‘They huddled inside the storm door – two children in ragged oversized coats. “Any old papers, lady?” I was busy. I wanted to say no – until I looked down at their feet. Little sandals sopped with sleet. “Come in and I’ll make you some hot cocoa.” There was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks on the hearthstone. ‘I served them cocoa with toast and jam to fortify against the chill outside. 

Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget. The silence in the front room struck through me. I looked in. The little girl held the empty cup in her hands looking at it. The boy asked, “Lady…are you rich?” I looked at my shabby slipcovers. “Am I rich, mercy, no!” The little girl put the cup in its saucer – carefully. “Your cups match your saucers.” Her voice was old, with a hunger that was not of the stomach. 

'Then they left, holding their bundles of paper against the wind. They hadn’t said thank you. They didn’t need to – they had done more than that. Plain blue pottery cups and saucers, but they matched. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job – these things matched, too. I moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my hearth – I let them be. I want them there in case I ever forget again, how rich I really am.’

"Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD , O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed....

Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul. "

(Many of the reflections on each page are used with the kind permission of United Christian Broadcastors (UCB) from their FREE daily devotional - The Word for Today. They allow the publication of 52 of their passages per year and I find their messages apt and though-provoking for the times we live in.)

A Circle of Prayer around the world praying for and with each other, for peace and for a world in crisis. Please read more about it and perhaps join us, prayer was never more needed than it is in these times!

Praying all year round for the souls of our deceased relatives and friends, for the souls of those most in need of prayer and for those souls in purgatory who have nobody to pray for them.