Dear friends: Here is a photo of the four Missionaries of Charity killed in Aden, Yemen, last week, along with 12 other Christian men and women, which was sent to me today by a friend who works in governance in the Missionaries of Charity.
Just a few days ago these four women--Sister Anselm from India; Sisters Margherite and Reginette from Rwanda, and Sister Judith from Kenya--were at their ministries, caring for the elderly in a nursing home. They did so, like all of the Missionaries of Charity, quietly, humbly and out of the public eye. Now they are, according to Pope Francis, "martyrs of charity," and may one day be blesseds. A photo of two of them after their deaths shows them lying on the ground in their blood-spattered blue-and-white habits, still wearing plaid aprons, a symbol of their "ordinary" lives. Their deaths are a reminder that even in our ordinary lives we can be called to give ourselves to Christ entirely. Most of us will never be called to be martyrs in this way, but we can always give ourselves to Christ in all that we do.
It's also a reminder of the many heroic men and women all over the world who are willing to remain with the poor and marginalized in order to love them, serve them, and live out the Gospel with them.
Holy Martyrs of Yemen, pray for us! —

lacum:
Dear friends: Here is a photo of the four Missionaries of Charity killed in Aden, Yemen, last week, along with 12 other Christian men and women, which was sent to me today by a friend who works in governance in the Missionaries of Charity.
Just a few days ago these four women--Sister Anselm from India; Sisters Margherite and Reginette from Rwanda, and Sister Judith from Kenya--were at their ministries, caring for the elderly in a nursing home. They did so, like all of the Missionaries of Charity, quietly, humbly and out of the public eye. Now they are, according to Pope Francis, "martyrs of charity," and may one day be blesseds. A photo of two of them after their deaths shows them lying on the ground in their blood-spattered blue-and-white habits, still wearing plaid aprons, a symbol of their "ordinary" lives. Their deaths are a reminder that even in our ordinary lives we can be called to give ourselves to Christ entirely. Most of us will never be called to be martyrs in this way, but we can always give ourselves to Christ in all that we do.
It's also a reminder of the many heroic men and women all over the world who are willing to remain with the poor and marginalized in order to love them, serve them, and live out the Gospel with them.
Holy Martyrs of Yemen, pray for us! —

Holy Martyrs of Yemen, pray for the persecuted Church in Islamic countries! These Christians sure are today's Church of the Roman catacombs.