Reflections

Frances Xavier Cabrini was the first American citizen to be canonized.  Born in 1850 in Lombardy, Italy, she was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and wanted to become a nun but was turned down by religious orders because of her frail health.

In 1868, Frances became a teacher and eventually the director of the House of Providence, an orphanage for girls in Codogno, Italy.  She still had a fervent desire to become a nun.  Frances and five young women, under her direction, finally took their vows in 1877.

In 1880, she founded the Institute of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and became known as Mother Cabrini.  Instead of beginning her missionary work in China as she wanted to, she went to New York at the request of Pope Leo XIII to minister to the poor children and the Italian immigrants. Caring for the sick was not part of her mission, but they needed hospitals, so Mother Cabrini and her missionary sisters successfully opened hospitals in New York, Chicago and Seattle.

Mother Cabrini died of malaria at the age of 67.  She had established 67 missions for ministering to the poor, the uneducated, and the sick in the United States, Europe and Latin America. 

Pope Pius XII said of Mother Cabrini at her canonization, “Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman.”

As Advent approaches, take a moment to consider how you may reach out and touch the lives of those less fortunate.

Source:  Saint of the Day & www.mothercabrini.org               

TASTE OF THE AMERICAS
A Celebration of Community

 Taste of the Americas, an event at Transfiguration Catholic Church, has become invaluable to the Hispanic community.  This festival not only brings us authentic meals from many countries of Latin America but gathers many cultures under the same roof.   It exposes culture and tradition from countries like Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico as well as the United States.   This integration between the communities, joined together by God, becomes one and diversities do not exist.  The unity, compassion and tolerance are proclaimed by all.  It’s at the table of the Lord where everyone is nourished and fed not only physically but spiritually.  The essence of the diversity among His people is where God is glorified.  All who participate unite as the body of Christ.

 At the table of the Lord is where everyone brings their talents, culture and charity towards one another.  A person or group of people feature their talents to express a little of the home they carry in their hearts.  Their charitable actions help the community reach its plenitude by all who open their hearts and become part of such a wonderful event.  The wisdom of tradition is remembered and it becomes alive.  The old and the new complement each other and grow in wholeness.

It reminds us that we are all sons and daughters of God, made in His image, with the same love.  It reminds us to celebrate the important values of our being.  It lets us stay in the moment and just be with one another.  It brings the community to live the faith that we all proclaim and the love shared all; the love that God pours into each heart.

What a joyful way to celebrate and be part of another country without leaving your community.

All Saints Day and 20^th Century Saints

Canonizations during the term of Pope John Paul II have provided modern examples of the people we would like to be.  Saints have taught us through example that people can be heroic and have courage in sharing the light of God.  Few of us will be called to die for our faith, and 20^th century saints show us how to be a model of our Catholic Faith.

Maximilian Kolbe, who Pope John Paul II declared “The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century”, is one noted saint.  He shows us the possibility of finding God in troubled times and using Christian charity and selfless love to better this world.  A Franciscan priest during World War II, Kolbe sheltered refugees, including 2,000 Jews.  He was arrested and sent to Auschwitz.  In July 1941, a man in Kolbe’s quarters escaped.  As punishment, ten men were chosen to go to the imprisonment block to be starved.  Kolbe was not one of them, but on being chosen one man yelled, “My wife, my kids!” and Kolbe took his position.  In the starvation cell, Kolbe celebrated mass every day and gave communion to the prisoners.  He kept the spirits of others up and as the last one remaining, he was killed with an injection of carbolic acid.  Despite his tragic death St. Maximilian Kolbe shows us that by keeping up our faith we can touch the lives of those around us.

Gemma Galgani of Italy was the fifth of eight children.  When she was young, her mother and four siblings all died from tuberculosis.  Gemma studied to become a nun, but was turned down due to her poor health.  At the age of twenty, Gemma contracted spinal meningitis but was miraculously healed.  After the death of her father, she was left in charge of her remaining siblings and even through these hardships, she was most frequently seen praying for those in need.  When she contracted tuberculosis she claimed she was being spoken to by guardian angels, Mary, and Jesus.  Even though some blamed her illness for these “visions”, St. Gemma Galgani still kept her faith and shared it with others.

Most people in our society are not faced with dying because of their faith, but with finding faith and keeping faith through hard times, like Maximilian and Gemma.  When faced with illness or hardship, look to our 20^th Century Saints for example and make a saintly choice of your own.

Feast Day – November 10

Pope Leo the Great was born in Rome and was ordained archdeacon of the Roman Catholic Church by St. Celestine.  Under the rule of Pope Sixtus III, Leo had a large part in the governing of the Church. Upon the death of Sixtus III, Leo was chosen as Pope, being consecrated on St. Michael’s day in 440.

Pope Leo began his reign during a time of great trials for the Church.  The Eastern monks and bishops followed the heresy promoted by the Byzantine court.  Namely, that Jesus was not both fully human and fully divine, but was divine in a human “shell.”   After three years of effort, Pope Leo brought about the condemnation of this heresy by the Council of Chalcedon, with all signing his tome exclaiming, “Peter has spoken by Leo.”

Pope Leo’s next challenge was dealing with Attila and his Huns who were burning cities in Italy on a march to Rome.  Leo went out bravely to meet Attila and amazingly turned him back.  His chiefs were told when they asked why they were turning back, that he, Atilla, had seen the personages of Saints Peter and Paul standing behind Pope Leo.  Atilla was so impressed, he withdrew. Two years later the Vandals did take the city but, again, Pope Leo saved the city from complete destruction.

Pope Leo died in A. D. 461, after guiding Christ’s Church for twenty years.  This week, think about what makes a person “Great.”  Would you be worthy of the name?

The Feast of the Epiphany

On January 6^th, twelve days after Christmas, we as Catholics, celebrate the Epiphany.  The Epiphany is the day the Magi came to give Jesus the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Though it is a common misconception that there were only three wise men, it is uncertain how many there truly were.  The biblical Magi represented the non-Jews of the time period that came to appreciate Jesus and give Him gifts.  The Epiphany symbolizes the public acceptance of Jesus as the Savior, Son of God, and Messiah.

The Wise Men traveled through the desert to pay homage to the Prince of Peace, the King of the world.  They were guided by a star to the place of Jesus’ birth.  Pope Benedict said during a celebration of the Epiphany at the Vatican that, “the Epiphany is a mystery of light, symbolically suggested by the star that guided the Magi on their journey.  The true source of light, however, the ‘sun that rises from on high’, is Christ.”

The Magi were guided by the true light of Christ and the light that brought promise.  The celebration of the Epiphany helps us remember to publicly accept Jesus, because wise men did so, they walked the desert to accept the Lord, even though King Herod pursued them in order to kill the young King.  They show us that although it is sometimes hard to show others our love for Christ, it is always the right thing. 

The Epiphany falls on a Friday this year and  is observed on Sunday, January 8, 2012.

Born Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco, the youngest of three sons, John Bosco came from a poor, farming family in Castelnuovo d’ Asti, Piedmont, Italy.  John knew early on through a dream that his vocation was to lead and help youth.  His outgoing personality and his ability to amuse children with magic captured the attention of the young boys bringing them to church.  Poverty prevented him from schooling, but in 1830, at the age of 15, Fr. Joseph Calosso saw great promise in John and helped to support his education. 

As a young chaplain, he followed the teachings of St. Francis de Sales and believed in teaching methods that focused on love not punishment.  He developed the Oratory for boys which grew into more youth centers, founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales and some of those missionaries started houses in South America. With Maria Domenica Mazzarello he started the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls.  Though other clergy of the time found his work threatening, accusing him of stealing the young from their parishes, John continued his work with the underprivileged.  Even politicians saw his teaching of young men a threat to their State’s political structure by possibly inciting a revolution. 

The patron saint of magicians, school children and youth, John Bosco’s feast day is January 31.  He gave his very best to those children who had the least. He knew that the loving care and attention of an interested adult was essential to the healthy growth of every child.

Do you have a little bit of John Bosco’s zeal in you?