Divine Mercy is–

A promise.

Loving.

Infinite.

Dynamic.

Peaceful.

I am a pilgrim of mercy.

The year was 1979. The 69-year-old woman, just 4' 11'' tall, stepped forward to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite her modest height, she was a towering figure. Her face instantly recognizable as one of the most famous women in the world. It was Mother Teresa. The audience was made up of Norwegian royalty, the Nobel Committee, international leaders, dignitaries and diplomats, religious and humanitarian leaders, and the whole world via television. Her mere presence had the power to silence a room, but on this occasion, she was met with a thunderous standing ovation. What would Mother Teresa say? There was massive speculation. It would be one of the most listened to speeches in history. "Let us all together thank God for this beautiful occasion where we can altogether proclaim the joy of spreading peace," she began. The crowd fell silent and listened with awe. Mother Teresa shared how the mercy of God was central to her ministry with this story. One evening, a man came to the mother house in Calcutta and explained to Mother Teresa and the other sisters, "There is a Hindu family and the eight children have not eaten for a long time. Do something for them." "I took rice and went immediately," Mother Teresa explained.

"And there was the mother and her children with shining eyes from sheer hunger. The mother took the rice from my hands and divided it into two portions. She gave one portion to her children, and then she left the house." When the mother came back, Mother Teresa asked her, "Where did you go? What did you do?" "The Muslim family next door. They are hungry also," the mother explained. "What surprised me most was not that she gave the rice," Mother Teresa noted in her speech, "but that in her suffering, in her hunger, she knew that somebody else was hungry, and she had the courage to share." Mother Teresa's witness that night was mesmerizing, not because she was putting on a show for one night, but because it was a reflection of her life. Her life was mesmerizing, and yet, so much of the world looked away. I hope you and I won't look away as we explore the seven corporal works of mercy this week. 1 billion people on the planet are chronically hungry. This is a sanitized way of saying there are 1 billion people on the planet starving to death. 25,000 people die every day of hunger in this world, in our day and age, on our watch. By the time I finish this sentence, someone somewhere in the world will have died of starvation. And you don't have to go to the other side of the world to find people who are starving. In the United States, 47 million people face food insecurity, including 1 in 5 children. How is that possible? And still, we are constantly congratulating ourselves on the progress we have made There are a lot of people hungry just for food. I know the problem is more complicated than just giving them food. I just pray we have the courage to stare the problem in the face, the compassion not to look away. Skip a meal today and meditate on what it is like to be desperately and hopelessly hungry. Meditate on these words. Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Mercy is love reaching out to misery. There is so much misery in our world. We need to do more. Our awareness of other people's hunger can be dubbed by our own hunger. We may not be hungry for food, but hunger for food is only one of the many forms of hunger that plague our world. Mother Teresa observed, "We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty." She also wrote, "There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives, the pain and the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor, you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them." There are so many types of hunger: physical hunger, emotional hunger, spiritual hunger, hunger for knowledge, hunger for truth, the existential hunger for meaning and purpose, hunger for peace, justice. And as Mother Teresa points out, we are all hungry for love. Do you know what you are hungry for? We're all hungry for something. Figuring out what we are really hungry for is one of the great spiritual quests of life. To be human is to be hungry. It takes an incredible spiritual awareness to work out what we are really hungry for. We may think that our hunger is for one thing, but once we have that or our fill of that, we discover that the hunger is still there and deeper than ever before. Growing spiritual awareness leads us to the understanding that every yearning is in some mysterious way a yearning for God. God speaks to us in our hunger. He uses our hunger to teach us and guide us. And He speaks to us through other people's hunger. Mercy is always an invitation to a better life in large ways and small ways. Feeding the hungry isn't just about food. It's about nourishing hope, restoring dignity, and sharing the love that transforms lives. Mercy is love reaching out to misery. Feeding the hungry is mercy in action. Saint Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us. Trust, surrender, believe, receive. Are you sick and tired of hearing people say mass is boring? We want to eradicate those words from the Catholic vocabulary forever. Our Catholic Moments Initiative has already delivered groundbreaking programs for Confirmation, First Communion, First Reconciliation, daily prayer, Baptism, marriage preparation, and the fourth quarter of your life. And this year, we're excited to announce we're creating a game-changing program that will transform the way Catholics, young and old, experience the mass. Nobody who experiences this program will ever say, "Mass is boring," ever again. Everyone knows that mass is boring epidemic is a huge problem. The question is, who's willing to do something about it? If you are a Dynamic Catholic Ambassador, thank you. And this is what we are spending your money on this year. If you are not a Dynamic Catholic Ambassador, become one today. And together, let's eradicate mass is boring from the Catholic vernacular. Click the button below and choose your welcome gifts today. If you're already an Ambassador, increase your gift, and we will send you these exciting new gifts also. Thank you for partnering with us to put an end to mass is boring. God bless you. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

Eternal God.

In whom mercy is endless.

And the treasury of compassion inexhaustible.

Look kindly upon us.

And increase your mercy in us.

That in difficult moments–

We might not despair.

Nor become despondent.

But with great confidence.

Submit ourselves to your holy will.

Which is love and mercy itself.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

See you tomorrow.

Thank you, Ambassadors.

You are changing the world. Have a great day. Have a great day.

Have a great day!

Hey, Isabel. One of the best ways to be a pilgrim of mercy is to collaborate with God to create holy moments. So I figured, while we have a couple of minutes, you could inspire the audience to create some holy moments. So what is today's Holy Moment Challenge?

Today's Holy Moments Challenge is fast for something small today.