Priest Prisoner continues his discussion on “52 Weeks with Saint Faustina”

November 7, 2019 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

Father Gordon MacRae continues his discussion in a blog post at “These Stone Walls.” Among other things, he said:

“Donna-Marie writes of the “tremendous transforming power” of our works of mercy, but that transforming power is not only directed to the recipients of our mercy. It transforms us as well. I do not recommend picking up hitchhikers but the young man who stopped on my road to Jericho that night was also transformed by his own work of mercy. And I was transformed by the one that resulted in my being stranded on that road…”

Are you intrigued? Well, you can read his blog post here.

Pausing and Praying for Strangers

November 9, 2017 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

I love meeting people along the way in my travels. As I often say, there are no coincidences in life. I met this man at the airport before boarding my flight to New York from Wisconsin. As he approached, sweeping up little pieces of debris with his worn out straw broom, I thanked him for his hard work. I had been in the company of dear Father John Hardon, S.J. on many occasions when he thanked cleaning women and janitors for their work. You see, Fr. Hardon’s mother was a cleaning woman and he made it a point to thank people who work hard to keep our surroundings clean. So, I was thinking of Father, using “a page from his book” as that man approached. My heart went out to that man. He stopped for a moment and thanked me, seemingly very surprised that I would complement him on his work and even thank him. He said it’s extremely rare for him to get a compliment.

So, we got to talking. I love when a conversation unfolds with a stranger. Or, someone whom Mother Teresa would call “Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.“ I shared a bit about my faith with this man. He told me he is an ex Catholic. I gave him one of my Mother Teresa prayer cards which shows her holding my son. It has a prayer on the back that I wrote. He looked carefully at the card and then placed it in his cart. I just love how he put it there in his cart facing him.

And then I ventured to offer him a blessed Miraculous Medal even though he is an ex Catholic—he accepted it. He said he is saved by Jesus. I told him that it was Jesus‘s mother on the medal. He took it from me and placed into his pocket and told me he would get in touch with me later on. I gave him my business card. We talked a bit more and then I needed to head toward security to eventually board my delayed flight. That is another story about the searches, getting stuck in the air for a while, etc. ?

I prayed a rosary on my flight specifically for this man. I also prayed hard for the man I met a bit later–the one who yelled at me when I was putting my carry-on luggage into the overhead bin when boarding the flight. He was in a mad rush and acted very mean and rude toward me, trying to push me out of his way. I told him–very calmly in a quiet voice, “It will be OK.“ because I knew he was steaming mad and I tried to defuse it, or at least help him to feel better in some way. But, he shot back, “No! It won’t be OK!” And he continued yelling all the way down the aisle to his seat, saying unkind things about me. His wife tried to calm him down, but this man was very angry at me for some reason. However, despite the uncomfortable feeling in being a convenient scapegoat for him, it gave me a wonderful opportunity to want to pray for the angry man. God knows just what He needs and I pray to be a little instrument of God’s love.

No doubt about it, God places these people in our lives for a reason. Will we venture to push a bit beyond our comfort zones to minister to the walking wounded? Everyone has a story. Everyone is loved by God. God asks the faithful to minister to His children. A kind word or gesture, sharing our faith with strangers when possible–all help to transform hearts and souls–including our own! Many times, small acts of love can bring hope to someone’s troubled heart and soul.

Be attentive! Look up from your devices and phones and see who it is, perhaps standing before you or close by that God wants you to minister to. Remember too, that Mother Teresa had said, “Love begins at home.” Let’s also be sure not to neglect our own families and the needs there at home by running off to save the world.

How can we show mercy to others?

June 17, 2016 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

I recently briefly discussed the Works of Mercy on my continuing series “Mother Teresa and Mercy” on the Son Rise Morning Show. Sometimes, I think that parents and grandparents believe they must carry out huge endeavors to accomplish a Work of Mercy. But I think not.

I do wholeheartedly admit that many times while the Work of Mercy we want to do might not be so “ginormous,” we often must put a lot (or maybe a HUGE amount) of effort into our Work of Mercy. That is because in a family we are dealing with delicate or very personal matters of the heart that can sometimes involve pain or heart ache. On a lesser level, the situations can involve the butting of heads, of egos, and even stubborn grudges.

Showing mercy, offering forgiveness, and bearing wrongs patiently can be really tough to do in the family, but they are essential to our true happiness and our growth in holiness.

Take a listen here when you have about 10 minutes. Slide the marker to the “17:50” mark to hear just my segment (at the end of the show) or listen to the whole thing. I hope that you will enjoy my discussion with the lovely Anna Mitchell!

So happy to offer “holy” scarves to the homeless!

November 12, 2015 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

The first two scarves have arrived!

“This is the fasting that I wish: Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them.” (Is 58:6-7)

I am so happy that the first donation of scarves has arrived! I recently started a ministry to the homeless called “Warming the Homeless with LOVE, Scarves, and Sacramentals.” I will be attaching a blessed Miraculous Medal and a blessed St. Benedict Medal (which has a full exorcism blessing on it) to each scarf.

I am praying that not only will the scarves help to keep the homeless warm this winter, but will also keep them protected, and even inspired due to the attached holy sacramentals. I plan to have the scarves (hats, and gloves) blessed ahead of time with holy water too. And when possible, blessed by a priest.

Here is the blog post in which I told about a homeless man named Andrew, the new ministry, and how one can donate new or gently used (and freshly washed) scarves, hats, or gloves that I will give out to the homeless.

You can share in this “Works of Mercy” ministry by praying about helping, praying for the ministry, and especially for the homeless. And, hopefully, by sending your donations of new or very gently used (and clean) scarves, hats, and gloves to me at: PO Box 773, New Milford, CT 06776.

ANOTHER WAY to join in this “Work of Mercy” is to get together in your own area with people who would like to crochet or knit scarves for the homeless. Imagine the beautiful fellowship that can unfold as you chat and pray, and knit or crochet away! I recommend that you start with a prayer when you gather together. Or, purchase or collect donations of scarves, gloves, and hats (or from your own closet) and attach blessed Miraculous Medals on them (and hopefully a blessed St. Benedict medal too). You can get them at my website or elsewhere. My medals have FULL blessings upon them. If you decide to do this, please let me know in the comments section, or you may email me: DMCOBoyle@aol.com.

Thank you very much in advance. God bless you!

PS Look what just arrived–a big box filled with homemade scarves!! I will get busy sewing the blessed medals onto these beautiful hand-made scarves.

Gorgeous homemade scarves donated to the ministry!

Please pray for me as I will be going out in a couple of days into a couple of big cities to gift these warm scarves to the needy.

So many beautiful scarves!

“Whatever you do to the least of my brothers you do to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Warming the homeless with LOVE, scarves, and sacramentals.

November 2, 2015 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

My heart goes out to the needy and less fortunate–especially at this time of year. I always enjoy this beautiful season of Autumn. But, in my humble opinion, there is a problem with this glorious Fall season in my part of the world. It’s that winter and its freezing weather never fail to be not too far behind.

I am not particularly fond of the cold weather. But, more than that, I am concerned for the poor and homeless who are cold and needy.

The other day, I had a beautiful encounter with a couple of homeless men in which I offered a bit of monetary help and blessed sacramentals from our Church. I was very happy to see Andrew and his friend so that I could converse with Andrew again even briefly. I had met him a few weeks ago when I was passing through his town. That story is here. Perhaps you should take a look at that brief story first before continuing.

I had been hoping I’d see Andrew again when I would travel through that town. He had been in my thoughts and prayers. I wanted to see how he was doing and perhaps offer him a little something to eat, or a little money, or something to keep him warm.

In fact, with Andrew in mind, I dug around a bit in my hall closet and pulled out a scarf that my husband had not worn in years and I asked him if I could give it away to a homeless man. I thought I could bring it with me when we went back up to that area of Massachusetts. Well, Dave said he wanted to hang onto that particular scarf. So, I didn’t push the issue. But something was definitely brewing in my heart.

Recently, when passing through that area, I purposely strolled over to the area where I had met Andrew a few weeks ago. I was so delighted to see him again and I told him that I remembered that his name was Andrew.

He lit right up.

Then, he got right up from the sidewalk and reached into his pocket to pull out the blessed medals I had given him a few weeks ago. Wow. He said he always keeps them with him in his pocket. My heart was secretly soaring. And, I told him that I was happy that he still had the blessed medals. We chatted a few minutes and then I gave each of the homeless men a dollar bill. I handed the scruffy-looking man with the nose ring who was sitting next to Andrew, two of the same kinds of blessed medals that I had given to Andrew previously. He seemed very happy to receive them. I told him that they were powerful medals.

I pray that God blesses these men and all those who are living on the streets.

Sharing an Inspiration

I have an inspiration to do something to help keep our brothers and sisters warm. I would like to give warm scarves to the homeless that I will have attached blessed medals onto in advance. Of course, I’ll still be handing out the blessed medals to people I meet when I am inspired to do so. But, giving out the scarves is a way to help the needy to stay warmer, as well as have the protection of the blessed medals too.

Do you have a winter scarf hanging around? Maybe there are too many in your closet and it’s a good time to de-clutter. Would you like to donate a scarf to help keep someone warm?

Do you crochet or knit? Would you like to make a scarf for the homeless? Or perhaps you would like to buy a scarf for the homeless. If you’d like to help in some way, you can send your scarves to me at: PO Box 773, New Milford, CT 06776. I will add the blessed sacramentals (a Miraculous Medal and a St. Benedict medal that has the FULL exorcism blessing on it) to the scarves and give them to the homeless and will find ways to distribute them.

In addition, if you’d like to donate adult sized warm gloves or mittens, please feel free to send them along too.

God bless you for considering helping and also for praying for the homeless and less fortunate.

Remember that Jesus continually teaches us in the Gospel of Matthew: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25: 40).

AFTER POSTING ABOUT THIS MINISTRY, Aleteia interviewed me for an article. Check it out here.