I do not know how many of you surf the internet or ever come across ENIT.COM but a couple of weeks ago Pope Francis
had a remarkable introduction to his daily words for the world. If you do not get ENIT it would be a good thing to try. You
get the latest from Rome and especially from Pope Francis.
You know that every month we read the standing instructions for all of us active members to reinforce what we have to do
as active members. In the fourth place among the instructions is the one that we have to look at our visitor through he
eyes of Mary and see Christ in hat person as if that is the only person we are helping.
It was amazing to see such words coming from the Holy Father as if he were an active member, sitting in on our
meetings. I do not have the exact text but the gist of it is that when we realize that all mankind is related to us through
Christ we should treat them as if they actually were and pray and help them to overcome whatever difficulties they are
having. In watching the man, it is evident that he does this in his life. He seems to see the heart of people and always has
something for them to think about – even the kids who seem to get to his heart in a special way.
Is it difficult to react to each of our calls with that in mind, but think of what we can accomplish if we try that in every call,
knowing that some are more difficult that others and that we have the temptation not to return to them – but that is not
the Legion way of doing things and surely we would not like if Pope Francis would just write off difficult situations. Recall
the little guy who wanted to be with the Pope while he was giving a speech and he just clung onto the Pope with the hand
of the Pope on his heads – what a sight! Then think of the souls we are visiting and see if we can really convince
ourselves that THIS call is not worth the time to regain it for Mary and Jesus
As I asked in the title whether the Pope is an active member of the Legion of Mary, he sure has the intentions that we
have to live by – and he puts them into practice. Can we really look into the eyes of people and see there the soul that
Christ died on the cross to save – can we really act toward That person as Mary would act if she were in our shoes?
Maybe it would be a wonderful thing to write to Pope Francis an ask him to be an auxiliary if he is not already one. We
certainly can learn from him.
To me, this is where the real heart of a legionary is – not so much the visitation itself but the caring for each and every
member we visit and worry about the souls of those whom we can not contact and gain back for Christ. When you think
of just those in the USA who do not practice their Faith think of the tremendous work Mary and her Son have given to us.
May we always be up to the challenge?
God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!
© Fr Lois Schlangen 2013
had a remarkable introduction to his daily words for the world. If you do not get ENIT it would be a good thing to try. You
get the latest from Rome and especially from Pope Francis.
You know that every month we read the standing instructions for all of us active members to reinforce what we have to do
as active members. In the fourth place among the instructions is the one that we have to look at our visitor through he
eyes of Mary and see Christ in hat person as if that is the only person we are helping.
It was amazing to see such words coming from the Holy Father as if he were an active member, sitting in on our
meetings. I do not have the exact text but the gist of it is that when we realize that all mankind is related to us through
Christ we should treat them as if they actually were and pray and help them to overcome whatever difficulties they are
having. In watching the man, it is evident that he does this in his life. He seems to see the heart of people and always has
something for them to think about – even the kids who seem to get to his heart in a special way.
Is it difficult to react to each of our calls with that in mind, but think of what we can accomplish if we try that in every call,
knowing that some are more difficult that others and that we have the temptation not to return to them – but that is not
the Legion way of doing things and surely we would not like if Pope Francis would just write off difficult situations. Recall
the little guy who wanted to be with the Pope while he was giving a speech and he just clung onto the Pope with the hand
of the Pope on his heads – what a sight! Then think of the souls we are visiting and see if we can really convince
ourselves that THIS call is not worth the time to regain it for Mary and Jesus
As I asked in the title whether the Pope is an active member of the Legion of Mary, he sure has the intentions that we
have to live by – and he puts them into practice. Can we really look into the eyes of people and see there the soul that
Christ died on the cross to save – can we really act toward That person as Mary would act if she were in our shoes?
Maybe it would be a wonderful thing to write to Pope Francis an ask him to be an auxiliary if he is not already one. We
certainly can learn from him.
To me, this is where the real heart of a legionary is – not so much the visitation itself but the caring for each and every
member we visit and worry about the souls of those whom we can not contact and gain back for Christ. When you think
of just those in the USA who do not practice their Faith think of the tremendous work Mary and her Son have given to us.
May we always be up to the challenge?
God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!
© Fr Lois Schlangen 2013