In Luke, Jesus meets a widow walking behind her only son’s coffin. The scene is painfully simple: a mother with no future. And Jesus, moved with compassion, gives the son back. The miracle is not only a display of power; it is a restoration of a household.

Single parents often carry that household-weight alone, quietly, unseen and unpraised: the double labour, the thin margins, the anxious nights, the constant decisions. They do not need to be patronised. They need support that is steady and honouring. And many such homes are not simple: there may be shared custody, blended histories, estrangement, grief, informal care by relatives, or children moving between households. Christian prayer should be roomy enough to hold all of that without embarrassment.

Lord Jesus, have compassion. Give communities the gleaning instinct: to leave margin for others, to share without fuss, to make room for those who are carrying more than they can bear. And make the Church a family where parents are not left to struggle in solitude, but are treated as brethren and sisters whose burdens are ours to share today.