St. Ignatius of Loyola is well known for founding the Jesuit religious order and writing the Spiritual Exercises. Before he was a devout Catholic, he was a wealthy nobleman and soldier. He was badly wounded in battle. During his long recovery, he experienced a deep conversion while reading about Jesus and the Saints.

While we met Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in the Gospels, we don’t learn much about them, other than they were close friends and disciples of Jesus. We don’t know how they met Jesus or whether they were related to Him. Yet, our Church has designated July 29th as the day we celebrate their lives and the impact they have had on our faith.

Ascension recently published a new guide to the Mass titled “Pocket Guide to the Mass” by Father Mike Schmitz and Dr. Edward Sri. As the title suggests, it is brief and small enough in size to fit in your pocket and carry with you to Mass. The first sentence in the guide asks, “Do we really understand what is happening in every Mass?” That very question motivated my own journey.

Have you ever been annoyed by a pop-up that won’t go away? Or a website where the text blends into the background? These common irritants are just two ways our digital world can be inaccessible to people with disabilities.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee . . .” We know the prayer, but do we know the prayer? How often do we sit and reflect with the Hail Mary? Do we say the prayer or do we pray the prayer? 

God uses challenging people to make us better disciples and, through us, shows the world another way to respond. Other people’s negative behavior isn’t an excuse to forget in whose footsteps we follow.