In his proclamation titled Patris Corde Pope Francis wrote a document that gives spiritual strength during our pandemic. Early in the document the pope salutes “ordinary people, people often overlooked.” He then lists a dozen workers who “daily exercise patience and offer hope, taking care to spread not panic, but shared responsibility.” The document remembers all the parents, grandparents, and teachers who have shown children “in small everyday ways, how to accept and deal with a crisis by adjusting their routines, looking ahead and encouraging the practice of prayer.” The pope gives “a word of recognition and of gratitude…to them all.” If you have a chance today, pray for parents, grandparents, and teachers. Perhaps give them a tangible sign of your appreciation, too.

Saint Joseph, mirror of patience, pray for us.