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email clients. */
/* Beware: It can remove the padding / margin and add a background
color to the compose a reply window. */
html,
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Margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
height: 100% !important;
width: 100% !important;
text-align: center;
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/* What it does: Stops email clients resizing small text. */
* {
-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;
-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;
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/* What is does: Centers email on Android 4.4 */
div[style*="margin: 16px 0"] {
margin:0 !important;
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/* What it does: Stops Outlook from adding extra spacing to tables.
*/
table,
td {
mso-table-lspace: 0pt !important;
mso-table-rspace: 0pt !important;
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/* What it does: Fixes webkit padding issue. Fix for Yahoo mail table
alignment bug. Applies table-layout to the first 2 tables then removes
for anything nested deeper. */
table {
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table-layout: fixed !important;
Margin: 0 auto !important;
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table table table {
table-layout: auto;
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/* What it does: Uses a better rendering method when resizing images
in IE. */
img {
-ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic;
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/* What it does: Overrides styles added when Yahoo's auto-senses a
link. */
.yshortcuts a {
border-bottom: none !important;
}
/* What it does: A work-around for iOS meddling in triggered links.
*/
.mobile-link footer a,
a[x-apple-data-detectors] {
color:inherit !important;
text-decoration: underline !important;
}
-->
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/* What it does: Hover styles for buttons */
.button-td,
.button-a {
transition: all 100ms ease-in;
}
.button-td:hover,
.button-a:hover {
background: #555555 !important;
border-color: #555555 !important;
}
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@media screen and (max-width: 600px) {
.email-container {
width: 100% !important;
}
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container. Useful for resizing images beyond their max-width. */
.fluid,
.fluid-centered {
max-width: 100% !important;
height: auto !important;
Margin-left: auto !important;
Margin-right: auto !important;
}
/* And center justify these ones. */
.fluid-centered {
Margin-left: auto !important;
Margin-right: auto !important;
}
/* What it does: Forces table cells into full-width rows. */
.stack-column,
.stack-column-center {
display: block !important;
width: 100% !important;
max-width: 100% !important;
direction: ltr !important;
}
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text-align: center !important;
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images, buttons, and nested tables. */
.center-on-narrow {
text-align: center !important;
display: block !important;
Margin-left: auto !important;
Margin-right: auto !important;
float: none !important;
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display: inline-block !important;
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background-color: #fff;
width: 100%;
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
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p{
line-height:20px;
}
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5{
color:#7A9534;
}
.signup a {font-family: Roboto Condensed, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;
color: #4F4293; padding-bottom:0px; padding-top: 15px;
font-weight:600; margin-bottom: 0px; text-decoration: none}
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Catholic Charities USA
Thursday of the First Week of Lent
Readings of the Day
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Inspiration always comes when you least expect it. One day as I
was on the elliptical, I let myself get into the rhythm of the workout
and music. I began reflecting on my assigned readings on how
Esther found courage to speak truth to power.
Mordecai strongly influenced Esther to "get in good" with
the king and become queen. Later, he put her in a tricky
situation that could easily get her killed by calling on her on to
stand up for the Jewish people. I cannot even imagine how she
felt to challenge a powerful enemy when he might have the ear of the
king. Not to mention that approaching the king without being
summoned was well known to be a death sentence. Esther appeared to be
between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
So what did she do? She prayed. She stopped, reflected on what she was
about to do and relied upon her faith to give herself the strength to
do what was seemingly impossible. It also gave her a chance to discern
the best course of action. Like Esther, it is in such moments
that we must stop to ask for guidance and think through our approach
to difficult situations. It gives us the big picture and more
often than not, success.
Prayer is where we must start when we are called to speak truth to
unjust systems. By the very nature of the work we do, we are asked to
stand, be courageous, and speak up for those who do not have a
voice. The only way to do that well is to follow Esther's
example of calling upon the strength of the Holy Spirit through
prayer. Jesus tells us this in the Gospel. When we seek him out
and ask for courage and strength, he will answer our prayers. When we
knock, Jesus will open the door that allows us to speak up for
injustices in our communities.
The song that inspired me during the workout was by Mumford and Sons
titled "Awake My Soul." One line always touches me:
"In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die.
Where you invest your love, you invest your life." When we
invest our love in prayer, when we invest our hearts in prayer, then
we invest our life in the work of the Gospel.
How do you invest in prayer to help you in your ministry?
Diane Zbasnik is the Director for the Diocesan Social Action Office
for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland. She supervises the
six-person department, which includes regional social action offices.
The Social Action Office engages and forms Catholics in NE Ohio on
Catholic Social Teaching through education, advocacy and community
engagement. They are currently working on issues around racism,
immigration, human trafficking and the environment.
Sign up to receive the Daily Lent Reflection emails and other CCUSA
messages here.
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