My Days Are in Your Hands

Maria V. Gallagher discovers a powerful prayer companion in a new book by Cardinal Fernando Filoni. 

My Days are in Your Hands: Men and Women in the Footsteps of Jesus

By Cardinal Fernando Filoni

Published by Sophia Institute Press

My favorite part of the week is the Sunday afternoon I spend before the Blessed Sacrament in an Adoration chapel near my home. This is such precious time with the Lord, and it is the spiritual fuel which keeps me going throughout the week ahead. I like to have a book with me to ponder as I sit before Jesus. It is not that I don’t like talking to Jesus — I most certainly do. But a good book often helps me to focus the conversation.

My Days are in Your Hands: Men and Women in the Footsteps of Jesus is a powerful prayer companion which can easily be part of your time with Christ. Cardinal Fernando Filoni has created a work which sings the praises of God while offering a glimpse into the lives of some of the noteworthy individuals who loved Him during their earthly journeys. The book provides a roadmap to a real relationship with the Lord — one that can ultimately lead to spending eternity with Him in Heaven.

Like the book A Holy Hour with Mother Angelica, the Cardinal’s book can draw us closer to the One Who loves us as no one else does.

A Walk with Favorite Saints

This insightful work happens to include some of my favorite saints. Take, for instance, Mary Magdalene, who literally had demons driven out of her. She became the Apostle to the Apostles, notifying them of the Resurrection of Jesus. She served as a witness to Jesus’ saving power and was an effective evangelizer.

In the chapter “The Faith I Prefer is Hope,” Cardinal Filoni argues that Mary Magdalene was the first missionary in salvation history:

In fact, the Master is changing Mary’s heart and opening it to the mystery of faith. Yes, the light of hope does not illuminate in vain: it opens the heart to the charity of the proclamation. Man’s greatest poverty is his feeling of being an orphan, the lack of God. The first charity, then, is to bring God to our brothers and sisters; not to keep Him for ourselves, as Mary was tempted to do at the beginning, but to become bearers of the good news. (59)

The Mother Teresa Method

When it comes to female saints, another one of my absolute faves is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. I appreciate the fact that she lived in the 20th century and there is video footage available of her speeches. I admire her tenacity and grit and the way she poured out her heart to others, especially the most vulnerable among us.

Cardinal Filoni shares my admiration of Mother Teresa. He points out in his book that this angel of the streets was both contemplative and active. She once said, “The most beautiful thing in this world is to love one another as God loves each one of us. That is why we are in this world.”

Filoni writes: “She lives on in her sisters scattered throughout the world who continue her work of love for the poorest of the poor, and bear witness to the need to heed Jesus’ last cry of agony in the world: ‘I thirst!’” (135)

It is up to each of us to respond to the thirsts within our family, friendship group, and greater community. It may be a thirst for companionship, for justice, or for mercy. By following the prescriptions laid out in My Days are in Your Hands, we can do a great deal to spread the love of Jesus in our corner of the world and to make Christ known to all with whom we interact.

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Copyright 2026 Maria V. Gallagher
Images: (top) detail from cover