ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON:

I THOUGHT 

I HAD PROBLEMS TILL ....

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for today’s - January 4th’s - feast is, “Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: I Thought I Had Problems Till ….”

SUFFERING AND LOSS

That’s one of the ways people who have a suffering or a loss deal with a suffering or a loss.

We’ve all heard people say just that, “I thought I had it bad till I ran into Mrs Smith who lost her husband and her mother in this past year - and her son is prison for stealing from his company.”

The classic example is: I thought I had it bad with my sore toe till I met a man without any feet.”

ELIZABETH ANN SETON

That’s the thought I had when I went through the life of Elizabeth Ann Seton last night. If anyone is the patron saint of troubles - lots of troubles - it’s Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Born 1774 - she lived till she was 46 - dying of tuberculosis - which took a lot of lives till the 20th century.

She was born in New York and died in Emmetsburg, Maryland.

She married William Magee Seton at the age of 19 and they had 5 children. The first few years of their marriage was sheer happiness. She wrote, “My own home at twenty - the world - that and heaven too - quite impossible.”

Within four years, Will's father died, leaving the young couple in charge of Will's seven half brothers and sisters, as well as the family's importing business.

Then her husband’s company - the Seton Maitland Company - went bankrupt. Several of their ships sank. They lost their home in Manhattan and lost lots of their stuff. Then her husband William got sick, so they went to Italy for better weather - with one daughter. He sister-in-law took care of the other 4 kids. In Italy, within a year, her husband died of tuberculosis.

This wasn’t the first death. Elizabeth had lost her own mom when she was three - leaving her dad to raise three daughters. Her dad married again - which added to the size of the family - and the possibilities for more people to take care of

As I read her life - I wondered how did she have the strength to deal with so many deaths - that of her own children - that family members - like her sisters-in-law Harriet and Cecilia Seton. Then there were the 18 sisters she saw die at Emmetsburg.

Those were just some of the deaths.

When she became a Catholic - switching from being Episcopal - various family members cut off possible support. It also didn’t help her with various attempts to make a living as a teacher.

In the stories of Saints who were nuns - one sometimes reads of struggles with the clergy and bishops. Elizabeth Ann Seton for the most part got encouragement, help, and good offers that told her that she was needed.

WHERE DID ELIZABETH ANN SETON GET SUPPORT?

So the clergy would have been one big way Elizabeth Ann Seton got through the dark nights and valleys she had to travel through.

The literature about Elizabeth adds that the Eucharist, Daily Mass, and the Bible (Especially the Psalms) really helped her - especially Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd!”

In other words she had the gift of faith!

CONCLUSION

Today we celebrate the feast of Elizabeth Ann Seton - our first born in America saint. I noticed that in 2009 the Episcopal Church added her to their list of saints as well.

She has been named as the patron saint of Catholic Schools - like St. John Neumann - because both promoted Catholic Schools big time.

As I thought about her life - and all its troubles - I’d add she’s the patron saint of anyone who has troubles - and as we heard in today’s gospel - she discovered Jesus was the one she was looking for - he was the one who helped her - because if you look at Jesus on the Cross - how many people have said, “When I thought about Jesus on the cross and what he went through, my large troubles seemed so small”?

Amen.

DON'T GIVE UP

January 4, A Poem For Today

MOTHER TO SON

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks on it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
When there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down in the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now --
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes: © 1926 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and renewed 1954 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted from Selected Poems by Langston Hughes, by permission of the publisher.

RECOGNITION

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for today, January 3^rd,  is, “Recognition”

Today’s two readings both talk about recognition, so I’d like to talk about the theme as well as the need for recognition.

THE READINGS

Today’s first reading from 1 John 2:29-3:6, says, “The reason the world does not recognize us is that it never recognized the Son.” Evidently, the author and the community felt unnoticed, unrecognized. All of us on and off will feel the same way. Does my life as a Christian have an impact on anyone at home or work or neighborhood?

In today’s gospel - John 1:29-34 - John the Baptist states - confesses two times that he did not recognize Jesus. And then he makes the confession that Jesus is the ONE. It was on Jesus that the Spirit descended, like the dove from Noah’s ark. It was Jesus who is “God’s chosen One.”

I would think that every human being is God’s Chosen One. I would hope that the Spirit of God descends on everyone. I would think that’s why God made us and we are called to recognize in everyone, God’s spirit and God’s will and God’s reason for making this human being.

RECOGNITION

We all know what the word “recognition” means. It means being acknowledged. It means being given attention. It means being noticed.

At times we all want space, to be alone, to hide, get into our man cave or woman’s space. But my thought is that everyone  down deep wants to be recognized. We exist and we want others to know that.

So we all have had the experience of being recognized or not being recognized.

Listen to people. “I raised my hand 6 times and was totally ignored. He refused to recognize me.” “I stood there on line and people were jumping ahead of me and I said, `Hmnn!’ and they finally got the message that I exist.”

We’ve all said a prayer in the Prayer of the Faithful and two prayers later someone says the same prayer. We think: weren’t they listening to my prayer?

We all know the modern phrase: “What am I chopped liver?”

DESIDERATA

We all have heard the poem or the piece called “Desiderata.” It was written by Max Ehrmann. It gives a wonderful list of things that are desirable for a good life - hence "Desiderata. ” One simple statement that fits in with what I’m saying here is this:  “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”

BILL OF RIGHTS

We all know that as U.S. citizens we have a Bill of Rights - meaning we have certain inalienable rights.

I was trying to find on line a copy of the United Nations Bill of rights. It states that everyone in the world has certain human rights - basic human rights as a member of the human race. I am here. I deserve water and food. I deserve the right to free speech and access to the world’s highways and byways. I have a right to culture as well as the basics.

Please recognize me. Please acknowledge me.

CONCLUSION

And I think the paradox is this. Jesus spent his life recognizing people, especially rejects, and he ends up being rejected himself. And I would think that the same thing happens to his followers. In the meanwhile, we are called to listen to each other, to respect each other, and to do what Jesus tried to do. 

WHO DO YOU THINK 

YOU ARE?

January 3, 2014 - Poem for Today

ON BUYING A DOG

“I wish to buy a dog,” she said,
“A dog you’re sure is quite well bred,
In fact, I’d like some guarantee
He’s favored with a pedigree.”

“My charming friend,” the pet man said,
“I have a dog that’s so well bred,
If he could talk, I’ll guarantee
He’d never speak to you or me.”

Edgar Klauber ©

DEJA VU

ALL OVER AGAIN

AND AGAIN

JANUARY 2ND, 2014 - A POEM FOR TODAY

AMBITION

I got pocketed behind 7X-3824;
He was making 65, but I can do a little more.
I crowded him on the curves, but I couldn’t get past,
And on the straightways
there was always some truck coming fast.
Then we got to the top of a mile-long incline
And I edged her out to the left, a little over the white line,
And ahead was a long grade
with construction at the bottom,
And I said to the wife, ‘Now by golly I got’m!’
I bet I did 85 going down the long grade,
And I braked her down hard in front of the barricade,
And I swung in ahead of him and landed fine
Behind 9W-7679.

- Morris Bishop

Morris Bishop: ‘Ambition’ from The Best of Bishop; Light Verse from The New Yorker and Elsewhere (Cornell). © 1950, 1978 Alison Kingsbury Bishop. Originally in The New Yorker. Used by permission.

DAYS

A POEM FOR TODAY - January 1st, 2014

DAYS

What are days for?
Days are where we live.
They come, they wake us
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:
Where can we live but days?

Ah, solving that question
Brings the priest and the doctor
In their long coats
Running over the fields.

© Philip Larkin

Note: For the past few years I've provided a quote for the day. This year, 2014, I'm going to try to provide a poem for the day.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

FACE TO FACE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this homily for January 1st, The Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God is, "Happy New Year Face to Face."

Today’s first reading triggers the memory of one of the most ancient and most popular games of all cultures. It’s the game that parents and grandparents play with children called, “Peekaboo!” And if the kid is very small we say, “Peekaboo! I love you.”

Little children long to see the face of their mother and their father. “Peekaboo! I love you.”

In the movie, “The Godfather”, we even see Don Corleone, Marlo Brando, as a grandfather, kidding and playing this came of “Peekaboo” in the backyard with his grandson.

When we were children we climbed up on our father’s lap to pull away his strong fingers to see his face.

We long to see the face of our father.

And when we did wrong, didn’t we hide our face in shame? But didn’t we also have at the same time, a deep longing that our father would come into our darkness and that we would see his shining face? Didn’t we long for his smile, so that we would know that he had come to “forgive us our trespasses?”

HOMILETIC REFLECTIONS

In today’s first reading, then, we have these basic human feelings in an ancient and famous blessing called, “The Aaronite or Priestly Blessing.”

“May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let his face shine on you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord uncover his face to you
and bring you peace.”

This special blessing goes way back into Old Testament history. In fact, for example, in August of 1979 an amulet or charm was found in an archeological dig in Jerusalem’s old city with the blessing on it. However, it took years for anyone to figure it out.

Judith Hadley, a graduate student in archeology from Toledo, Ohio, spotted the amulet and said it looked like a cigarette butt. It was a tiny roll of silver from around 2,600 years ago. The leader of the dig, a Gabriel Barkay of Tel Aviv University, recognized it as an amulet that someone would have worn with a string through it.

For two and a half years the amulet was studied and worked on carefully. Gabriel Barkay knew there must be writing on it. Finally, after figuring out how to unroll the silver without destroying it, writing was discovered. With the help of a microscope, a researcher saw the name Yahweh two times. However, it wasn’t till 1986, when the Israel Museum was putting together an exhibit of the treasures from the dig where the amulet was found, that the name Yahweh was seen for the third time. It was the clue that solved the mystery: the amulet contained the Priestly or Aaronite Blessing.

So just as people today wear charms or amulets around their necks with special words on them, what more beautiful words than the Priestly or Aaronite blessing.

The blessing is simple and basic. It asks that essential needs be taken care of:
- that God keep protective watch over us,
- that God be gracious to us,
- that God not hide his face from us,
- that God bring us his peace -- Shalom.

What more could we want?

This blessing became so special that laws (rules and regulations), were made, so that it could be given only by the priests: the Sons of Aaron.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

As we begin a New Year, as we wish blessings on each other, as we pray for peace for ourselves, our family and our world, perhaps we can look at this Aaronite or Priestly Blessing for the secret or the answer on just how to have peace and a Happy New Year.

The key hope and blessing is that we see the face of God. When that happens, then we will have peace. The key then is living in a face to face relationship with God. Transparency. Honesty. Openness. These are the virtues needed for a happy life.

All of us can relate to that. Once more we can go back to the childhood game of longing to see the face of our mother and our father. When they were out of sight, we often cried. We thought they were hiding from us. We thought we did something wrong. But when we saw their smile, then we knew all was right. Peace was being loved. Peace was being held. Peace was being reflected in the center of our parent’s eyes. “Peekaboo! I love you!”

But we don’t have to go back to our childhood only. We know as adults that when we are at odds with God or our family or our neighbor, we hide our faces from each other. We can’t look each other in the eye. We wear masks. Didn’t St. Paul say all that: that we sin in the dark, behind closed doors, our of sight, in secret?

Isn’t that the message behind the eye of God on the dollar bill? God sees all. Put the dollar back. It’s not yours. Don’t steal. And if you do steal, you’ll discover, even if you are never caught, that you stole some peace and happiness from yourself. Is unhappiness worth a dollar? A hundred dollars? Does it have a price?

But happiness isn’t a relationship with God where we think he is always watching us. That would be a relationship built on fear and not on trust and love. To have a Happy New Year and to have the blessing of peace, we need to have a positive relationship with a loving God.

And to start this kind of a relationship, God usually makes the first move. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, what did they do? They hid in shame. They could not face God. Yet, God did not give up and hide his face from them. He went searching for them in the Garden. And when He found them he talked to them face to face.

And isn’t that also the message of Christmas which we just celebrated? That God once more came into the Garden of the world to look at us face to face. Jesus is the face of God shining on us. The word became flesh, became an infant, looking out at us and our world. When we look at the Christmas crib, what do we see? What does the Christmas story say to us?

Did Mary play, “Peekaboo! I love you,” with Jesus?

Obviously, we don’t know the answer to that one. But why not? And why not imagine seeing the faces of Mary and Joseph and the shepherds in today’s Gospel looking at the face of Jesus? Painters through the centuries have imagined the scene. Luke is telling us that the shepherds represent us, that we should long to see the face of Jesus.

And Luke is also telling us to be like Mary: to treasure and ponder all these things in our heart. Isn’t that treasuring and pondering the beginning of a deep prayer life with God that will bring happiness and peace to our heart this New Year and every year of our life?

And isn’t that what Paul is calling us to in today’s second reading? “God sent his Son, born of a woman,” so that we can have a relationships with him that is face to face -- intimate. We can have a relationship with God that is as close as a child climbing up on his lap and looking him face to face, eye to eye. We can have a relationship with God that is as intimate and face to face as is his relationship with Mary.

Commenting on today’s second reading from Galatians, John Bligh, S.J., the British scripture scholar, reflects on St. Paul, that “it can hardly have escaped his notice that the `woman’ whom he mentions was taken into an astonishing intimacy with God. When she cried `Abba, Father’, she was addressing the Father of her own Son. To this day, it is impossible to contemplate the relationship of Mary the Mother of Jesus to God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ without wonder and amazement.”

The secret of a Happy New Year then is t have a face to face relationship with God. How? The answer is found in today’s Gospel: to be like Mary, to be like Joseph, to be like the shepherds, to approach Jesus and look into his face.

But it must be stated that Jesus is no longer a baby. Today, this New Year, approach Jesus adult to adult, face to face. Let his face shine on you. Let him be gracious to you. Isn’t that what Jesus was about? He is the Aaronite or the Priestly Blessing in the flesh. He is the face of God walking around blessing people. He walked around looking into people’s faces. Most turned away and walked the other way. The gospels, Sunday after Sunday, however, tell us story after story about people whom Jesus met face to face: Nicodemus, the Woman at the Well, the Rich Young Man, Zaccheus, and hundreds more. But to as many who received him, he gave them power to become the children of God. Like a little kid, climbing up on his father’s lap, Jesus went up to people and pried their hands away from their faces and looked into their eyes, with the eyes of love.

The Lord’s face shone on them. He was gracious to them. He gave them the possibility of peace. And whenever he looked into someone’s eyes and saw death, he cried out, “Lazarus, come forth!” He, the Lord of the Resurrection, wanted to see life in people, not death. He wanted to see light, not darkness,. He wanted to be gracious, not grouchy or greedy. He wanted to see peace, not unrest. He wanted to see love, not hate.

It might sound corny, but doesn’t Jesus say to us, “Peekaboo! I love you.” Isn’t that what he calls his followers to have: a love that breaks down walls and allows people to live face to face with God and each other in love? Isn’t that what will put peace into our hearts and our faces? Isn’t that what will bring all of us to a Happy New Year?



NOTE: Picture on top - Gabriel Barkay and the amulet.