Jeanie Hannaman

By Constance T. Hull, Catholic Exchange - During this Lenten season of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, the Lord leads us to a deeper detachment from the things of this world. He also leads us to a greater understanding of the Church’s mystical union with Him through the poor. The Lord views the poor as Himself, as He taught in Matthew 25:40, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” As demonstrated by her life, St. Teresa of Calcutta took these words seriously. She argued that the correct translation should be “you did it to me.”

By Walker Larson, Crisis Magazine - I’d like to offer an additional suggestion—perhaps the closest thing to a silver bullet that we have: total, radical dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary and an energetic program to spread that devotion—in our homes, parishes, dioceses, and society at large. I fear that our current apathy and acedia might derive from a lack of true devotion to Mary... I don’t believe we can overcome the lukewarmness in the American Church and re-evangelize our culture without her. In the Church, great changes are needed administratively, catechetically, and liturgically. But those large-scale changes begin with the conversion of individual hearts. And that begins with the Blessed Virgin Mary.