SAINT MOTHER
THEODORE GUERIN
John, Chapter 11,
Verse 3-5
3 So the sisters sent
word to him, saying, “Master, the one you love
is ill.” 4 When Jesus heard this he said,
“This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory
of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Martha, Mary and Lazarus were three home runs of
Christ. They were loved by Christ not because of their wealth but by the fact
they knew that all wealth is really just on loan from the Father and that we
are to use our wealth to build the kingdom. You cannot love God and money. When
our Lord was raised up on the cross we see that our true wealth is in him and
until we come to our own natural end we should use our wealth to bring truth,
beauty, and love to our communities and families.
The Mass is a reenactment of the death of our Lord. It
is thought-provoking to contemplate that Pilates notice above Christ’s head,
was printed in three languages Hebrew, Latin and Greek. These three cultures in
a sense represented the characteristics of God. The Hebrew’s were Gods people
and represented the good of man and brought the idea that the person was
created by God and is more valuable than the universe. Latin the language of
the Romans brought the idea that truth is the highest value and the Greek
culture brought the idea of beauty being the greatest value. In Christ’s death
is represented all three values. That a good God died for man; true to the end;
and His shame was turned by love to beauty.
We must put
our “Trust” in Him for He is the “Resurrection and the Life.”
“If
you lean with all your weight upon Providence, you will find yourselves well
supported”
When we think about saints
we often have this image of a perfect person without the struggles or flaws of
an ordinary human being – a person not of this world who spent most of their
time praying and worshiping God. We forget that they are people who often had
to cope with the same issues that people face today. Saint Mother
Theodore Guerin had her ups and downs. Through her own
words, which have been published in Journals and Letters of Mother Theodore Guerin, we
are able to see the woman behind the saint and why she continues to lead and
inspire people worldwide.
·
She
… and five companion sisters were homeless when they arrived in a
dense Indiana forest on a dark October evening in 1840. They lived with a
generous local family until a new building was completed.
·
She
… experienced tragedies in her early life. Two brothers died in fires and her
father, a soldier, was murdered by thieves while returning from war. She put
her own dreams
on hold to care for her family when her
mother could not cope emotionally with her father’s death.
·
She
… and her small band of sisters arrived as immigrants in a new
country. They didn’t speak the language and were unfamiliar with the customs.
She depended on others to help her learn and adjust.
·
She
… learned survival skills and endured poverty.
She and her companion sisters planted and cared for gardens to supplement their
food supply. They helped care for livestock. Their cabin was so cold that their
bread froze. Still they endured.
·
She
… suffered from chronic health problems. Treatment for a disease early in her
life caused severe damage to her digestive system. She could eat only broth and
soft foods for nearly 30 years. This left her weak and frequently ill.
·
She
… stood up to injustice.
As a woman and a leader in the church, she endured bullying, even
excommunication. She met all with grace, determination, strong leadership and
compassion. And she didn’t back down. She also addressed social injustices in
her day.
·
She
… was a strong woman leader.
Within a year of arriving in Indiana, she established the Academy, now known as Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
She inspired women to follow her and founded the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods,
a group of vowed women who still today live out her legacy to create a more
just and hope-filled world.
·
She
… experienced prejudice.
Many people weren’t accepting of Catholics in the 1840s, especially Catholic
women who tried to do business in a “man’s world.”
·
She
… knew how to turn to prayer to cope with the many challenges that confronted
her. She placed complete trust in God
for survival and asked for God’s support in establishing schools throughout
Indiana, in leading the young Congregation and in all she did.
·
She
was a teacher, a founder, a healer, a pioneer. She was a person of deep faith
who led others toward God.
·
She
is a very real woman. She is a role model. She is a saint.
Daily
Acceptance of Death[2]
Pray twice daily. By Father John A. Hardon, SJ
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I accept from your hands, whatever kind of death it may please you to send me today (tonight), with all its pains, penalties and sorrows, in reparation for my sins, for the souls in purgatory, for the conversion of sinners, for all those who will die today (tonight), and for your greater glory. Amen.
Today is the birthday of my former wife
Diane T. Havermale who succumbed to pancreatic cancer in February 2015; She is
loved and remembered by her seven children: Claire, Christopher, Candace, Dara,
Rachel, Nicole and Vincent. Please pray for her intentions.
10. “For the Lord God
is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord
withhold from those who walk uprightly.”-Ps 84:11
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
89. You don't know what to say to our Lord in your prayer. You can't
think of anything, and yet you would like to consult him on many things. Look:
make some notes during the day of whatever you want to consider in the presence
of God. And then take these notes with you to pray.
Daily Devotions
[2]http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1108
[4]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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