Mother Seton

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Catholic Church, education, example, faith, ordinary life, religious community, sanctity, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821) was the first American-born saint canonized in the Roman Catholic Church. We celebrate her today as a woman who, it is often said, “lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.” Her life was a bit like a seesaw with serious ups and downs by turns. She was born into a solid, well-to-do family in the high society of New York but her mother died when she was 3 years old. She was married at age 19 to a wealthy businessman and had 5 children, but his business failed and he died of tuberculosis when Elizabeth was 30 years old. Necessity led her to open a school in Baltimore in order to support her children and grace moved her to found a religious community which grew out of the spiritual nature of how she ran her school. She died at age 46. Franciscan Media says the following about the woman who has become an example of faith to generations of Catholics and is revered as “Mother Seton.”

Elizabeth Seton had no extraordinary gifts. She was not a mystic or stigmatic. She did not prophesy or speak in tongues…The thousand or more letters of Mother Seton reveal the development of her spiritual life from ordinary goodness to heroic sanctity. She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son…She wrote to a friend that she would prefer to exchange the world for a “cave or a desert. But God has given me a great deal to do, and I have always and hope always to prefer his will to every wish of my own.” Her brand of sanctity is open to everyone…(www.franciscanmedia.org)

How can we refuse the offer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whole Person

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Catholic school, education, Eucharist, job-training, saints, self-worth, St. John Bosco, teacher, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trade schools

When I was young, there were saints that held a special place in the hearts of Catholic school children, especially those holy people who were dedicated to education or who were young themselves when their “saintliness” was already evident. Most often, their influence was obvious at the end of the school year when final exam time rolled around. Today is the feast of St. John Bosco (1815-1888), one of the influential inspirations to whom we prayed for help with the answers on our tests!

St. John Bosco was dedicated to teaching children, first preparing them for receiving the sacrament of Eucharist and then gathering young apprentices and teaching them catechism lessons as well. Realizing the importance of a well-rounded education, he sought to connect the spiritual life of students with work, study and play. A novel idea was the addition to the curriculum of two workshops in shoemaking and tailoring; later he added a printing press for publication of religious and catechetical pamphlets. Fr. Don Miller, OFM reflects on John Bosco’s interest in vocational education saying, “Because John realized the importance of job-training and the self-worth and pride that come with talent and ability, he trained his students in the trade crafts too.”  (http://www.franciscanmedia.org)

As we consider the value of institutes of higher learning, we also ought to be thankful for those graduates of trade schools who influence our lives in so many positive and sometimes essential ways: plumbers and electricians, skilled carpenters and roofers – and, in this modern world especially, those technicians who can fix the computers that have become such an omnipresent component of our lives. May we honor the diversity of the streams of education and celebrate the talents that animate gifted crafts persons who bring excellence to their work for the benefit of us all.

That Day Is Today

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Advent, Christmas, education, energized, everyday life, glory, God's glory, Isaiah, learning, luster, shift, surprise, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, vantage point

This morning’s Scripture readings began with the familiar phrase, “On that day…” that is usually followed with a promise of some import to be visited on God’s people. Today it is Isaiah promising “luster and glory…honor and splendor…” (IS 4:2-6). Promise for the future is important to keep us going; I spoke of it yesterday in terms of Advent and the coming of Christmas. But sometimes I wonder if we are really interested in the possibility that awaits us – or even if we believe what we are reading, perhaps based on what we have experienced in past years when the cycle has come and gone with little effect on our lives.

This morning, just to get me through my first cup of coffee, I read two articles from my graduate school quarterly, the Middlebury Magazine. Middlebury is an amazing school with an equally amazing endowment so it is natural to expect great things happening there. I was interested in the interview of the editor, Matt Jennings, with the relatively new President of the College, Laurie Patton, (in her second year at the post) because I had not yet “met” her and was interested in what she brings to Middlebury. I was pleased with what I learned and found it consonant with the article that followed about a pilot program begun there in 2014. Called What’s the Story? it “seeks to alter our understanding of secondary education” by bringing together high school students from several locations and grade levels who work in small groups on a project of their own choosing for almost an entire school year with an adult mentor (Midd grads who teach in the state). At the completion of the research and development, there are presentations around the state as outcome of the learnings and credit is given for the work. Not only are the projects interesting and important but the students learn innovative ways of research and presentation, with perhaps the most important element of all being the process of working together as agents of their own learning.

Although the two paragraphs above may seem unrelated, I found myself strangely energized after having read the articles and easily fell into thinking about how to shift things in my “everyday life” to make more happen interiorly for me during this month of Advent. Creativity is definitely the link. Practices have to be (dare I use the word) relevant and meaningful and necessary tasks seen in a different light that adds to the coherence of it all. I guess I’m looking for a little “luster” today – just a start so that I will notice “God’s glory” when I arrive at Christmas day. Sometimes a shift in perspective doesn’t mean a 180 degree turn but just a little inching toward the goal from a different vantage point. And a little willingness to be creative will surely win the day. Forgive me if you are left saying, “HUH???”  after reading all this. It may be a case of “You had to be there…” to understand my enthusiasm. All I can say is, “trust me. Every day is worth what we put into it and what we get out of it may just surprise us.” So on we go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

School Days

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Catholic schools, education, grow, prosper, school, schoolchildren, St. John Neumann, teachers, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning as I try to get my mind back into a routine after two days away, I am thinking of the youth of our country – and others – whose  vacation came to an end yesterday. Their return to school must’ve been a shock, not only for those who love to sleep late and did for 11 days, but for all who walk to school or wait on a corner for a school bus. After an unusually balmy “green Christmas” here in the Northeast, the temperature was (and is today) hovering around zero degrees Fahrenheit. I have great compassion for school children on days like this, remembering well those days of shivering and hoping that the heat in the bus was functioning!

Aside from the weather, the impetus for my thoughts today derives from the fact that today is the feast of St. John Neumann, one of a growing number of canonized individuals claimed as a saint of the United States of America. Although born in what is now the Czech Republic, John Neumann came to the United States in 1836 at the age of 25 doing missionary work first in New York and then in Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. It was as bishop of Philadelphia, however, that he organized the Catholic schools which had up until that point been run independently by parishes into a diocesan system. He drew many teaching communities of religious Sisters as well as the Christian Brothers (a teaching community of men) to this well-organized system and engaged his own community, the Redemptorists (Congregation of the Holy Redeemer), in this work as well. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is still widely noted for its school system with 148 schools across 5 counties.

Today, then, I send blessings to teachers on all levels of education, whose work is essential to the future of humanity, that they may open not only the minds of their students but also their hearts so that they become good and loving citizens of the world. In addition, I bless the children, that their schools may be safe and inspired places, giving them what they need – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually – to grow and prosper, thus changing the world for the better. May it be so.

Mother Cabrini

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courage, education, faith, Frances Xavier Cabrini, Mother Cabrini, needy, New York City, poor, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, women religious

Although Frances Xavier Cabrini was born in Italy in 1850, she is still considered the first American canonized saint of the Catholic Church because she became a citizen in 1909. Her story mirrors that of a number of valiant women religious who came to this country in the 19th century to serve the poor and the needy at the request of Church officials. Mother Cabrini was a “stand-out” in this group, however. Having worked tirelessly at a House of Providence orphanage in Italy, the bishop who closed that institution in 1880 named her prioress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Following on that, Pope Leo XIII himself (whose encyclical on the condition of workers inaugurated the social teaching of the Church) called her personally to go to New York City to work with Italian immigrants. Although in her youth she desired to work in China, she obeyed the call to the USA and spent the rest of her life in New York City in spite of constant difficulties to her efforts for the poor, the sick, the abandoned and under-educated. In 35 years she founded 67 institutions for the aforementioned groups as well as schools and adult education classes for adults who, far away from the world they knew, seemed to be losing their faith.

The stories of women like Mother Cabrini always make me grateful for those pioneers who have shown us courage and faith in adversity as well as the possibility of accomplishing what many see as impossible. It reminds me of a quote that is on our desk at the Sophia Center that says, Those who see the impossible should get out of the way of those who are doing it. Let that be our lesson for today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Walk By Faith

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Catholicism, centennial, contemplation, convert, Dalai Lama, education, effortless conversation, faith, Hebrews, Salesians, seek, St. John Bosco, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, will

Thomas Merton

Brothers and sisters, faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. (HEB 11:1)

This overarching theme for the day has many strands, just as each of us has our own stories of faith stretching back over our lives. I smiled when I saw that the saint of the day in the Roman Catholic Church is St. John Bosco, the educator from the 1800’s who founded the Salesians, a religious community that follows the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales. John Bosco was dedicated not only to the classical education of children but to teaching trades like shoemaking, tailoring and publishing. His goal was to “unite the spiritual life with one’s work, study and play.” I knew nothing of John Bosco’s life when I was in school except that he was the patron saint of students. The nuns urged us to pray to him as end-of-year exams approached and I know I credited him with much of my success in those most challenging moments throughout my school career. Faith was simpler back then and it was helpful to believe in the power of such a patron to give a boost to our competence.

Faith was a growing thing as well to Thomas Merton, one of the most prolific spiritual writers of the 20th century who was born 100 years ago today. Merton was a convert to Catholicism in his 20s and his desire for God continued to accelerate and be expressed in his books, essays and poetry as he lived a monastic life from 1941 until his untimely death on December 10, 1968. Deep contemplation had led him to study and write on issues of social justice and ecumenism as integral to the spiritual life. His spiritual quest led him to the East, to a great friendship with the Dalai Lama and others, and was culminated in an interfaith conference in Thailand where he died at age 53. We celebrate Thomas Merton today and all during this centennial year for his contribution to the legacy of faith that informs our own spiritual journey. Here is what he said to me this morning:

This is what it means to seek God perfectly: to have a will that is always ready to fold back within itself and draw all the powers of the soul down from its deepest center to rest in silent expectancy for the coming of God. Poised in tranquil and effortless concentration upon the point of my dependence on Him, to gather all that I am and have, all that I possibly can suffer or do or be, and abandon them all to God in the resignation of a perfect love and blind faith and pure trust in God, to do His will. (New Seeds of Contemplation, 44-46, excerpted)