Deepertruth: Novena to Blessed Michael Mcgivney, Day 8 – A Legacy of Love

“Almighty Father, I place the Precious Blood of Jesus before my lips before I pray, that my prayers may be purified before they ascend to Your divine altar.”

Novena to Blessed Michael Mcgivney, Day 8 – A Legacy of Love.  Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has ful- lled the law. (Rom 13:8)

Intention: For the mission of the Knights of Columbus.

Virtue: Love of God and neighbor

Father McGivney had a genius for turning neighbors into friends and friends into brothers.

He set the example by serving as a Good Samaritan, stopping to assist, binding up wounds, and caring for the temporal and spiritual welfare of those who had fallen along the wayside of society.

In this, he lived out the true meaning of charity — of love: to will the true good of another. Love is a dying to self so that the other may more fully live. Jesus Christ, who is love himself, has told us, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” ( Jn 15:13).

And he showed us the authentic face of love on the cross. By forming the Knights of Columbus, Father McGivney was leading men not only to do something but to be someone — a better person ready to live according to the challenges of love.