January 27 2021 - St. Angela Merici - Let love for others be intense

 Angela Merici was born on March 21, 1474.  Out of love for Jesus, she consecrated herself to him before she was ten years old and persuaded her sister to do the same—promising never to get married and to live a life of prayer and service.  As she grew in age, she became concerned by the lack of religious training of the young people, so she took it upon herself to give regular instruction to the young neighborhood girls.  She was joined by neighborhood women with similar ideals.

It wasn’t until the age of 61 that she, and 28 other women formed the Order of Ursulines, the first teaching order of religious sisters in the history of the Church. St. Angela and the Ursulines were dedicated to re-christianizing family life through solid Christian education, especially for young girls who were the future Christian wives and mothers.  The Company of St. Ursula spread throughout Italy and France and eventually through all of Europe.  They were the very first Catholic nuns to land in the new world.  

Before Cleveland was even a diocese, Father Amadeus Rappe, who would become the first bishop of Cleveland was chaplain to the Ursulines in the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. When in 1847, he became the first Bishop of Cleveland, it was among his top priorities to establish schools.   So, he invited the Ursulines from Boulogne-sur-Mer to begin a foundation in Cleveland and to start the Catholic school system in north eastern Ohio. 

St. Angela knew the importance of passing on the faith, taking serious efforts in the lives of children to instill in them faith in Jesus Christ.  She was a woman of action whose efforts changed Church history, When she saw the ignorance of the children in her neighborhood, she didn’t just wring her hands or complain, she went out and taught them.

Like St. Paul who we celebrated on Monday, timothy and titus who we celebrated yesterday, St. Angela knew the importance of passing on the faith to the younger generation, and did something about it. She emulates many of those virtues St. Peter writes about in his first letter: sober minded, hospital, loving of others with intensity, a steward of God’s manifold grace, one who despite her challenges, served God with the strength that God supplied. Her concern for the young was a concern for the Lord Himself. She loved others intensely because she loved him intensely.

May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, next week, we pray for all students in Catholic schools, that the Spirit of God may grant them the gifts of wisdom and understanding, and that teachers may share their knowledge with gentleness, patience, and competence. 

For parents, the first teachers of their children, that by their faith and love, they may be blessings to their families, and for a strengthening of all families in faith. 

In Thanksgiving for the Ursuline Order, for their efforts to instill faith in our Diocese over the decades.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

15th Week in OT 2020 - Friday - Cleveland's New Bishop and Effectively Communicating the Gospel

Yesterday, as you may have seen on the internet or on television, the Holy Father named a new bishop for the Diocese of Cleveland. Thanks be to God! Bishop Edward Malesic. If you haven’t had the chance, you can watch the Bishop’s press conference on the diocesan website or on youtube. I also put a link on my personal facebook page.

After introducing himself, and speaking about receiving the call from the Papal Nuncio, he was asked a few questions by the attending press. And in the first question he was asked about his vision for the Church. And he gave a great answer, he said “I don’t have a vision, Jesus has a vision…The only vision I have” he said, “is to communicate the Gospel…. but then the big question is”, the Bishop asked  “how is that done?”

And that, indeed, is a very important question. We know we must communicate the Gospel, but How do we communicate the Gospel. When we are confronted by a non-believer, or an angry family member at Thanksgiving dinner, or a confused parishioner…HOW we communicate the Gospel is of great importance. Do we do so with patience, gentleness, clarity, with a tone of accusation, with embarrassment over Church teaching, wishing to water it down in order not to offend political correctness? It’s not always easy to know HOW to communicate the Gospel.

And I thought about this part of the bishop’s press conference in light of the Gospel this morning. The Lord Jesus is approached by Pharisees who condemn him for supposedly violating the sabbath. Now, the Lord could have responded to the Pharisees in a lot of ways. He could have argued with them, he could have condemned them for trying to trap him in some sort of technicality, he could have displayed his divine glory to them and had them cowering in fear. We do well to take note HOW the Lord engaged his opponents throughout the Gospels, for he certainly gives us some very valid options...which may or may not include making a whip out of cords and flipping over tables if the opportunity presents itself.
But at least in this instance, the Lord responds to his critics, his opponents, by drawing their attention to the Scriptures. He knows the Scriptures well, and so should we. He redirects the conversation, and the condemnation, to speak about the deeper meaning of the Scriptures.

HOW we communicate the Gospel is more art than science, really, in fact. The HOW comes through practice, reflection on our successes and failures, conviction in the truth of the Church’s teaching, it comes through study of the Scriptures, certainly.

But most importantly, the HOW comes from deep union with God, from authentic holiness. Remember, just two chapters earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord says, when you are brought before kings and governors because of me, do not worry what you are to say, the holy spirit will give you the words.” Our effectiveness at communicating the Gospel comes from deep union with God.

When we have cultivated that attentiveness to the voice and guidance of the Holy Spirit in the ordinary circumstances of our life, we will be able to hear him speaking to us in those extraordinary circumstances, when we are called to witness to the faith. This is what made Mother Theresa and Saint Francis, St. Ignatius our patron, such effective communicators of the Gospel: their holiness gave them authority, their love for God and love for neighbor, the virtues that they cultivated.
May we cultivate that deep union with God this day through Word and Sacrament, penance and works of mercy, that we may be effective communicators of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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In thanksgiving for the Holy Father’s appointment of Bishop Malesic, that he may be blessed with all the spiritual gifts he needs for this tremendous responsibility in leading the Church of Cleveland in the effective preaching of the Gospel.

For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that we may bring the healing of the Gospel to their troubled hearts.

For the purification of our minds and hearts from the errors of the culture and from the lure of worldly attachments.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord