Daily Meditation for January 9, 2026

“Compassion fatigue” is a familiar phrase these days and a familiar feeling for some of us. It is the weariness that comes from hearing every day of sorrows and tragedies in our families, our country and the world. Certain that we can’t do anything to ease the sorrow, we close our eyes and sometimes our hearts. But deep down we know that we are called to share each other’s sorrows and carry each other’s burdens. Along with news of tragedy, we hear of people, as ordinary as we are, walking toward those very tragedies, offering the simple gift of their presence and love. Recently many people attended a service at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis to remember the children shot and killed there and to put their arms around the grieving families. When we can’t change or take away sorrow, maybe our best gift is to simply be there.

By Mara Faulkner, OSB