Readings & Reflections: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Memorial, January 4,2020

Born to a prominent colonial family in 1774 A.D, Elizabeth married William Seton and bore five children. After she married William, she founded a Protestant society for helping widows and orphans as her dreamed of helping the poor from an early age. After William’s business failed, he contracted tuberculosis and died. Elizabeth encountered the Catholic faith through friends in Italy, and was received into the Church at St. Peter’s Church in lower Manhattan, New York. Her attempts to found a school in New York to support herself and her five children failed when the parents of her students discovered that she was Catholic. The victim of anti-Catholic prejudice, Elizabeth accepted an invitation from a Sulpician priest in Baltimore to found the congregation that became the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph to educate the poor and orphans, and the beginning of the American parochial school system. In her sufferings, Elizabeth resorted to prayer: “And do I realize it – the protecting presence, the consoling grace of my Redeemer and my God. He raises me from the dust to feel that I am near him….” Elizabeth died in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1821 A.D. She is considered the patron of Catholic education in America.

AMDG+

Opening Prayer

“Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit and let me grow in the knowledge of your love and truth. Let your Spirit be aflame in my heart that I may know and love you more fervently and strive to do your will in all things.”  In your Name, I pray. Amen.

Reading 1
1 Jn 3:7-10

Children, let no one deceive you.
The person who acts in righteousness is righteous,
just as he is righteous.
Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,
because the Devil has sinned from the beginning.
Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil.
No one who is begotten by God commits sin,
because God’s seed remains in him;
he cannot sin because he is begotten by God.
In this way,
the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain;
no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God,
nor anyone who does not love his brother.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 98:1, 7-8, 9

R. (3cd) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy before the LORD.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
The LORD comes;
he comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with equity.v R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

Gospel
Jn 1:35-42

John was standing with two of his disciples,
and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God.”
The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
“What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher),
“where are you staying?”
He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying,
and they stayed with him that day.
It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,
was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
He first found his own brother Simon and told him,
“We have found the Messiah,” which is translated Christ.
Then he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said,
“You are Simon the son of John;
you will be called Cephas,” which is translated Peter.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – What are you looking for?

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”

Two of John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Where are you staying?” They were not so curious to know where Jesus was staying but they may have been so interested as to what makes relationships of Jesus so lasting and secure? They really meant to ask: “What is the center and meaning of life for you?” “What relationship do you have that is lasting and secure?” “Where is your safe place in the storms of life?”

Jesus’ replies “Come and you will see.” He invited the two to examine His life- to find its meaning and purpose which actually became the basis for their conversion. They stayed with him. They chose Jesus as their abiding place, the center and very meaning of their lives.

Today most of us have been evangelized and have with our Lord’s grace endeavored to live for our Lord Jesus. We have decided to work for Him and we seek how best to draw souls to our Heavenly Father. God’s Word today speaks to us that that most productive form of evangelism occurs when a professed believer models Christianity and then invites their friends and family to Christ.

The story of Jesus’ encounter with Peter is very abbreviated. Perhaps John felt the readers of his gospel already knew enough about Peter. What is significant is the change of name that happened to Peter. In the Old Testament one’s name revealed one’s character or nature. A change of name thus indicated a change of nature. The Old Testament stories of changed names also involved a changed relationship with God.

God knows the potential in each of us, the realties of goodness that He has sowed in our hearts. He wants us to abide by Christ, Hs Son. He desires that we live in Him as He lives deep in our hearts, as we become one with Jesus.

God wants us to be His authentic witnesses and draw others to Him. He wants our lives to ignite the curiosity among other people and to ask from us who we are, where our hearts are and what makes life so beautiful despite its difficulties and adversities.

Direction

We need to live out and be faithful to our covenant with our God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, give us the grace to live in righteousness. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen

Reflection 2 – We have found the Messiah!

Who is Jesus for you? John calls Jesus the Lamb of God and thus signifies Jesus’ mission as the One who redeems us from our sins. The blood of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12) delivered the Israelites from their oppression in Egypt and from the plague of death. The Lord Jesus freely offered up his life for us on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 Corinthians 5:7). The blood which he poured out for us on the cross cleanses, heals, and frees us from our slavery to sin, and from the “wages of sin which is death” (Romans 6:23) and the “destruction of both body and soul in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

It is significant that John was the son of the priest, Zachariah, who participated in the daily sacrifice of a lamb in the temple for the sins of the people (Exodus 29). In Jesus John saw the true and only sacrifice which could deliver us from bondage to sin, death, and the powers of hell. How did John know the true identity of Jesus, as the Son of God and Savior of the world (John 1:29)? The Holy Spirit revealed to John Jesus’ true nature, such that John bore witness that this is the Son of God. How can we be certain that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of the living God? The Holy Spirit makes the Lord Jesus Christ known to us through the gift of faith. God gives us freely of his Spirit that we may comprehend – with enlightened minds and eyes of faith – the great mystery and plan of God to unite all things in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

“What do you seek?” 
John in his characteristic humility was eager to point beyond himself to the Christ (means Anointed One and Messiah). He did not hesitate to direct his own disciples to the Lord Jesus. When two of John’s disciples began to seek Jesus out, Jesus took the initiative to invite them into his company. He did not wait for them to get his attention. Instead he met them halfway. He asked them one of the most fundamental questions of life: “What are you looking for?” Jesus asks each one of us the same question: “What are you searching for? Do you know the meaning and purpose for your life?” Only God, the Father and Author of life, can answer that question and make our purpose fully known to us. That is why the Lord Jesus invites each one of us to draw near to himself. He wants us to know him personally – to know what he came to do for us and what he wants to offer us.

“Come and see” 
“Come and see” is the Lord’s invitation for each one of us to discover the joy of friendship and communion with the One who made us in love for love. Saint Augustine of Hippo reminds us that it is God, our Creator and Redeemer, who seeks us out, even when we are not looking for him: “If you hadn’t been called by God, what could you have done to turn back? Didn’t the very One who called you when you were opposed to Him make it possible for you to turn back?” It is God who initiates and who draws us to himself. Without his mercy and help we could not find him on our own.

When we find something of great value it’s natural to want to share the good news of our discovery with our family, friends, and neighbors. When Andrew met Jesus and discovered that he was truly the Messiah, he immediately went to his brother Simon and told him the good news. Andrew brought his brother to meet Jesus so he could “come and see” for himself. When Jesus saw Simon approaching he immediately reached out to Simon in the same way he had done for Andrew earlier. Jesus looked at Simon and revealed that he knew who Simon was and where he came from even before Simon had set his eyes on Jesus. Jesus gave Simon a new name which signified that God had a personal call and mission for him. Jesus gave Simon the name “Cephas” which is the Aramaic word for “rock”. Cephas is translated as Peter (Petros in Greek and Petrus in Latin) which also literally means “rock”.

To call someone a “rock” was one of the greatest compliments in the ancient world. The rabbis had a saying that when God saw Abraham, he exclaimed: “I have discovered a rock to found the world upon.” Through Abraham God established a nation for himself. Through faith Peter grasped who Jesus truly was – the Anointed One (Messiah and Christ) and the only begotten Son of God. The New Testament describes the church as a spiritual house or temple with each member joined together as living stones (see 1 Peter 2:5). Faith in Jesus Christ makes us into rocks or spiritual stones. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith to know the Lord Jesus personally, power to live the gospel faithfully, and courage to witness the truth and joy of the Gospel to others. The Lord Jesus is ever ready to draw us to himself. Do you seek to grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus Christ?

“Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Let your Spirit be aflame in my heart that I may joyfully seek to do your will in all things.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/jan4.htm

Reflection 3 – Come and you’ll see

Jesus receives his first disciples from John the Baptist. Having begun with curiosity, they quickly become convinced that he is the Anointed One of God. The giving of a new name to Peter signifies the taking of a new way of life.

The following signposts to follow Jesus are very important to us for our new way of life as Jesus’ disciples for our salvation and for the salvation of the world.

1. Obedience of the cross. Jesus accepted his suffering and death. Once he prayed at Gethsemane and said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will but what thou wilt” (Mk 14:36). Let us try to examine our problems, pain and suffering. Do I follow Jesus’ attitude by saying “not my will but your will be cone, O Lord” in handling my problems?
2. Poverty or Simplicity of lifestyle. It means nothing can save us except in total reliance on God’s infinite love which actually means entering the world through Jesus. Jesus said, “The things of this world cannot save us and those who rely on their riches and possessions will perish” (Mk 10:23-27). St. Francis of Assisi said, “If we have possessions, then we need weapons to defend them. Possessions are the basic cause of dissentions and fights which hinder people from loving God and their neighbors.” Is the experience of St. Francis true to you? How do you detach yourself of material possessions?
3. Freedom and joy. This is an attitudes and behaviors that counted so high in Jesus’ own life. Joy must remain the basic mode of any disciple. It becomes the sign of the presence of the kingdom now and sometimes it is most genuine in moments of pain and insecurity. Can I experience joy and freedom without money? Joy means giving to each person the space to unfold and to become creative according to his/her abilities and gifts. Every creature has a right to life on this earth which God has given to us a common heritage to enjoy and to share in all its richness.

Through baptism, we have joined to the Lord Jesus who calls us as his disciple in obedience to the cross, lived in simple lifestyle, freedom and joy. How will do we listen to his voice? How willing are we to do his will?

Reflection 4 – Finding And Telling

He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” –John 1:41

Many years ago some prospectors were panning for gold in Montana when one of them found an unusual stone. Breaking it open, he saw that it contained gold. Working eagerly, the men soon discovered an abundance of the precious metal. With unrestrained delight they shouted, “We’ve found it! We’ve found gold! We’re rich!”

Before going into town for supplies, they agreed not to tell a soul about their find. While in town, not one of them breathed a word about their discovery. When they were about to return to camp, though, a group of men had gathered and were ready to follow them.

“You’ve found gold,” the group said. “Who told you?” asked the prospectors. “No one,” they replied. “Your faces showed it!”

It’s much like that when a person discovers Christ. The joy of sins forgiven and a new relationship with Him shows on that person’s face and in his transformed life.

Those miners, of course, wanted to keep quiet about their find, but we as Christians should be eager to let people know about ours. Finding Christ is life’s greatest discovery, and our joy increases when we share it with others. As believers, our highest delight is both in finding and in telling.

Let us serve the Lord with gladness
And enthusiastic praise,
Telling all who do not know Him
Of His great and wondrous ways.

The good news of Christ is too good to keep to yourself (Source: Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries).

Reflection 5 – What Do You Seek?

Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” —John 1:38

How would you answer if Jesus were to ask you, “What do you seek?” (John 1:38). Would you ask Him for health and fitness? A better job? A happier marriage? Financial security? Vindication from a false accusation? Salvation for a wayward loved one? An explanation of some difficult theological concept?

For two disciples of John the Baptist, this situation was more than an exercise in imagination. One day while they were with John, Jesus walked by and John announced, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (v.36). Instead of continuing to follow John, his two disciples started following Jesus.

When Jesus saw them, He asked, “What do you seek?” (v.38).

Apparently John had taught them well, because their answer indicated that they were not seeking something for themselves but Jesus Himself. They wanted to know where Jesus was staying. Not only did Jesus show them the place, He spent the remainder of the day with them.

I wonder how often we miss an opportunity to spend time with Jesus because we’re seeking something other than His presence. I know from experience that the more time I spend with Jesus, the less desire I have for a lot of things that once seemed very important.
— Julie Ackerman Link

To walk in fellowship with Christ
And sense His love so deep and true
Brings to the soul its highest joy
As nothing in this world can do. —D. De Haan

Jesus longs for our fellowship even more than we long for His (Source: Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries).

Reflection 6 – The supernatural life

“What are you looking for?” This is what Jesus asked two future disciples in today’s Gospel reading. It’s also what he is asking you and me today, right here, right now.

The first reading contains the warning, “Let no one deceive you.” Every person who has ever lived has looked for a Messiah. Everyone wants a deliverer in one form or another — someone or something to protect them and rescue them from evil.

However, there are so many false gods and so many counterfeits that point us away from God that many people settle for less than what they’re looking for.

When I was a teenager, I searched for the God who performed supernatural wonders in the Bible — “wondrous deeds” like it says in today’s responsorial Psalm. Deceived by false prophets, I thought God’s powers were found in the various practices of the occult.

After seven years of pursuing him this way, I discovered that I’d been following false gods that led me away from the true God. Jesus intervened and showed me that it is in a relationship with his Holy Spirit, not the occult, where I would experience the supernatural powers of God.

Even though I’d known Jesus throughout my childhood, my occult activities had ruined my friendship with him because, as John wrote, it was the devil’s work. My actions were unholy because they relied on sources other than God. The extent to which I had given myself over to Satan’s counterfeit spirituality was the extent to which my life belonged to the devil — even though I did not believe the devil existed!

The occult is full of false gods, and many succumb to its enticements of quick and easy supernatural power. My own son has fallen prey to this; he who was once full of faith and love for the Eucharist has been rejecting Christ since his college days when his curiosity led him to visit the ceremonies of witchcraft covens, among other occult activities. Please pray for him. The day will come when he turns back to Christ! Until then, my heart is pierced as I share in Jesus’ pain.

True supernatural faith comes from life in the Holy Spirit and growth in holiness. The Saints who experienced miracles, ecstasies and visions were able to do so because they continually worked at turning from sin and imitating Jesus.

“What are you looking for?” Supernatural love? Whatever loneliness you feel exists because you’re looking for love from people more than from God.

Are you looking for a supernatural healing? Miracles usually start with the healing of the soul and then the mind before they reach the body.

Are you looking for an end to your trials? Your Messiah is not a magic genie who snaps his fingers and makes the bad guys disappear. Rather, your Messiah is teaching you to love your enemies and is showing you how to use your sufferings co-redemptively with him while he works on their hearts at whatever speed they can accept.

“What are you looking for?” If it’s anything but the true God, put your focus back onto Jesus — which is truly a supernatural experience! – Read the source: http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2019-01-04

Reflection 7 – You’re a saint, right?

Reflection 8 – We have found the Messiah

Today is the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and baptized as Elizabeth Bayley (1774-1821). Elizabeth Ann Seton was a wife, a mother, a widow, the founder of the Sisters of Charity and the first native born American to be canonized.

Elizabeth Seton came from a prominent and wealthy Episcopalian family and at the age of twenty got married to William Magee Seton. Together they had five children. Not long after her marriage, her husband lost his business and shortly after that he became ill and died. Elizabeth went to Italy and stayed with the Felici family who shared their life style first and then, as Elizabeth became interested, their Catholic faith. Shortly after she returned from Italy she converted to the Catholicism, opened a school for the poor and began a religious community. She found the Messiah and practiced it in her community.

In today’s gospel we are told that the very first thing that Andrew does after overhearing John at Jesus’ baptism is to look for his brother to tell him, “We have found the Messiah.” At this time how do I find God?

Not “out there,” not simply alongside of me… but deep within, joined with my own spirit. It’s not complicated. All I have to do is “come and see.” All I have to do is tune into God’s presence. But easy though it is, it doesn’t always happen. It takes some effort on my part… and that can be difficult during this hectic time of year. It need some quiet, some space, some reflection… the utter honesty to get in touch with my inner self and experience there the presence of God.

God is not on some high mountain I have to climb. There are no complicated procedures to follow, elaborate formulas to concoct or words to learn. It was not complicated for Andrew and the other disciple when they turned to Jesus. It was not complicated for Simon Peter when his brother Andrew brought him to Jesus.

God is present to us. Not just near us, next to us, but within us. We are all invited to “come and see.” Jesus invited us to examine our lives and to find its meaning and purpose. Andrew and then the other disciple and then Simon Peter had to take some initiative. They chose Jesus as their abiding place, the center and very meaning of their lives.

God knows the potential in each of us, the realities of goodness that He has sowed in our hearts. He wants us to abide by Christ, His Son. He desires that we live in Him as He lives deep in our hearts, as we become one with Jesus. God wants us to be authentic witnesses and draw others to Him. He wants our lives to ignite the curiosity among other people and to ask from us who we are, where our hearts are and what makes life so beautiful despite its difficulties and adversities.

St. Elizabeth Seton is our present model how to live out and be faithful to God. And let us ask her intercession for all of us to be faithful to God.

Reflection 9 – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
(1774-1821 A.D.)

Mother Seton is one of the keystones of the American Catholic Church. She founded the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity. She opened the first American parish school and established the first American Catholic orphanage. All this she did in the span of 46 years while raising her five children.

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a true daughter of the American Revolution, born August 28, 1774, just two years before the Declaration of Independence. By birth and marriage, she was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of high society. Reared a staunch Episcopalian by her mother and stepmother, she learned the value of prayer, Scripture and a nightly examination of conscience. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley, did not have much use for churches but was a great humanitarian, teaching his daughter to love and serve others.

The early deaths of her mother in 1777 and her baby sister in 1778 gave Elizabeth a feel for eternity and the temporariness of the pilgrim life on earth. Far from being brooding and sullen, she faced each new “holocaust,” as she put it, with hopeful cheerfulness.

At 19, Elizabeth was the belle of New York and married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Magee Seton. They had five children before his business failed and he died of tuberculosis. At 30, Elizabeth was widowed, penniless, with five small children to support.

While in Italy with her dying husband, Elizabeth witnessed Catholicity in action through family friends. Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence, devotion to the Blessed Mother and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ. Many of her family and friends rejected her when she became a Catholic in March 1805.

To support her children, she opened a school in Baltimore. From the beginning, her group followed the lines of a religious community, which was officially founded in 1809.

The thousand or more letters of Mother Seton reveal the development of her spiritual life from ordinary goodness to heroic sanctity. She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son. She died January 4, 1821, and became the first American-born citizen to be beatified (1963) and then canonized (1975). She is buried in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Comment:

Elizabeth Seton had no extraordinary gifts. She was not a mystic or stigmatic. She did not prophesy or speak in tongues. She had two great devotions: abandonment to the will of God and an ardent love for the Blessed Sacrament. She wrote to a friend, Julia Scott, that she would prefer to exchange the world for a “cave or a desert.” “But God has given me a great deal to do, and I have always and hope always to prefer his will to every wish of my own.” Her brand of sanctity is open to everyone if we love God and do his will.

Quote:

Elizabeth Seton told her sisters, “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.”

Patron Saint of:

Loss of parents

Related St. Anthony Messenger article(s) 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Mother to Many, by Judith Metz, SC

Elizabeth Ann Seton: A Proufoundly Human Saint, by Elizabeth Bookser Barkley

Ten Great Catholics of the Second Millennium, by Chrisopher Bellitto

Holy People ‘Walk the Talk,’ by Carol Ann Morrow

Elizabeth Ann Seton: Pioneer Saint of a Young Nation, by Judy Ball

Read the source:   http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1250

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.

Please follow Romeo Hontiveros at Twitter click this link: https://twitter.com/Trumpeta