Becky Eldredge's Blog, page 19

Advent: Love Like God: Finding God in the Emptiness

For many years, I spent a portion of December on mission trips to Nicaragua. Even now, Advent conjures up images of a rural mountain village, where very few decorations are needed to announce God’s arrival. We once visited a local family, who invited us to share a simple meal of beans and tortillas made over a smoky wood stove, while a single strand of colorful lights dangled across the living room wall. This holy season where we watch and wait for the mystery of God-with-us is deeply rooted for me in experiences of service and solidarity with the poor.

One year, we were handing out Christmas care packages to the kids in the after-school program. The care packages were separated into gifts for boys and girls, and then bundled together in a large cardboard box. As we handed out gifts to the kids, the parents would watch in anticipation as the box was slowly drained on its contents. Once all of the gifts had been distributed, one of the moms would approach and ask, “May I have the empty box?” 

I thought to myself, “It’s just an empty box. Why all fuss?” But at every site, two or three moms would stay until the very end, waiting for us to give away the empty boxes. In my mind the box seemed useless, but to them it was clearly something of worth. In a community with limited resources, I imagine these moms saw a lot of possibilities – storage center, carrying case, or kindling to start a fire. I was struck that in this apparent emptiness, they saw something valuable. They saw so much more than “nothing!” Like the endless creativity of a child who imagines a doll house, castle fort, or rocket ship, these ingenious women were ready to take this empty box and use it for something new. 

I must admit, 2020 feels a lot like that empty box! A year that started full of gifts and possibility has been slowly drained of its contents. A friend was recently lamenting the need to forgo their usual tree-trimming party with a house full of friends. My niece missed celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation because of a COVID exposure. Several friends and colleagues are grieving the death of loved ones, and they long for the warm embrace of those who wish to grieve together. It is easy to look back on the year and see a whole lot of “nothing” left over.

What if Jesus wants to enter into the empty space? As I sit with the ever darkening days, as this difficult year enters its final month, I wonder “what if like my Nicaraguan friends, we discover new possibilities in the emptiness?” Could this be the place where God desires to meet us? Is this where Jesus wishes to be born? 

There is always a temptation to “fill up the box” in anticipation of Christmas – to fill our spaces with a Christmas tree and decorations, to fill the refrigerator with our favorite foods and beverages, to fill the house with our favorite Christmas music. God does not need all these sparkling reminders of the holiday season, as wonderful as they are! God enters the world in all its beauty and wonderment, in all its chaos and brokenness. God comes into our emptiness, and says “I want to be here, with you.”  

God did not wait for the world to be perfect. Jesus arrived in the midst of fear and division, to a world in need of peace. Even today, this is how God saves us – by entering into the emptiness with us, sharing in our loneliness, walking alongside those who are ostracized, healing the broken, bringing  justice to the oppressed, and reconciling those in need of forgiveness. The hope of the Advent season is that God is already here! Jesus, Emmanuel, has already come! In this challenging year, perhaps we will see God most clearly by looking for God in the emptiness. 

How to look for God in the empty spaces:

Pause and examine the space before you – Let the wonder of the season slow you down. With fewer in-person concerts and holiday parties, take some added time for silence, prayer, and rest.  
Light a candle to brighten the darkest caverns of that space – An extra source of brightness can be a reminder that God is ever-present. Ask yourself, “How am I called to be a light for others – for my neighbors, to a stranger, among my enemies?”  
Take the box out into the sunlight to let the beauty of creation shine inside of it – The Creator of the Universe entered into creation! Bundle up, take a walk or drive through the neighborhood, find a place to stare at the stars. Give thanks for the gift of the earth, and seek ways to care for creation over these winter months.
Invite others to examine the empty space with you, particularly those who will help you see the space from a new angle – One way to combat injustice is by using our prophetic voices to influence those in power. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper in support of an issue you care about. Send an email to Congress or other elected officials about creating public policies that better reflect our values. (Check the USCCB website and Catholic Relief Services for helpful how-to resources!)  
Share the wonders of what you have discovered with others, by gifting them with the treasures you have found there – We probably all know someone who is hurting, hungry, alone, or struggling this year. Offer a prayer, send a card, cook a meal, be generous to a local charity, say thank you to our first responders, health care workers, and retail professionals. Most importantly, find ways to be present to those you love, even if you cannot be physically together. 

 

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

 

Advent: Love Like God: Joseph’s Faithfulness

As the calendar year draws to a close and Christmas looms large before us, the Church begins a new liturgical year.  Instead of focusing on all the decorating and gift-giving, Advent provides us with a time to slow down and reflect on the true meaning of the coming of Jesus.  I always enjoy rereading the Scripture passages leading up to the nativity and listening to the sacred music of the season.  We tend to consider Mary and her “Yes!” and rightfully so.  She was so open as to dedicate her whole being to God, taking on the responsibility of motherhood to Jesus.

This Advent, as I prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emanuel, I find questions welling up in me:  

          What about Joseph?  

          How did Joseph feel when he found out that Mary, his betrothed, was pregnant?  

          What did he go through in making his decision to say yes to marry her anyway?

The Scriptures tell us very little about Joseph.  Matthew 1:19-25 describes Joseph as a “righteous man” and “unwilling to expose her to shame.”  So, what does that really mean?  I turn to Ignatian Contemplation for some clarification, reading the passage several times, slowly, and imagining myself with Joseph as he discerned his future.  I want to share what I learned in my experience, relaying Joseph’s story through my imaginative prayer.

The words broken, hurt, and betrayed come to mind.  Yes, Mary comes to Joseph and tells him that she is pregnant–with some strange story about an angel and conceiving by the Holy Spirit.  I can feel the pain in Joseph’s heart.  I can see his anger.  This does not make any sense; how can this be?

Here he is, a well-respected man, from the lineage of David, and his betrothed is going to have a child that is not his.  Could his sweet, young Mary be unfaithful, or did someone force himself on her?  Either way, this pregnancy brings dishonor, not only to her family but, if the truth was discovered, on him as well.  What should he do?  Joseph needs time to be alone, to think, and to pray.

Taking a walk to clear his mind, he begins to think rationally.  If he honors Mosaic law, Joseph has every right to end his union with Mary for reasons of adultery.  In fact, it could be argued that he must.  Yet the punishment for such an offense is death by stoning.  He certainly does not want Mary’s death on his conscience.  Should he shame her and humiliate her family?  No, Joseph is unwilling to expose Mary to shame.  Maybe he can quietly divorce her and save everyone the embarrassment.  Yes, that seems to be the best solution and one Joseph can live with.

Exhausted from the stress of the whole situation, Joseph tries to rest.  Deciding he will take the appropriate actions the next day, he falls fast asleep.  There, deep in his dreams, he hears a voice and feels a presence.  God’s own messenger is right there before him, telling him the same strange story Mary has relayed.  It is actually true!  God has chosen faithful Joseph to be the stepfather of Emmanuel.  God’s will includes no divorce for him and Mary.  Instead, Joseph will take Mary into his home as his wife.

Joseph awakes with a start.  He has a full and comforting awareness of a new calling:  to be a father, a husband, and to love Mary and the baby as his own.  Gone is any doubt; it is replaced with humility and new purpose.  Filled with confidence and faith in God, he readies himself and heads off to tell Mary the news.

We can learn a lot from Joseph’s faithful decision.  Mary’s pregnancy was certainly not what Joseph planned, leaving him frustrated, confused, and even angry.  Yet, because Joseph had such a strong faith in God, he prayed through his discernment.  He did his best to interpret the best outcome, but God wanted something else, and Joseph was open to listening and understanding. 

Life does not always go according to our plans.  We wait with great anticipation for something special to occur, only to be disappointed when things do not work out the way we thought.  We can choose to respond in anger or frustration and feel sorry for ourselves.  We can try to resolve the situation by ourselves with all our human limitations, or we can faithfully pray, opening ourselves to God’s will and the possibility of an outcome far beyond our imaginings.

 

Go Deeper:

Consider praying with Joseph’s dream using the prayer method of Ignatian Contemplation 
For further reading on Joseph:

Living in Hope: Joseph 
A Reflection on Jesus’ Parents
Pope Francis and St. Joseph 
Pope Francis has named this the year of St. Joseph. You can read more about it here. 

 

Photo by Myrna Migala on Pixabay

 

Advent: Love Like God: The Most Important Yes

Don’t give up on yourself because I will not give up on you. 

This simple phrase to me is the most important “yes” I have ever had to say in motherhood. The yes to not give up on figuring out exactly what my children need to thrive in this world. The yes to being their advocate, their biggest fan, their most diligent supporter even when it is difficult. It’s a yes I have already said a million times a day internally as I’ve watched my boys navigate their short lives thus far. It’s the simple yes to show up again and again no matter how rough the waters may get. 

Though I’ve thought these words a lot in the last seven years of parenting, I first said them aloud to my oldest son a couple months ago during a time when he was struggling with adjustment to this academic year. Masks and social distancing and plexiglass have brought challenges and hiccups to all students. In his case, however, these things compounded the challenges he already faced being a deaf child in a hearing world. He used to rely a lot on reading lips to help him fill in the blanks of any sounds his hearing aids missed. Now, with that gone, he relies a lot on the words picked up by his aids and his own seven year old deductive reasoning. This compounded with other learning challenges in the classroom has made it a rough go for him. 

One day, we were working through a particularly frustrating study session, and he ran out of the room saying he couldn’t do it. He was crying, I was crying. I found myself saying aloud: “Don’t give up on yourself because I will not give up on you.” Over and over again I spoke my yes right into his ears. 

This yes sprang from my lips with more conviction in that moment than anything I had ever uttered before. However, it’s a yes I have had to renew daily ever since. There are times I get so frustrated trying to figure out how exactly to be my sons’ advocate and, at the same time, allow them to grow up to be their own advocates as well. There are times when it feels so incredibly difficult that I have to pause and ask God to help me renew my yes along the way.

When I think about Mary’s yes to the angel alongside my own experience of motherhood, her original yes to giving birth to the Son of God, I struggle to see that moment as her most important or most difficult yes. In fact, I wonder if Mary had to utter the exact same words to Jesus as I did to my own sons at many points along the way: “Don’t give up on yourself because I won’t give up on you.” When he was learning to walk, did Mary hold his hands and encourage him to take another step forward even when he fell? When he was learning to speak, did Mary model for him how words looked upon her own lips and sounded through the timber of her own voice every time he struggled to make a new sound? When he was learning to make friends as a young child, did Mary remind him that making friends was not always easy but worth the effort of continuing to try? Of course she did. 

When she stood and watched her son walk the road to Calvary, I imagined she whispered once more into the wind: “Despite knowing there are those that have given up on you, don’t give up on yourself. I am still here. I have not given up on you.” This, to me, is the yes that mattered most in the life of Jesus. This, to me, is the yes that matters most in the lives of both children and adults today. It’s the yes that says you matter in this world. It’s the yes that says you are not alone. It’s the yes that gives you what you need to keep going.

Let Mary be our guide to saying this very important yes to those we love: “Don’t give up on yourself because I will never give up on you.” I imagine this is the message God wants to give us daily. It’s the message God wants to utter through our lips so that others can hear and believe in the truth of it. 

So hear this from me today “Don’t give up on yourself because God will never give up on you.”

 

 

Go Deeper:

Mary, did You Potty Train Jesus? 
Start the New Year with Mary
Daily Step: The Hope of Mary’s Yes
Mary Showed Me Jesus’ Humanity
Mary’s Lesson of the Present Moment

 

 

Photo by Adina Voicu on Pixabay

 

Advent: Love Like God: God’s Act of Love

The season of Advent is a season of understanding God’s love for us.  It reminds us of God’s enduring presence in our lives through the centuries of our salvation history.  We remember the long line of people God loved into existence that birthed new understandings of God’s promises.   We celebrate all the ways ordinary people who were God’s exquisite creations returned the love they received from God back to God by their “yes”.  Advent is a season of remembering a great act of love, God becoming human.  Our next series on the Into the Deep blog is called, Advent;  Love Like God.

I feel like every Advent I point us back to St. Ignatius’ meditation on the Incarnation to help us understand what this act of love meant.  Even though it is over a decade since I made the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, I return to this meditation on the Incarnation time and time again because of the impact it had on me the first time I prayed it, and the way it continues to teach me about God’s love.  

God loves us by seeing us and hearing us.  

Ignatius’ meditation on the Incarnation begins with inviting us to imagine what the Trinity saw as they looked down upon the world the moment before the Incarnation happened.  We are invited to notice what they see and also what they hear.  An act of intimacy and love in any relationship is being seen and heard.  God tenderly saw and heard God’s people.  God heard the deep desires of their hearts, their longings, their hopes, their fears, their pain, and their joys.  This great act of love of being seen and heard by God remains for each of us today.  How does it feel to know God loves you through seeing you and hearing you?   

God loves us by working the mystery of salvation.  

Ignatius’ meditation continues inviting us to imagine the Trinity desiring to bring about our salvation.  Think about the care and concern God had for us as God saw and heard us.  I can only get a glimpse of what this might feel like as a mom listening to my three beloved children.  My heart fills with love as I see and hear them, and my heart breaks when they are hurting.  The love I have for them moves me to want to act to relieve their suffering.  Can you imagine the love God had for us to be moved to help us?  This act of love is still here for us today.  

God loves us by choosing to become human.  

We desire to be near to those we love.  We seek to spend time and get to know the people we care about and love.  God sought to be near to us and became human.  God chose to dwell amongst the human race to fully know and be present to God’s people.  While the human form of God no longer remains on earth, God continues to dwell with us in a multitude of ways:  in our inner chapels, in the Sacraments, in each other, in nature, and on and on.  Jesus remains our way, our truth, and our life (Jn 14:6).  What an act of love to continue to seek to dwell with us and be near to us! How might we create space and time to dwell with God this Advent?  

God loves us by sending the angel to Mary.  

As Ignatius invites us to see the Trinity looking down on the world, he invites us to ponder that the Trinity decided it is time to work the “mystery of salvation.”.  Their great act of love begins by sending the Angel Gabriel to Mary.  God chose to work with a young woman in the most unexpected circumstances to come and dwell with the human race.  Christ was born through an ordinary person. What does this act of love say to us today?  God seeks to be born in us and through us.  God invites us to be co-creators and co-laborers in the continued story of love, our salvation history.  

God loves us by fulfilling the long-awaited promise of the Messiah. 

Trust is key in any relationship.  God fulfilling the promise of the long-awaited Messiah after centuries of people waiting helps establish trust in God.  God’s love, faith, and hope endured in people for thousands of years.  Can you imagine the ways God nurtured and tended to people in moments of doubt or fear or tiredness?  Can you ponder the ways God helped people to keep their faith or hope?  Millions of tiny concrete acts of love from God kept the hope of the promised Messiah alive.  When I think of this, I remember how much God can be trusted.  How are you experiencing God working to keep the promises of God alive in you today?  

The Incarnation is a great act of love.  Advent is a season of remembering God’s acts of love that manifested in the lives of ordinary people, like you and me.  May our Advent journey of remembering this part of our salvation history deepen our understanding of God’s love for each one of us.  

 

 

Go Deeper:

Read

 The Contemplation on the Incarnation and Advent 
Knowing God’s Gift of Shelter Through the Incarnation
The Miracle of the Incarnation

Ponder the poem “Incarnation” by Michael Moynahan

 

 

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

 

Saints Among Us: St. Vincent de Paul, A Servant Who Bore Fruit

Perhaps you are familiar with your local Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP). But did you know that the non-profit charity is present in 150 countries, has 800,000 members in 47,000 Conferences and 1.5 million volunteers and collaborators? Every day, SVDP helps over 30 million people the world over (Where Are We?).

What, if anything, did St. Vincent de Paul, the man, have to do with his namesake organization?

A biography of his life alludes to a conversion experience he had when hearing the confession of a dying peasant. Until that time, he had been content to serve Paris’s wealthy Gondi family as their chaplain and tutor. After his conversion experience, he secured the help of the Countess de Gondi to visit and assist poor peasant farmers and country people. It may be that his charity was the result of his own birthright. The son of peasant farmers, he was rescued from a life of poverty by his father’s great sacrifice for him – selling the family’s oxen to finance a seminary education for Vincent. His father’s generosity paved the way for Vincent’s higher education and ultimately the privileged society of his early adulthood. 

Vincent was thirty-six years old when he had his change of heart. He organized a group of wealthy women of Paris to raise funds for missionary projects, the founding of hospitals, and for victims of war and violence. This paved the way for the founding of the Daughters of Charity in 1633.

It is evident that St. Vincent was a man of great influence, but more importantly, he left a legacy that inspired others. In France, two centuries after the founding of the Daughters of Charity, six students ages 19 to 23: François Lallier, Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam, Jules Devaux, Felix Clave, Auguste le Taillandier, and Paul Lamanche created the first “Conference of Charity.” The young men received advice and encouragement from Sister Rosalie Rendu, a Daughter of Charity who “led them to the poor and taught them how to serve … with love and respect in the most authentic tradition of Saint Vincent de Paul.” They began their work in earnest and their efforts quickly bore fruit. In 1841 Ozanam wrote, “The first Conference was formed in Paris eight years ago. There were seven of us, today there are more than 2,000 young people…”. And in 1845, he wrote: “This Society, founded 12 years ago by eight humble young people now consists of 10,000 members in 133 towns; it has started in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Italy…” (Ozanam).

Neither de Paul nor Ozanam romanticized the life of service. In his time, de Paul instructed the first of the Daughters of Charity, 

“You will find out that Charity is a heavy burden to carry, heavier than the kettle of soup and the full basket. But you will keep your gentleness and your smile. It is not enough to give soup and bread. This the rich can do. You are the servant of the poor, always smiling and good-humored. They are your masters, terribly sensitive and exacting master[s] you will see. And the uglier and the dirtier they will be, the more unjust and insulting, the more love you must give them. It is only for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give to them” (St. Vincent De Paul).

Following in St. Vincent’s footsteps, Ozanam said:

“Can we remain passive in the midst of a world suffering and groaning? … are we going to make no attempt to be like those saints whom we love? If we don’t know how to love God, it seems that we need to see Him in order to love … [but] men, the poor, we see them with the eyes of flesh. They are there before us and we can place our finger and hand in their wounds and the marks of the Crown of Thorns are visible on their foreheads. …Since we know not how to love him otherwise, we will love him in [the] people” (Ozanam).

Vincent de Paul and Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam devoted time and energy serving the needs of the poor. They refused to be deterred by the immensity of need. They sought the advice, financial support, and talents of others in order to meet the challenges. Their legacy lives on today because of their tenacity and the network of those who shared their vision. 

Where are we needed today? How will we “attempt to be like the saints whom we love?” Like Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam we have models of sainthood to imitate. We aren’t asked to do it alone. We aren’t asked to have all the answers. We are only asked to follow Jesus’s example of service, “For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you” (John 13:15).

How you can help:

Volunteer at your local SVDP: https://svdpbr.org/volunteer
Participate in Giving Tuesday, December 1st https://svdpbr.org/giving-tuesday-2020
Download and print Hope Cards for your car. Hope Cards tell those who are in a situation of homelessness about the services SVDP provides https://svdpbr.org/hope-card

 

Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

 

Saints Among Us: Saints I Have Known

“…in every generation, she (wisdom) passes into holy souls, and makes of them friends of God, and prophets.”

Wisdom 7:27

 

Saints are holy people.  To be a Saint is to participate in, and to be an image of, the holiness of God.  I love our Catholic tradition of recognizing Saints in heaven and how they inspire and intercede for us.  I have been blessed to also know others who I consider “saintly”.  These people may never be canonized, but in my eyes they exemplified the virtues of Jesus.  Here are three who have had an impact on my life.

Courage and Perseverance:  My Friend Kathy  

I met Kathy through a church committee.  She was one of the most vocal and active members, never missing a meeting and often sharing new ideas with us.  She was the “prophet” of our group, gently and sometimes not so gently challenging us out of our comfort zone.  She was a staunch advocate for the handicapped and marginalized in our community.  Her outgoing personality made her well known among city and corporate leaders, LSU coaches, diocesan clergy, and justice advocates.  She never missed a chance to vote, and often testified on behalf of the marginalized at city council meetings.  She was resourceful, sharp, quick witted, and severely handicapped herself.  Many years before I met her, she suffered a brain injury which left her prone to seizures and immobile on one side.  What she lacked physically, she made up for in courage to speak as an advocate.  I watched her fall through the cracks of many systems and be ridiculed for doing what she knew was right.  Instead of giving up, she fought harder to remedy situations.  She was an inspirational example of perseverance and courage despite handicaps.  And she did it all with a heartfelt knowledge of God with her. 

 

Faithfulness and Humility:  Paw Paw Prescott

To some, my grandfather was rough around the edges.  He was a farmer in Marksville, La.  Although I never heard him say “I love you”, there was no doubt in my mind that he had a big heart full of love for us.  Each time I visited him and my grandmother, he always had my favorite cream of soda drink and treats.  He was always ready to teach me about the corn or soybeans he was growing, and he let me pick up the eggs the chickens had just laid.  He went to church every Sunday, even though he was hard of hearing and probably couldn’t hear much of the mass.  But the real way I knew he had a kind, humble heart was the way I watched him take care of my grandmother after she suffered a stroke at a fairly young age.  The stroke left her partially paralyzed and not able to speak well.  I can only imagine what a sudden, life-changing event this was for both my grandparents.  Unable to walk or stand, my grandmother could no longer do the everyday things she would normally do around their house.  And so my grandfather, in addition to getting up early to work in the field, took on the duties of cooking three meals a day, washing clothes, cleaning house, and driving into town to get groceries and medicines.  I remember him carrying my grandmother from the bed to her wheelchair, and on days when she was weak, feeding and bathing her.  I never heard him once complain about his situation.  I watched him faithfully care for her until she died.  He lived most of the rest of his life alone until his health failed and he moved to a nursing home.  Even then, I still never heard him complain.  

 

Compassion and Surrender: My friend Clara

Clara and I worked together for many years in a hectic, stressful environment.  She was a calming presence in our office.  After years of working together, she told me that her husband had just been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, a neurological disorder that attacked the nervous system as well as the person’s personality.  I watched Clara endure the hardships of caring for someone with a physically and mentally debilitating disease all while working full-time and caring for her two teenage daughters.  The disease is hereditary, and shortly after her husband died, both of her daughters were diagnosed.     Clara retired, but instead of an enjoyable chapter in her life, her retirement was one of constant caregiving and heartache as she watched her daughters’ struggle against Huntington’s, her youngest daughter died first, and then a few years later, her oldest.   No matter how dire the situation seemed, Clara continued to be a compassionate caregiver.  I saw her strength come from surrendering everything to God.  To this day she continues to be active in Huntington’s support groups and research fundraisers.

In my mind, these people are saints.  Not only because they endured many hardships, but also because of the way they carried out their faith.  They lived out of God’s presence in their hearts.  Each of them has taught me the importance of living your faith.  

 

Go Deeper:

Who are the holy people in your life? Spend time this week in prayer thanking God for their presence in your life. 
Pray with Leviticus 19:2  “Be holy, for I, the Lord God, am holy.”

 

Photo by Tim Doerfler on Unsplash

 

Saints Among Us: Saints of Pandemics and Politics

There are several saints’ feast days on November 19, but today I’m drawn to one especially: Blessed Salvatore Lilli, 1853-1895. He was a Franciscan monk who worked as a missionary in Jerusalem and then in Marasco, Armenia. But the line of his bio that catches my attention is this: “Worked endlessly with the sick during a cholera epidemic in 1891.” As we continue to struggle through a pandemic, such a description speaks to us vividly. Salvatore stands in for the many healthcare professionals who are working endlessly. He also helped the people by establishing places for them to live and creating employment for them.

In 1894, Friar Salvatore was appointed parish priest in nearby Mujukderesi, which lay at the heart of great political unrest—a time that saw the religious and ethnic cleansing (massacre) of Armenian Catholics. Salvatore was captured along with several companions; they were tortured but refused to give up their faith, so they were executed. These martyrs were beatified in 1982 by Pope John Paul II.

 This story is old and yet completely relevant because the world is suffering a pandemic that seems to be getting worse rather than better. And political/social upheaval seem to rule the day. I am encouraged to identify saints like Blessed Salvatore who are living and working among us right now.

We are surrounded by such saints: frontline workers such as doctors, nurses, technicians, and the many others who tend to our thousands of sick; the essential workers who keep our grocery stores, gas stations, utilities, and other services working. These saints do their work at great risk. Many of them don’t have a choice because they are low-wage workers who will lose their jobs if they stay home and protect themselves and their families. Across the country, volunteers have taken care of their neighborhoods and solved pandemic-related problems for no pay at all but simply out of their desire to care for others and for our country as a whole.

In this time of great political and social division and strife, I want to point out another category of saint in our day: those who have worked the polls during this presidential election. Because the election has been so close and angst-filled, news programs have revealed a lot of what goes on behind the scenes where people have processed and counted millions of voter ballots. Hearing an election official explain the process these ballots go through was quite a revelation to me. For every voter’s voice to be heard, thousands of people have worked around the clock to do a technical and exacting job.

Pandemics and politics can bring out the worst in a society—but they also bring out our most compassionate, faithful, courageous, and brilliant impulses. The African American neighbor who reminds me to pray during a stressful election is a saint. The pharmacist who patiently works out a glitch in the system to get me a needed medication is a saint. The colleague who volunteers to train and work as an election judge is a saint. The pastor who keeps showing up online for the scattered and weary congregation, all of us sheltering at home, is a saint.

Take notice this day: Who is staying with us during the plague? Who is standing fast in the waves of social turbulence? Maybe it’s your neighbor. And maybe it’s you.

 

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

 

Saints Among Us: Everything Is Hidden In You

Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a Doctor of the Church said in her book Causes and Cures, “Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you’ve got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You’re a world—everything is hidden in you.” There are four women I want to share with you who I feel embody what St. Hildegard proclaims:  Venerable Henriette Delille, my grandmother, and my two daughters.   

Venerable Henriette Delille, “Servant of Slaves”, a courageous and gritty creole woman born in New Orleans provides exemplary evidence of both the image (imago dei) and capacity (capax dei) of God in our world. Though she endured harsh treatment as a result of her race and gender, Henriette loved God so beautifully. She saw within herself the capacity of heaven, earth, and all of creation. She once wrote of her love of God: “Je crois en Dieu. J’espère en Dieu. J’aime. Je v[eux] vivre et mourir pour Dieu.”

                 I believe in God.

                 I hope in God.

                 I live and die for God.

Henriette  believed so strongly in her love of God, her capacity to emulate God expanded. She educated children and adults, opened the first home for elderly people who had no one to care for them, and served the poor. She heavily criticized the tradition of plaçage, a system in which white men entered into civil marriage with non-white women before their marriage to white women. Her capacity to love and serve in the image of God is evident. Truly, she bridged heaven and earth.

Sixty years after the death of Henriette my grandmother, Earline Elizabeth LeBourgeois, was born about sixty miles west of New Orleans in a small Cajun community. My grandmother regularly said the rosary in French with a group of her friends. I have her beads and prayer guides to remind me of her holiness. The image of her hands is one of the indelible memories of her that I carry as she was a seamstress. I remember her hands running over her rosary beads or sewing a large quilt on her front porch. When she was young, she would take a bus into New Orleans and sew for a company that made men’s work clothes. During the time of World War II, she was picked from the line of other seamstress to rivet planes that were fighting to stop the horrors of the Nazi’s. Some of her last words to me were to remind me to give my own girls the opportunity to have the best education and opportunity to contribute to the world. It was important to her that her great-granddaughters know their capacity to reflect the image of God in the world through their gifts. She was a saint that bridged heaven and earth for our family. 

As older teenagers, my two daughter’s modern ears heard the calling for a recalibration and ever-clarifying dignity for all people. In their urging for dignity for Black lives they are “imago dei.” They echo and extend the work of Venerable Henriette Delille. They lean into their own gifts, a call their great-grandmother (and grandmother and mother) so desire for them. They are saints.  Everything is hidden in them and they bridge heaven and earth as they lean into the capacity God is calling them towards.

 Isn’t this  true for us all? We are called to be saints. We are all called to the capacity of God that resides in us. How will you begin living into your potential today?

 

 

 

Go Deeper:

Read Stories of the Real Rosie the Riveters
Who is Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church? Read about her here and here.  
Here is another blog about my grandmother, Elizabeth Earline “Chute” LeBourgeois.

 

Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash

 

Saints Among Us: Servant of God, Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA

“Are You With Me, Church?”  

I was first introduced to Sister Thea Bowman by my classmate Beverly Ann Stewart, a long-time minister and health-care professional in the African American community in Chicago.  Bev talked about Sister Thea Bowman the way you talk about a favorite auntie or your most trusted mentor.  I soon discovered why Bev exuded such infectious joy and pride for this beloved preacher and teacher.  Sister Thea invited everyone – regardless of race or background – to know themselves as beloved by God and gifted for the work of God’s kingdom.   

Wherever she went, Sister Thea spoke and sang the Gospel! Raised in Mississippi, she was a convert to Catholicism at age 9, and as a young woman, she joined the all-white Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. As a founder of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University, Sister Thea gave voice to the Black historical, spiritual, and cultural experience; and she helped many people bring together their African American heritage and Catholic faith. 

In 2018, Sister Thea’s cause for canonization was approved by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which means the path has been opened for Sister Thea to be formally recognized as a Saint – someone who is united with God and intercedes on our behalf. Sister Thea, however, has long been recognized among the Black community as a holy and prophetic woman whose living witness points the way to Christ. 

In recent months – as the racial inequities in our country are again at the forefront of our collective consciousness – I find myself calling on Sister Thea, asking for her intercession, and seeking a word of hope. 

One of Sister Thea’s most notable public appearances came during a meeting of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 1989. In clear terms and impassioned voice, Sister Thea brought to life the ways Black people were impacted by poverty, violence, incarceration, and inadequate access to health care. She did not shy away from the Catholic Church’s long history of racism, and the ways that Black men and women were kept out of the priesthood and religious life.  Her stark facts and analysis of systemic racism were met with stunned silence from this room full of mostly white men. After a long pause, she asked, “Are you with me, church?”  

Saints offer prophetic words, appropriate for their time, and their wisdom transcends generations.  Thirty years later, I wonder what Sister Thea would say to us today? Surely, she would have a word of compassion for the Black lives who have been needlessly harassed, arrested, or killed.  I imagine she would also impart a loving (painful?) word of truth to the bystander, the powerful, and those of us for whom it is just as easy to look the other way.  

Sister Thea said, “Some of the best preaching does not go on in the pulpit!” She reminds us of our responsibility as disciples to preach, teach, worship and pray.  Our work to end systemic racism is part of this call.  And it is the duty of all of us!  
Sister Thea calls the Black community to joyful, authentic, unapologetic worship. In one of her most frequently quoted lines she says, “What does it mean to be black and Catholic? It means I come to my Church fully functioning. That doesn’t frighten you, does it? I bring myself — my black self, all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to become. I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my culture, my African-American song and dance and gesture and movement as teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility as a gift to the Church.”
At the end of the meeting, Sister Thea invited the bishops to join her in an emotional rendition of the African American spiritual We Shall Overcome. She reminds us of the strength that comes from unity. She says, “The Church is a family of families, and the family got to stay together! If we walk and talk and work and play and stand together in Jesus’ name – we’ll be who we say we are – truly Catholic. And we shall overcome – overcome the poverty, overcome loneliness, overcome alienation.” 

Sister Thea continues to remind us that there is room for everyone at God’s table! She spent her life fighting prejudice, breaking down racial and cultural barriers, and bringing people together through the gift of song, dance, and the love of Jesus. Her words continue to speak through the Black Catholic community. 

I am so grateful to my classmate Beverly and others who introduced me to the Saints and ancestors among the Black church. My experience of the incomprehensible mystery of God, my understanding of what it means to be Catholic, and my own call to work for justice would be incomplete unless I heed the prophetic witness of my sisters and brothers who do not look like me. 

Finally, a word to my white sisters and brothers: 

   -if the work of racial justice and addressing systemic racism makes you uncomfortable …

   -if you say to yourself, “who am I as a white person to do this work” …

   -if you feel guilty or ashamed when you recognize your own racist attitudes or past behaviors … 

   -if you’re fearful of speaking up because you’re afraid of making a mistake …

   -if you are skeptical when you hear others talk about “white privilege” …  

I invite you to ask Sister Thea Bowman to show you a way forward. Let her sing a new song into your heart. 

Are you with me, Church? 

 

 

 

Go Deeper:

To learn more about Sister Thea Bowman’s life and her path to sainthood, read more from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.  
The complete text of Sister Thea Bowman’s remarks at the USCCB are available here.
November is Black Catholic History Month:  

Learn more about the six Black men and women on the path to Sainthood.  
The USCCB released new prayer cards for these men and women also.

For prayers, books, articles, homilies, and more – follow this link to additional Racial Justice Resources from Becky Eldredge. 

 

Photo by Edwin Andracle on Unsplash

 

Saints Among Us: St. Frances Cabrini

Maria Francesca Cabrini was born on July 15, 1850, in a small town outside of Milan, Italy. Being born prematurely, she was a petite and sickly child. As a child, Cabrini heard many stories of missionaries, and she wanted to join the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, but because of her fragile health she was unable to join. With a heart burning to serve others, she, along with seven other women, founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1880. She changed her name to Frances Xavier Cabrini in honor of St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of missionaries.

Mother Cabrini was a teacher and taught at a day school for orphans in Italy. Feeling called to missionary work, she went to Pope Leo XIII to ask for permission to go to China, but he told her, “Not to the East, but to the West.” So, in 1889, she and some of her sisters made the journey to America for the first time. They arrived in New York and immediately began offering catechism classes to the Italian immigrants. She worked closely with immigrants, teaching them English and encouraging them to become American citizens.

Soon requests for her help came from all over the world. She traveled to Europe, Central and South America and throughout the United States. She made 23 trans-Atlantic crossings and established 67 schools, hospitals, and orphanages-one for each year of her life. She died in Chicago on December 22, 1917. Mother Cabrini was beatified on November 13, 1938 and became the first American canonized saint on July 7, 1946. In 1950 she was named the patron saint of immigrants. In the United States, we celebrate her feast day on November 13.

Mother Cabrini may have died over 100 years ago, but her legacy lives on. Here are just a few examples.

New Orleans, Louisiana

I first learned of this amazing woman as I was finishing up graduate school, just a few months before getting married. My now husband and I were both looking for jobs, and I had an interview at Cabrini High School in New Orleans. During the interview I asked the principal about Mother Cabrini. Over ten years later I still remember the pride she had in not only telling me about the life of Mother Cabrini, but how the school continues to follow her example of helping the most vulnerable members of our society. The school, which was originally an orphanage, still has Mother Cabrini’s room intact. Each girl leaves Cabrini knowing about the life of Mother Cabrini and the importance of following in her footsteps to help those in need.

Colorado

The Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden, Colorado originally served as a summer camp for the girls at the orphanage in Denver. At first, the only source of water was thought to be at the bottom of the mountain. The sisters complained to Mother Cabrini saying it was too difficult not having water more accessible. She told them, “Lift that rock over there and start to dig. You will find water fresh enough to drink and clean enough to wash.” The spring has not stopped providing water since. The impact Mother Cabrini had on the state Colorado is still present today, and not just for Catholics. This year Colorado had its inaugural Frances Xavier Cabrini Day, the first paid holiday in America to honor a woman. Frances Xavier Cabrini Day will be celebrated on the first Monday in October in Colorado each year.

New York

In 2018, New York City’s She Built NYC wanted to include more statutes of women who have made an impact on the city. Even though Mother Cabrini received the most votes out of the 320 women nominated, the committee did not choose her. In the 2019 Columbus Day Parade, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that there would be a statute of Mother Cabrini in New York to honor all the great work she had done. Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio co-chaired the committee that raised funds to have a statute created, and roughly a year later, in October of this year, the statute now sits in Battery Park facing the Statue of Liberty.

Mother Cabrini, even when faced with opposition, continued working to help the most vulnerable members of society. Her example and life work seems even more crucial today as people are finally becoming more aware of the racial and cultural injustices people are facing. I pray Mother Cabrini can be a source of inspiration for you as she has been for me since learning her story many years ago.

 

 

 

Go Deeper:

You can read more about the history of Mother Cabrini and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus here.
Learn more about the statue in NYC Battery park here.

 

 

Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash