As a magazine, one connected to a sprawling digital outreach, we’re always listening. Yes, we listen to the news and to our many sources of inspirational information, always to bring strong content to you. More important, we listen to you, our loyal subscribers, to know your wants and needs, and to understand how well we’re meeting them.
We sometimes draw your attention to difficult moral issues, perhaps inspiring you to take action. At the same time, we maintain a steady stream of inspiration to nourish your spirit in other ways.
We seek always to tell people’s shining stories of helping their neighbors, helping those who live outside of our margins of comfort, those whom Jesus named “the least of these.” We look to profile inspiring stories of saints and celebrities. We try to nurture your faith through reflective stories on prayer, Scripture, action, and contemplation. And, of course, we share the inspiring stories of St. Francis and his followers, both then and now.
Not only in words are people inspired, though. Through the beautiful work of Art Director Jeanne Kortekamp and her talented group of freelance photographers and illustrators, we work hard, every month, to make this magazine beautiful. That beauty mirrors the “divine spark,” as St. John Paul II called it, “which is the artistic vocation . . . in order to be put at the service of their neighbor and of humanity as a whole.” The saint, in his “Letter to Artists,” was talking about all forms of art.
All that is to say, we work hard at meeting your needs. Once in a while, we need to crawl up into the crow’s nest to see how we’re doing. Those of you who communicate with us via e-mail have by now received a survey asking you to tell us more about yourselves.
We’re taking that feedback, along with all sorts of other information, and looking the magazine over. Do we have the elements we need to fulfill our mission, not only to you, but also to the many whom we don’t know, who are longing for inspiration in the spirit of Francis? I’ll be talking more about what we discover a few months from now. By the way, June 13 is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. Let’s pray for his guidance.
