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Sunday, September 1
effective. According to the World Health Organization and Catholic Relief Services, increased use of insecticide -treated mosquito nets that cost about $5 each, increased distribution of rapid diagnostic tests that can determine within 15 minutes whether a patient has contracted malaria, and development of inexpensive medicines for treatment and prevention have helped reduce the malaria mortality rate by 26 percent. Join forces with others to address problems in your family and your community. Solutions may be easier than you think.
Humility is a funny thing. We seem to admire people of prominence who are not arrogant or self-important, and we easily sniff out false humility. But we’d rather not be “humbled” ourselves; it smacks of weakness, and our culture admires the mighty, not the lowly. The sound of the word humility reminds us of its Latin root humus, which means soil—dirt—and there’s nothing “lower” than dirt! The thing about dirt, however, is that it is honest. It is what it is, and that’s what the virtue of humility means: not groveling before others but having a sense of truth, proportion, and balance. I am what I am: nothing more— and nothing less.
Thursday, September 5
Monday, September 2 Christian tradition says we are all called by God—that we all have a role in God’s saving mission. That can elicit the classic “who, me?” response. Why would God ask for your help? What are you supposed to do? The awareness that you are called by God, and the questions it raises, are themselves sources of grace. They help you stay on the lookout for ways, ordinary and extraordinary, that you can help others, empowered by the Spirit of God. How will you respond today to God’s invitation to serve?
A rabbi told a group of visiting Catholics that the name of the Mediterranean seaside city of Tel Aviv translated from Hebrew to English simply as the “old and new.” Ancient buildings there provide the foundation for the modern Miami-style skyline that hugs the shoreline. The juxtaposition of ancient stonework with modern architecture does not cover up the experiences of Jewish history but instead literally is their foundation for generations to come. How can you remember the ancient roots of your faith in a way that also renews it for today?
Tuesday, September 3
Saturday, September 7
Memorial of St. Gregory the Great Gregory the Great was elevated to sainthood by popular acclaim immediately upon his death in 604. He was revered for many reasons but perhaps most admirable was his commitment to the poor. He once wrote of the papacy: “I hold the office of steward for the property of the poor.” During a time of famine, it is said that Gregory would not eat until the poor had been fed and that he invited 12 indigent people to the table when he dined. Pope Francis is calling us once again to be a church of and for the poor. Let us respond in a great way.
Wednesday, September 4 In one of his briefest acts of healing, Jesus cures Peter’s mother-in-law of a raging fever (possibly malaria) simply by standing over her and saying a few words. In the ongoing fight against malaria, which kills at least 650,000 people annually, simple measures continue to be the most
You can write definitions and make charts of the different forms of prayer, but in the end it’s basically what Christian teachers over the centuries have always said it is: awareness of God. The great Carmelite saint John of the Cross called prayer a loving attentiveness to God, and that attentiveness is ultimately an act of faith: You can’t turn to it if you don’t believe God is there in the first place. You are always in the presence of God; prayer, in the eighth-century words of Saint John Damascene, raises your mind to that presence.
Friday, September 6
“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer,” wrote Martin Luther. That level of commitment to prayer may not work into your current schedule, but at the very least start your day with the words, “God, may my prayer always bring me closer to you.” Then offer God your full attention for as long as you are able. Don’t hit the snooze button on your prayer life. Get up and offer God the first thoughts of your day. Your prayer will give you greater confidence in God and hope in God’s goodness. Now that’s worth getting out of bed for. Reprinted with permission from Prepare the Word (©2013)