January 4 2022 - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton - Burning Zeal to find God

 200 years ago today, Elizabeth Ann Seton, entered into eternal life. 

Mother Seton, as she was known is the first native-born American saint, the founder of the first parochial school, the founder of the first American religious order.

Mother Seton was not raised as a Catholic; rather, as you might know, she was raised in a wealthy Episcopalian family in Manhattan New York.  She married a wealthy businessman at the age of 19, and raised 5 children in wealthy New York social circles.  

A dispute between the United States and the French Republic led to her husband losing his business and falling into bankruptcy. The Setons lost their home, and the stress caused her husband’s tuberculosis to worsen. The Setons were taken in by a good Italian family, but within 6 weeks, her husband was dead. 

Widowed and destitute, Elizabeth, with her children, continued to live with the Catholics who shared their simple faith with her. She was so touched by their goodness and their faith, particularly to the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin, that she decided to convert to Catholicism, despite the stern opposition from her Episcopalian friends.

I always marvel that Here’s a woman who became Catholic and ultimately a saint because she was treated with great kindness by Catholics at a moment of great tragedy—by ordinary Catholics who were simply living their faith with deep devotion.

After her conversion, she spent the rest of her relatively short life in charitable service, having a profound impact on Catholic life in the United States. 

In the Collect, we begged God the Father, reflecting on “Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s burning zeal to find you,” to grant “by her intercession and example that we may always seek you with diligent love and find you in daily service with sincere faith.” 

Burning zeal in finding God, diligent love, and daily service marked her life. Even in the terrible events of her life, the death of a spouse, the poverty and destitution of her family, she burned with zeal to find God. Wherever there is burning zeal to find God, he will be found.

And because of that burning zeal, she discovered multitude ways of serving God, ways of helping others, ways of instilling that zeal in others, ways of passing that zeal onto young people, gathering like-minded souls into a religious community devoted to works of charity. 

If you are directionless in your life, don’t know what God is calling you to do, depressed with the way your life is turning out, do what you can to burn with zeal in finding God. It will change everything, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That all Christians may grow in charitable attentiveness to the needs of the poor in our midst.

For the lukewarm and for all who are searching and longing for Christ, may they find him through the holy witness of His Church.

Through the intercession of Mother Seaton, patron saint of teachers, that all teachers, may share their knowledge with gentleness, patience, and concern for their students.  

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 widows and widowers, 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

November 30 2021 - St. Andrew the Apostle - What do you seek?

 There’s a particular fittingness in celebrating the feast of St. Andrew at the beginning of Advent, because his life illustrates for us very well the fundamental response Advent seeks to elicit from us, to go out to meet Christ, and to embrace and follow Christ the Lord when he comes.

In John’s Gospel, we read how Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist, and following the Baptism of the Lord by John in the Jordan, Andrew begins to follow Jesus…literally, as Jesus is walking, Andrew and another of the baptist’s disciples, probably john the evangelist, had been tailing Jesus from a distance.  Jesus heard them, turned and said, “What do you seek?” In their nervousness they blurted out, “Where are you staying?” Jesus, inviting them to a deeper relationship and to discipleship responds, “Come and see.”

Here is a beautiful illustration of Advent. Perhaps we’ve been following Jesus, but keeping him at a bit of a distance, just as all of us do, if we’re honest. But Jesus senses the longing in our hearts, after all, he put it there. And so he invites us to stay with him, to deepen the relationship, to come and see. 

Andrew, we know, would not only draw close to the Lord, personally, but he would leave behind his old way of life, and begin to draw others close to the Lord. As soon as Andrew was able to travel again after the completion of the Sabbath, Andrew ran to his brother Simon and announced, “We have found the Messiah!” His longing for Christ led Andrew to bring others to Him.

This is how we know discipleship is real, faith in Christ impels us to tell others about Him, to lead others to Him.

What makes Andrew powerfully heroic is that his discipleship led him to suffer greatly for the Gospel.

Tradition says that after the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, Andrew went on to spread the Gospel in Greece, particularly Patras, a city on the northwest coast of Greece’s Peloponnesian peninsula. There he was arrested by the governor, and imprisoned and tortured for preaching against the pagan gods. The governor promised great honors to Andrew, if he would forsake his Christian faith. Andrew, course, know Christ to be the true and only God, refused. For this, Andrew was sentenced to death by crucifixion on the X-shaped cross. 

This brave martyr, this beautiful soul who longed for Christ, searched for Him, embraced Him, brought others to Him, is such a powerful model for us to celebrate and consider at the beginning of this Advent season. We do well to consider, how our lives should change in order to follow Andrew’s example, of going out to meet the Lord and embracing him when he arrives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.

That through the courageous witness of the Christian Church, Our Lord will bring hope to the hopeless and joy to the joyless.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That Christ may heal every disease, drive out hunger, ward off every affliction, and bring peace to the suffering.

For the deceased of our parish, family and friends, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God, as we await the advent of Christ your son, so that, when he comes and knocks, he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in  his praise. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.