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Lockdown—that was the subject line of the e-mail I got at work on one of the last days of school this past May. My heart dropped into my stomach. I quickly scrolled down to read the body of the message, though not entirely sure I wanted to.
“Gym tonight?” That was the text from my friend Krista. And just as Batman jumps into action when the bat symbol lights up the sky, I knew she needed me. The gym is code for, “I need to talk, and I need someone to listen.” She could have needed to talk about her kids, her job, or just the pressures of being a mom. I just needed to be there with open ears and an open heart.
The fact that we would be able to do a little exercise in the process was just a bonus.
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’ “
Near the end of his life, St. Francis was said to have told the friars, “Let us begin again, brothers, for up until now, we have done little or nothing.”
The beginning of the year is always a perfect opportunity to start something new. That certainly also holds true for us here at St. Anthony Messenger. Last January, we launched our complete redesign of the magazine. Other years, we have started the year off by introducing new columns, some of which you still see in these pages, such as “At Home on Earth. “
A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that she wasn’t going to give anything up for Lent that year. She felt that taking a more active approach to the season seemed more spiritually fulfilling.
When I visited Assisi a few years ago, one of the things that struck me was a painting of Mary that I saw at Greccio.
