit your weaknesses. Ask forgiveness quickly. And most of all, pray over your children by name, invoking the Spirit to open heaven in your home. For where Christ is welcomed without duplicity, heaven itself descends.
“[…] the whole of man’s history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day” (CCC 409).
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Seen by God: Where in your life do you most need to remember that Jesus truly sees you?
Without Duplicity: What duplicities or masks in your family life need to be confessed and surrendered to Christ?
Heaven in the Home: How can you open your home more fully to become a place where heaven breaks in?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, share one way you felt truly “seen” and known by someone this past week.
After sharing, each family member should place a hand on another’s shoulder and pray over them by name: Lord Jesus, pour out Your grace so that [Name] may know Your deep, personal love today. Free [Name] from every whisper and lie of the Enemy. Strengthen [Name] to overcome temptation and live Your Gospel with joy in daily life. Open heaven over [Name] in our home, and let Your angels surround and guard them always.
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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