Tuesday, October 27, 2026From the news

Still Walking Toward the Nations: Strength for the Weary Heart

When a beloved shepherd faces surgery yet prepares to keep his promises, we are reminded that God's presence sustains the weary and that our outer weakness does not have the final word.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

This week the Vatican announced that Pope Leo will still travel to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru in November, as originally planned. He is 71 years old. On 13 October, doctors in Rome operated to remove a tumour from the lower part of his right lung, and the surgery was successful. Reading that news, many of us will feel something tender in our chests. Illness is never a small thing. It reminds us how fragile our bodies are, and how quickly a hospital report or a phone call can change the shape of an ordinary week. If you are carrying a diagnosis of your own, or sitting beside someone who is, you do not have to pretend that it doesn't hurt. Let us begin there, honestly and gently, before God.

What moves me in this story is the Pope's word about the continent he is returning to: a place "where I've experienced so many moments of my life." The article recalls that he went to Peru as a young missionary in 1985, at the age of thirty. He served in Chulucanas and then in Trujillo, and across almost three decades he worked between the United States and Peru. Chiclayo, where he lived for several years, is among the cities he will visit. Many of us know this kind of homecoming. We have places that shaped us, faces we carry in our memory, and we long to go back, not only to remember, but to be reminded of what God has already done in our lives.

The apostle Paul knew something about bodily weakness and long years of hardship. Writing to the Corinthians, he admitted that his outer self was wasting away, and yet he refused to lose heart. Notice how he holds both truths together. The body is real, and its decline is real. But the inner life is being renewed "day by day." Paul calls our present troubles a "light momentary affliction," not because they feel light in the moment, but because they are not the final word. God is at work beneath the surface of our weakness, and the eternal weight of his glory is more lasting than anything the seen world can take away.

The psalmist puts it even more simply: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Notice the word very. God is not distant from us when we are frightened or tired. He is near enough to be found. You do not need to be strong for him to be near. You only need to come as you are, with your worry, your questions, and your waiting room anxiety, and set them down in his presence.

And then there is Isaiah's word, spoken to a people who had every reason to feel afraid: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God." The Lord does not merely send comfort from a distance. He promises to strengthen, to help, and to uphold us with his righteous hand. That is a promise for the patient in the hospital bed, and for the caregiver who is exhausted at midnight.

So let us take heart today. Name the one thing that frightens you most this week, and place it in the Lord's hands. Then, if you are able, look outward as the trip itself reminds us to do. The article describes young people, women who run community kitchens, and members of indigenous communities who will meet the Pope. Their faithfulness in ordinary service is part of how the Church keeps its light burning. Perhaps God is inviting you to be that kind of quiet presence for someone near you this week: a meal, a phone call, a visit, or simply a listening ear. We cannot make every trouble go away, but we can be the hands and voice of the One who is our refuge.