Pause+Pray

The Blessed Mother brings us so much joy and peace. Reflect on how she has been there for you, offering you a mother’s love and comfort.

Quite often it is the unknown that we fear most. Many of us imagine we can bear almost anything if we know what to expect.  But that isn’t how God works.

Lady Jacoba (now Blessed Jacoba) was deeply struck by St. Francis of Assisi and consequently became a Third Order Franciscan. She kindly offered one special luxury to the humble man of Assisi.

Punish me not … for my inadvertent offenses.” —Tb (3:3b) What a great plea from the Old Testament figure, Tobit!

Bryan Stevenson, an African-American, Harvard-trained attorney, writes: “The people who haven’t earned it, who haven’t even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion… “

When you think of the poor, is it someone unknown to you in a faraway land? That may be true, but that kind of thinking also puts a buffer between ourselves and those in need.