"The Courage to Steady Our Gaze"

From a collect at St. Paul's this morning, "that with the Virgin Mary we may have the courage to steady our gaze at the poverty of the world." I am consistently finding sources for entire sermons in a single line of a single collect at St. Paul's. Reminds me of something we often discuss at school as part of the mission of social work, that part of the job of the social worker is to "sit with the pain" we find (thank you, Professor Robyn Golden!). Our self-protective instincts have to be overcome for ministry and service really to take place.