Mother, Help Our Faith

When Mary came to see Jesus on time,  Jesus replied that "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act upon it." (Lk 8:21).  We all try to be that mother and brother, but some seem to succeed better than we.   Today we remember St. Maurice and the Theban Martyrs, who refused to sacrifice to the gods to insure a victory in battle;  he and six thousand men were slaughtered for standing strong in their faith.  Today we have some glimpses of those being slaughtered by ISIS, but perhaps in reality, the numbers are as large as this. 
We also remember St. Thomas of Villanova....yes there is a man behind the name of the famous university outside of Philadelphia.  He was an Augustinian who, because of his fervent preaching, is known as "the Apostle of Spain."  Again, he lived these words of Jesus.
Our question for today is, "How am I going to hear the word of God and act upon it?"  We can begin by asking our Good Mother to open our ears and strengthen our convictions so that when situations arise today in our casual conversations we can make reference to God, stick up for our faith, or by little services of kindness to others, make the words of Jesus come alive and be his mother and brothers.
Bro. Rene