As children, we’re told that monsters aren’t real. As we grow in age and wisdom, however, we know that isn’t completely true. Monsters can take many forms. We have to muster the courage to face them.

Pray

Dear God,
Violence and bigotry
are monsters dividing our country,
but I will not feed them.
Let me be
a source of light
in my circle
and in the world around me.
Let me continue the holy work
of your servant, St. Francis,
who built bridges, not walls.
He understood what many of us
have forgotten:
Grace is found
in union, not division,
and that peace is our reward.
Let it begin with me.
Amen.

Act

What can you do to ease the racial and political divide in this country? Start with this prayer and build outward: Look for ways to be a part of the solution, not the problem.

May that legacy of antisemitism suffer the same fate.

—from St. Anthony Messenger’s “A Legacy of Hate“
by Christopher Heffron

St. Francis of Assisi endured similar challenges we face today: societal instability, apathy, and health issues that threatened his ministry. In times of struggle, let us look to his example.

Pray

God of countless graces,
Your beloved, Francis,
was no stranger to a difficult life.
Yet he was fixed on the light and the end of the tunnel.
He turned to you when he was
lonely, imprisoned, sick, and tired,
because he understood that no
malady was beyond your
ability to heal.
Let me model his fearless
surrender to your will.
Let me follow the path he laid
because it leads to you.
Amen.

Act

Be still. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Inhale, exhale, pray, repeat.

Those of us who are childless, divorced, or unmarried are, like everybody else, imperfect children of a perfect God. Our lives may not mirror what is culturally defined as “normal,” but we, too, know struggle. We experience joy and grief, we sin, we are forgiven, and we walk among you.

—from St. Anthony Messenger‘s “Family, Redefined“
by Christopher Heffron

In his short 15 years, Carlo Acutis lived boldly and loved loudly. Our first Millennial saint can teach us how to follow God with humble steps.

Pray

God of all generations,
St. Carlo showed the world
in a very short time
how to navigate a thorny world
with grace and love and dignity.

I am much older than he ever was
and yet I want to model
such infinite faith
such emboldened love for your son
in the Eucharist.

Thank you for sending prophets like Carlo
who walked with us for only a short time
but who left guideposts
to help us on our journey to you.
Amen.

Act

If you know a young seeker who needs a guidepost to call their own, share this prayer and the holy life of St. Carlo Acutis. His life’s work can move mountains.

As the Church promotes you from blessed to saint, count me among the masses of people of all generations who are grateful that you walked with us in this life and ahead of us in the one to come. You finished the race, Carlo. You kept the faith. Say a prayer for us wounded souls here—that we somehow leave the world better than we found it. 

—from St. Anthony Messenger‘s “Dear Carlo Acutis…“
by Christopher Heffron