Sometimes it’s the second take that reveals a deeper truth. A fraction of a second can give us the opportunity to widen our thoughts and belief. Many photos could make many to the realities and happened to discuss worldwide discussions.
That’s what happened to photojournalist Jeffrey Bruno after he snapped a photo and posted it on social media from his time at ordination in Denver, Colorado.
As he did, our eyes go to the sweet and touching scene of two little boys imitating what they’ve seen with no self-consciousness or fear — just a desire to experience what it’s like to lie on the cold floor of a beautiful cathedral giving your life to God.
But Bruno looked again and saw something else in that image — a father, off to the side in the shadows, standing near his sons, praying with his eyes closed…
When we look a little deeper, we too can see what Bruno sees, making this image more meaningful.
Bruno could capture another scene that touched a lot of people when he posted it on social media. A mother, coming up to communion with her children, the youngest carried in a sling.
When Bruno posted the photo, he called it “A Mother’s Strength.”
The photo captures a moment we might easily overlook but is really the backbone of faith: Parents showing up with their children. To receive the Lord, no matter how hard it is to get out the door. The heroic work we do is in the day-to-day witness we give through our actions, like taking little ones to Mass to encounter the Lord and His grace.
Good photojournalists tell a story with their images, to move or inspire us. These images of the quiet witness of a mother and a father, in two different churches at two other times, reveal the ordinary heroism of Christian parenthood and the hope it brings us all.