By Fr. Peter Lewitzke, OP, Parochial Vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at Purdue University in Indiana.
How far would you be willing to go for love? Mother Cabrini was turned away from the convent, was deathly afraid of the sea, and dreamed of China, yet America is where the Pope sent her.
In today's A Word of Hope, we celebrate the feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and reflect on the first reading from the Second Letter of John: "Let us love one another." Mother Cabrini went on to found dozens of orphanages, schools and hospitals across the United States and in other countries.
In John's day, the Church was struggling against Gnosticism, the idea that faith is about arcane knowledge and escaping the material world rather than God becoming man in Jesus Christ. Mother Cabrini faced something similar: a denial that the poor, in their flesh, are made in the image and likeness of God.
A true mystic is not about fancy visions. Being a mystic is not about going far in order to love, but about going deeper into the day-to-day realities of everyday life. So who is the person in front of you? The homeless person on the street, the immigrant who is misunderstood, the person suffering from anxiety or mental illness? Thank God for that person today, and have the courage to encounter them face to face.
CHAPTERS
0:00 How far would you go for love?
0:16 Mother Cabrini wasn't supposed to be a sister
0:41 2 John: "Let us love one another"
1:11 The heresy of Gnosticism
1:42 What Mother Cabrini was struggling with
1:58 What a true mystic really is
2:29 Good news: it's about our openness
2:45 Who is the person in front of you?
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