Readings & Reflections: Saturday of the Second Week in Advent & Blessed Mary Frances Schervier, December 15,2018
The greatness of Elijah is that he “turned back the hearts of the fathers toward their sons.” “Original sin attempts to abolish fatherhood…. Placing in doubt the truth about God who is Love and leaving man only with a sense of their master-slave relationship” (St. John Paul II). John the Baptist, the new Elijah, removed our doubt and began to “restore all things” by turning our hearts back to the Father.
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
“Lord, stir my zeal for your righteousness and for your kingdom. Free me from complacency and from compromising with the ways of sin and worldliness that I may be wholeheartedly devoted to you and to your kingdom.” Transform me to be a watchful servant, sensitive always to your ways. Enable me to prepare for your return by turning away from sin and from everything that would keep us from pursuing Your will. In your Name, I pray. Amen.
Reading I
Sir 48:1-4, 9-11
In those days,
like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
and who falls asleep in your friendship.
The word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16, 18-19
R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
Take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
All flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mt 17:9a, 10-13
As they were coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection 1 – Recognizing God
“I assure you, though, that Elijah has already come, but they did not recognize him and they did as they pleased with him.”
Recognizing God and His call and responding to it is not a one shot deal but a continuing process. It cannot be accomplished by one mere decision as we are expected to react to varying situations on a daily basis. Life is full of uncertainties that what may be nice and acceptable today may not necessarily fit into our lives when something similar occurs. But one thing God expects from us is to receive everything that comes our way according to the way Jesus would have received them and react the way He would have acted on them.
Responding to God and living a life with Him in Christ presents countless opportunities, new horizons, new duties, new perspectives for generosity, love and new ways to perfection.
Every man has been given a distinct role and vocation within God’s vineyard, yet to claim and pursue it has been one big obstacle to most people. God invites every man to draw closer to Him yet due to the blind spots in our lives, we fail to recognize God, His call and invitation. We turn our backs on Him and do as we please. Regrettably, when we fail to recognize God in our lives, we also fail to recognize God in each brother and sister around us.
In order to appropriately act on our Lord’s invitation, our response must be more than verbal and must involve a sincere and profound commitment of our whole heart and soul.
What should inhibit a man from truly recognizing God and His call…God among His flock? The lures of the world are what can blind us spiritually. The temptations brought about by power, influence and wealth may cause spiritual blindness, our inability to see God in our lives, God in our brothers and sisters!
Materialism and the accompanying comforts of this world and the pleasures of the flesh totally eliminate our relationship with the Lord. Our love of self and pride can only cause us to be blinded to the needs of our neighbor. Man’s blind spots can vary but they all center on what all of us consider as SIN. Living in the dirty world of sin can only cause us to resist God, His Word and His call to be one with Him and His people.
Today, we are all reminded to be faithful in our struggle to be one with God. It is only by living our faith that we can recognize God and His call. Only with hearts that are open to the Spirit coupled by our sincere efforts to draw closer to our Lord can we favorably respond to God and His Word. Only by saying “no” to all that is evil can we have Jesus live in our hearts.
Be consoled as God is always with us and through the Holy Spirit He will lead us to the path of salvation. With Him in our hearts, He will enable us not only to recognize Him and follow Him but to see Him in others, minister to them and serve them selflessly. Certainly, if we remain properly focused on Jesus, we can be the true child of God and be able to respond to His Word and claim His strength and victory in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
Direction
This Holy Day Season let us make an effort to bring joy to those experiencing difficult times.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me the vision to see You in my neighbor amidst my sinfulness and brokenness. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Reflection 2 – Elijah does come
God give signs to show what he is about to do. John the Baptist is one such sign, who pointed to Jesus and prepared the way for his coming. John fulfilled the essential task of all the prophets: to be fingers pointing to Christ. John is the last and greatest prophet of the old kingdom, the old covenant. The Jews expected that when the Messiah would come, Elijah would appear to announce his presence. John fills the role of Elijah and prepares the way for the coming of Christ by preaching a baptism of repentance and renewal.
As watchful servants, we, too must prepare for the Lord’s coming again by turning away from sin and from everything that would keep us from pursuing his will. Are you eager to do God’s will and are you prepared to meet the Lord Jesus when he returns in glory?
Let’s examine ourselves and pray, “Lord, stir my zeal for your righteousness and for your kingdom. Free me from complacency and from compromising with the ways of sin and worldliness that I may be wholeheartedly devoted to you and to your kingdom. – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2017/dec16.htm
Reflection 3 – Modern day prophets
In Saturday’s Gospel reading, Jesus speaks of Elijah, because the disciples were curious about an ancient Jewish expectation that Elijah would return to announce the arrival of the Messiah. Perhaps they wondered: Would Elijah come back from the dead? Or be reincarnated perhaps? Neither of these ideas are scriptural. And so Jesus explained the truth behind the prophecy.
It wasn’t about the person (Elijah) returning, but the purpose (Elijah’s role in salvation). As today’s first reading points out, Elijah’s purpose was to turn people’s hearts back to God, back to a right relationship (i.e., a true friendship) with God.
Shortly before Jesus began his public ministry and for a short while afterward, the mission of John the Baptist was the same as Elijah’s. He announced the arrival of the Messiah by preaching repentance and restoring people’s relationship with God so that they could recognize him in Jesus.
God is still sending out Elijahs and Johns today. In all the ways and situations that people turn away from God, the voice of restoration goes out through modern-day prophets. You, too, are a prophet whenever you invite people to turn back to Christ or to embrace the ways of Christ.
A true prophet is the voice of God’s love pointing the way to healing and growth. A successful prophet is an empathetic prophet. When have you mistakenly rejected the ways of Christ in your own behaviors and choices? Did God try to speak to you through someone in your life? Remembering this about ourselves removes arrogance and judgmentalism from our desire to call others to repentance.
With Christmas fast approaching, consider what needs healing in your relationship with Christ. The more we are healed, the better we become at helping others heal, repent, or convert to Christ.
And be assured of this: When you invest in the mission of Good News Ministries — with your prayers, volunteer time, funding — you support the prophet voice of our mission. You proclaim the Good News. Together, we make a bigger difference changing hearts for Christ than we could ever do separately. To continue this voice in 2018, if you haven’t done so yet, please contribute generously at http://gnm.org/donate or text your donation here: http://bit.ly/2jbsQNI.
To those who have very limited funds, here’s an idea: Fast for one meal and offer the sacrifice as a prayer for those who can be generous. Then send in the cost of that meal as a gift of thanks to Jesus for all he has done for you. This is a significant way to grow stronger spiritually.
To those who cannot make donations because of the country they live in and the exchange rate, be generous to another ministry that serves as the prophetic voice of Christ and offer your prayer support for Good News Ministries.
And to all: Whenever you receive our fundraising emails, which go out to all subscribers, please use them as an opportunity to pray for others who receive them, asking our Lord to help them respond to the call.
Reflection 4 – Blessed Mary Frances Schervier (1819-1876 A.D.)
This woman who once wanted to become a Trappistine nun was instead led by God to establish a community of sisters who care for the sick and aged in the United States and throughout the world.
Born into a distinguished family in Aachen (then ruled by Prussia but formerly Aix-la-Chapelle, France), Frances ran the household after her mother’s death and established a reputation for generosity to the poor. In 1844 she became a Secular Franciscan. The next year she and four companions established a religious community devoted to caring for the poor. In 1851 the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis (a variant of the original name) were approved by the local bishop; the community soon spread. The first U.S. foundation was made in 1858.
Mother Frances visited the United States in 1863 and helped her sisters nurse soldiers wounded in the Civil War. She visited the United States again in 1868. When Philip Hoever was establishing the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis, she encouraged him.
When Mother Frances died, there were 2,500 members of her community worldwide. They are still engaged in operating hospitals and homes for the aged. Mother Mary Frances was beatified in 1974.
Comment:
The sick, the poor and the aged are constantly in danger of being considered “useless” members of society and therefore ignored—or worse. Women and men motivated by the ideals of Mother Frances are needed if the God-given dignity and destiny of all people are to be respected.
Quote:
In 1868, Mother Frances wrote to all her sisters, reminding them of Jesus’ words: “You are my friends if you do what I command you…. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another” (John 15:14,17).
She continued: “If we do this faithfully and zealously, we will experience the truth of the words of our father St. Francis who says that love lightens all difficulties and sweetens all bitterness. We will likewise partake of the blessing which St. Francis promised to all his children, both present and future, after having admonished them to love one another even as he had loved them and continues to love them.”
Read the source: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1230
SAINT OF THE DAY
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God’s invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint. Click here to receive Saint of the Day in your email.
| BLESSED FRANCES SCHERVIER, S.P.S.F. | |
|---|---|
Religious and Foundress
|
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| BORN | 8 January 1819 Aachen, Germany |
| DIED | 14 December 1876 (aged 57) Aachen, Germany |
| VENERATED IN | Poor Sisters of St. Francis,Franciscan Sisters of the Poor,Poor Brothers of St. Francis,Roman Catholicism |
| BEATIFIED | 1974, Rome by Pope Paul VI |
| FEAST | December 15 |
The Blessed Mary Frances Schervier, S.P.S.F., (8 January 1819 – 14 December 1876) was the foundress of tworeligious congregationsof Religious Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, both committed to serving the neediest of the poor. One, the Poor Sisters of St. Francis, is based in her native Germany, and the other, theFranciscan Sisters of the Poor, was later formed from its Province in the United States. She was beatified by theRoman Catholic Church in 1974.
Contents
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Early life[edit]
Frances Schervier (German: Franziska) was born into a wealthy family in Aachen, Germany. Her father, Johann Heinrich Schervier was a wealthy needle factory owner and the vice-mayor of Aachen. Her French mother, Maria Louise Migeon, the goddaughter of Emperor Francis I of Austria provided a strict home environment. After the death of both her mother and two sisters from tuberculosis when she was thirteen, Frances become the homemaker for her father, and developed a reputation for generosity to the poor,[1] from her growing awareness of their desperate conditions.
In a dispute over the rights of the Church in 1837 (Kölner Wirren), the Prussian government imprisoned the Archbishop of Cologne, Clemens August von Droste-Vischering, causing a great public reaction; the repercussion was a revival of religious spirit, especially in Westphalia and the Rhine country. In the wake of this spiritual awakening, some prominent Aachen ladies started a society for the relief of the poor and approached Johann Schervier to permit Frances to join. He agreed at first, but later demurred when Frances began to nurse the sick in their homes, fearing that she might carry the disease into his own house. Rather than respond vigorously to her father’s objection, Frances discreetly continued to visit the sick until he gradually became accustomed to her involvement; her father later recalled that his daughter grasped how to emancipate herself.
The Reverend Joseph Istas, who was curate at Saint Paul Parish in Aachen and founder of “Saint John’s Kitchen” for the poor, deeply impressed Frances, who began to work very closely with him; but their friendship ended abruptly with Istas’ premature death in 1843. The following year she entered the Third Order of St. Francis.[1]
Foundress[edit]
In 1845 Frances’ life took an unexpected turn: her father died and a friend, Getrude Frank, told her of a religious experience. Getrude related to Frances, “Our Lord wills that you leave your parental home and your family in order that, in company with those he will more clearly show you, you may save souls for him and heal His wounds.” Instead of entering an existing convent, however, on 3 October 1845 she and four other women left their homes to establish a religious community devoted to caring for the poor under Frances’ leadership. They formed the nucleus of the community that became known as the Poor Sisters of St. Francis.[1]
From 1845 until 1848, the Sisters continued to care for the sick in their homes and to operate a soup kitchen. They also cared for prostitutes in their own small home and nursed women suffering from syphilis. Relying entirely upon donations for support, the Sisters experienced extreme poverty. The pre-revolutionary potato and grain failures and the refusal of some benefactors to continue their assistance once the Sisters began ministering to prostitutes, intensified their difficulties. More women joined the group in 1849, expanding the ministry beyond Aachen; not only did they care for victims of cholera, smallpox, typhoid fever, and cancer, but they also supervised women prisoners at the Aachen prison and assisted them in finding employment after their release.
The Congregation obtained formal Church recognition from the local bishop on 2 July 1851, despite some authorities’ objections to Frances’ severe position regarding personal poverty. According to the chronicler of the Congregation, they received state acceptance in 1853 only because “priests and religious persons were considered suitable for pacifying the people who had been roused by revolutionary ideas;” and that the tide of government sentiment turned when “through unification of the conservative elements in the state, the revolution had been overcome.”[2]
Soon after they received formal recognition as a religious congregation, the Sisters spread their service overseas. An American foundation was established within seven years of its founding, to serve German emigrant communities in New York, New Jersey and Ohio. At the same time Mother Frances oversaw the foundation of several hospitals and sanatoria in both Europe and the United States for those suffering from tuberculosis, then a widespread cause of death, especially among theworking classes.
In 1857, she encouraged Philip Hoever, a Franciscan tertiary, in his efforts to establish the Poor Brothers of St. Francis. Like the Sisters, they are a religious congregation of lay brothers of the Franciscan Third Order Regular, instituted for charitable work among orphan boys and educating the youth of the poorer classes.
Mother Frances visited the United States in 1863, and helped her Sisters nurse soldiers wounded in the American Civil War. St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken, N.J. was founded for this work. She visited the United States one more time in 1868.
Legacy[edit]
When Mother Frances died, there were 2,500 members of her congregation worldwide. The number kept growing until the 1970s, when, like many other religious orders, they began to experience a sharp decline in membership. After a formal investigation into her life requested of the Holy See by the Archbishop of Cincinnatiand the declaration of a miraculous cure of a man in Ohio, Mother Mary Frances was beatified in 1974 by Pope Paul VI.
In 1959, the American province of the congregation separated from the German branch, to become an independent congregation called the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor. They have their headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. They are still engaged in operating a hospital and a home for the aged in Walden, New York, but have transferred the ownership of many of their institutions to other organizations. The Frances Schervier Home and Hospital was founded by the Sisters in theBronx, New York, and named in her honor. (It too has been transferred as of 2000 to a medical chain but continues to operate under this name.) Currently this Congregation focuses on health care, pastoral ministries and social service.[3]
Veneration[edit]
1876 Frances Schervier dies in Aachen, Germany, on December 14.
In 1934 the Apostolic Process was opened in Rome. Decree issued for Introduction of the Cause of Mary Frances Schervier, of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis. On January 30, 1969 Pope Paul VI proclaims the “heroicity of the virtues” of Mother Frances and declares her “Venerable.”
1972 On October 18, 1972 Pope Paul VI, on appeal by the Right Rev.Johannes Pohlschneider, Bishop of Aachen, grants an apostolicdispensation from the prescript contained in Canon 2117 of the Code of Canon Law, so that, after a legally valid verification and full examination of only one miracle, the cause might pass to the next phase.
1973 The “medically inexplicable” and sudden cure of Mr. Ludwig Braun from a life-threatening pancreatic and intestinal ailment is recognized as the miracle necessary for the Beatification of Mother Frances. The decree recognizing the miracle is signed on October 18, 1973 by Pope Paul VI. Mother Frances is beatified on April 28, 1974 in Rome by Pope Paul VI; this means that she is now called “Blessed Frances”.
1989 In March an unexplainable and sudden cure is experienced by Mr. Thomas Siemers, who had a massive brain hemorrhage. Three medical doctors have no scientific explanation and one says it was “divine intervention” and another says “somebody up there likes him.”
2008 The Cause for Canonization of Blessed Frances Schervier is introduced in Rome on July 16 jointly by Sister Tiziana Merletti, S.F.P., Congregational Minister of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and Sister Katharina Maria Finken, S.P.S.F., Superior General of the Poor Sisters of St. Francis.
2009 The Opening Session of the Diocesan Inquiry Process takes place on April 17 in Cincinnati, Ohio to gather evidence on the cure of Mr. Thomas Siemers. Closing Session of Diocesan Inquiry on December 14 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2010 On March 17 the official documents from the Diocesan Inquiry in Cincinnati were opened in Rome.[4]
Current locations[edit]
The Franciscan Sisters of the Poor are active in:
The Poor Sisters of St. Francis serve in:
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b c “Foley O.F.M., Leonard. “Blessed Mary Frances Schervier”, Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons and Feast, (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media”. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- Jump up^ “Frances Schervier”. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- Jump up^ “Franciscan Sisters of the Poor”. Retrieved 31 October2014.
- Jump up^ “Blessed Frances”. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
Sources[edit]
- Mccloskey, Patrick (1999). Day by Day with Followers of Francis & Clare. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press. ISBN 978-0-86716-336-0.
