In one of his first general audiences after his election, Pope Francis declared, “Evangelization is the mission of the Church. … To evangelize, then, we must be open to the action of the Spirit of God, without fear of what he asks us or where he leads us.”
Mother Angelica has made that docility to the Holy Spirit an integral part of her work since she launched EWTN 33 years ago on Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption.
And that same spirit is powerfully reflected today in the actions of Meriam Ibrahim. As our page-one story recounts, Ibrahim is a young Christian mother who was imprisoned for her faith and sentenced to death by a sharia court in Sudan. She gave birth to her daughter in shackles. After repeated demands by the court to renounce her faith or be executed for apostasy, she refused.
It was only after international pressure that the Muslim government reconsidered and freed her after six months in prison. And her first action upon being freed? Flying to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis.
I’m sure all of us know men and women who every day reflect Jesus Christ and give courageous witness to the faith. Please join me in thanking God for each of them and praying for more of us to do the same.
God bless you!