Blessing of the pets ceremonies are part of the celebration for the Feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, in rememberance for his love of all creatures. This time of year, people bring a procession of animals, everthing from dogs and cats to raccoons, snakes and spiders to our churches and schools for a special blessing ceremony. The love we give to pets and receive in return from pets draws us into the circle of life and our relationship to God.
By Dennis Sadowski
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis is inviting Catholics both in the mainstream of church life and on the margins to voice their dreams, ideas and concerns in preparation for the Synod of Bishops in 2023.
The process launched Oct. 17 in parishes and dioceses worldwide. The pope formally opened the synod process at the Vatican Oct. 9-10.
Under the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” the pope is calling the church to practice synodality, that is listening to – and hearing – one another in all facets of church life, two of the coordinators of the effort at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told Catholic News Service.
The October opening “is just the first step in a larger, longer-term process of really incorporating the fruits of Vatican II and becoming a synodal church,” said Julia McStravog, a former USCCB employee who is a consultant to the bishops on the process.
“We’re going to have consultation. It’s also going to be a learning process about how to actually engage in a synodal way,” McStravog explained.
The launch begins a two-year process that culminates in the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. The synod is expected to adopt a final document that will guide the continuing development of a synodal church going into the future.
The pope’s call to synodality is rooted in his deep involvement as a cardinal in 2007 in drafting a document for CELAM, the acronym for the Spanish name of the Latin American bishops’ council, which met in Aparecida, Brazil. The document issued repeated calls for a “continental mission,” a church that goes out in search of ways to proclaim the Gospel to all.
Starting in October, dioceses and parishes will be engaged in nearly six months of discussions, or consultations, in which people from across the church will be invited to participate, said Richard Coll, executive director of the bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, who is coordinating the effort for the USCCB.
Each diocese is being asked to submit a summary of local discussions by April 1 to the USCCB, which will then take a month to synthesize in a final written presentation for the Vatican.
Coll said each diocese is being encouraged to let the Holy Spirit guide discussions.
“The Synod of Bishops is saying don’t focus on what the ultimate product is going to be. Focus on the process itself and how the Spirit will guide the church, represented in part through subsidiarity in the work that you are doing at the diocesan level,” Coll said.
The diocesan consultations also are an invitation to creativity, McStravog said.
“This is a moment to be co-creators with the Spirit. … It is a chance for reinvigorating an engaged community through creativity and the call to be open. There’s a chance to reaffirm the good and reimagine some things that could be better,” she explained.
To facilitate the effort, the Synod of Bishops, under Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general, introduced documents Sept. 7 to guide the process in dioceses. The USCCB followed up by quickly developing a supplemental document as well.
The primary document is a “vademecum,” or handbook, offering support for diocesan teams “to prepare and gather the people of God so that they can give voice to their experience in their local church.”
It also explains the objectives of the synodal process, principles of the process, the timeline for the two-year process, and resources for organizing the process.
A complementary preparatory document offers background to the development of the process, which is rooted in Pope Francis’ often-made invitation for “journeying together” in the world.
It states, “This journey, which follows in the wake of the church’s ‘renewal’ proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: By journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the church will be able to learn through her experience which processes can help her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open herself to mission.”
The USCCB document further defines the Vatican’s documents. It a checklist of actions, proposed timeline for dioceses to follow, and a listing of background materials to help walk parishes and dioceses through the initial process and ensure wide participation.
An addendum, developed by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, offers ideas for liturgical celebrations to mark the opening and closing of the synodal process in dioceses and suggestions for Scripture readings and musical themes.
Coll said the USCCB has been communicating with dioceses since May about forming teams to coordinate participation in the listening sessions. The Vatican documents were forwarded to dioceses soon after they were received by the USCCB.
At its meeting Sept. 14-15, the USCCB Administrative Committee, which includes the USCCB’s officers and the chairmen of the bishops’ various committees, reviewed the materials. It agreed to allot time for discussion on the synodal process during its fall general assembly in November, Coll said.
As dioceses prepare for the listening sessions, McStravog said the discussions present an opportunity for “gentleness and grace” to take hold within the church.
“This is a spiritual exercise,” she said. “It’s not just a bureaucratic or ecclesial exercise. It’s a spiritual exercise for the individual, for the parish, for the community, for the diocese and for the church in America at large.”
Coll and McStravog also echoed the pope’s Sept. 18 call to members of his diocese, the Diocese of Rome, to go to the margins to ensure that “the poor, the homeless, young people addicted to drugs, everyone that society rejects are part of the synod.”
“One of the questions is listening. How do we actually listen? It goes back to the invitation. The onus is on the diocese to really think through who is often excluded from our table. The church needs to go out and invite people back in,” McStravog said.
The vademecum also recognizes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the church.
The document explains that the pandemic “has made existing inequalities explode” and shows that the entire human family is affected, requiring a unified response.
Secondly, the document continues, the pandemic poses logistical challenges for participation in diocesan listening sessions. It calls on dioceses to look for ways such as online gatherings, small group meetings or other safe means to gain insight from church members.
Once the Vatican receives the synthesized reports of diocesan meetings from bishops’ conferences around the world, the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops will draft by September 2022 the “instrumentum laboris,” or working document, to guide continental or regional ecclesial assemblies that will take place by March 2023.
Those assemblies will produce another set of documents that will help in the drafting of a second working document for the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. The synod is expected to produce a final document on synodality throughout the church.
(Editor’s note: Bishop Joseph Kopacz will formally open the synod process in the diocese on 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 24 with Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson.)
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A synod calls on everyone to become experts in “the art of encounter” in a way that is uplifting and transformative, Pope Francis said, formally opening the process leading up to the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2023.
“Celebrating a synod means walking on the same road, together” just like Jesus did – encountering, listening and discerning with all who one meets, the pope said in his homily at the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 10.
“Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey? Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual excuses: ‘It’s useless’ or ‘We’ve always done it this way?’” he asked.
Some 3,000 people attended the Mass, including the 270 people – cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople – invited to the day of reflection in the Vatican Synod Hall Oct. 9.
The weekend of events began the “synodal journey,” which will explore the theme, “For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission.” Bishops around the world were to open the process in their dioceses Oct. 17. The diocesan phase, which runs until April, will focus on listening to and consulting the people of God.
In his homily, the pope said they should begin the synodal process “by asking ourselves – all of us, pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity – whether we, the Christian community, embody this ‘style’ of God, who travels the paths of history and shares in the life of humanity.”
The day’s Gospel reading (Mk 10:17-30) of Jesus setting out on a journey and encountering a rich man offers just one example of how Jesus “walks alongside people and listens to the questions and concerns lurking in their hearts,” he said. “He shows us that God is not found in neat and orderly places, distant from reality, but walks ever at our side.”
Celebrating a synod, he said, means walking on the same road as others and living out the “three verbs” that characterize a synod: to encounter, listen and discern.
“We too are called to become experts in the art of encounter. Not so much by organizing events or theorizing about problems as in taking time to encounter the Lord and one another,” to devote time to prayer and adoration, and to listen to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to the church, the pope said.
Jesus shows that an encounter has the power to change someone’s life – “the Gospel is full of such encounters with Christ, encounters that uplift and bring healing,” the pope said. In fact, Jesus was never in a hurry, and he would never have looked at a watch to signal it was time to wrap things up. “He was always at the service of people he met in order to listen to them.”
Each encounter requires “openness, courage and a willingness to let ourselves be challenged by the presence and the stories of others,” the pope said. It means not hiding behind a facade or stiff formalities indicative of a spirit of clericalism or of courtiers, but it means being a father.
To that end, the pope said he would be meeting a group of people who live on the streets later that day. He said they had already started meeting because another group of people had gone to listen to them and from there, “they have been able to begin the journey.”
Sincere listening involves the heart, not just the ears, Pope Francis said. The aim is not to be able to answer people’s questions, especially with pre-packaged or “artificial and shallow responses,” but to provide an opportunity to tell one’s story and speak freely.
“Whenever we listen with the heart, people feel that they are being heard, not judged; they feel free to recount their own experiences and their spiritual journey,” he said.
Listening to one another “is a slow and perhaps tiring exercise” but it must be done, including listening to “the questions, concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation,” and to the “challenges and changes” that world presents, he added.
Encountering and listening “are not ends in themselves” where everything stays the same, but must lead to discernment, he said.
“Whenever we enter into dialogue, we allow ourselves to be challenged, to advance on a journey. And in the end, we are no longer the same; we are changed,” he said.
The synod is “a journey of spiritual discernment that takes place in adoration, in prayer and in dialogue with the word of God,” the pope said.
By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON – After a prayer rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Oct. 4, Students for Life of America and the Justice Foundation released the “Moral Outcry Petition,” a call for the court to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide.
Over half a million Americans signed the petition, which was two massive scrolls filled with the signatures.
“Every child, born or preborn, has the inalienable right to life given by God,” said Tina Whittington, executive vice president of Students for Life of America, an organization she said “stands with the hundreds of thousands of signers who call on the Supreme Court to do the right thing and protect the lives of the preborn.”
“The pro-life generation will not rest until abortion is abolished and made unthinkable,” she said.
The Justice Foundation said in a statement that the petition “stands on the premise that U.S. citizens do not accept abortion as the law of the land. Especially now that every state has passed safe-haven laws, the ‘unwanted child’ argument of the pro-abortion lobby is no longer valid.”
Safe-haven laws generally allow the parent, or an agent of the parent, to remain anonymous and to be shielded from criminal liability and prosecution for child endangerment, abandonment or neglect in exchange for surrendering the baby to a safe haven.
Pro-life supporters argue these laws provide a free, safe alternative to abortion for pregnant women in need who feel that they could not care for a newborn.
“This is an unprecedented moment in our fight to abolish abortion,” Whittington added. “With a ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson, the pro-life movement may soon see at least the partial reversal of Roe v. Wade.”
On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Dobbs case, which is an appeal from Mississippi to keep its ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Supporters of the law are urging the court to reexamine its previous abortion rulings, including Roe v. Wade.
If the court overturns Roe, the move would not make abortion illegal throughout the U.S., but would return the issue to the states to be decided.
For 15 years, Whittington said, Students for Life of America “has been preparing for a post-Roe America, and the Moral Outcry petition reflects the many Americans who have fought and prayed for the protection of the preborn in law – and who now stand ready to serve mothers and families.”
Oct. 4 was the first day of the high court’s new term, and both pro-life advocates and supporters of legal abortion gathered along the street at the front of the court or nearby to rally for their side on the abortion question.
Two days earlier in Washington, supporters of legal abortion marched for “Abortion Justice,” gathering at Freedom Plaza in Washington before marching to the Supreme Court.
Organizers said some 600 “sister marches” took place across the country to protest a new Texas law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and also to press the Supreme Court to uphold “reproductive rights” and keep Roe intact.
“The ‘Women’s March’ doesn’t speak for me or the millions of women who value human lives – it is completely out of step,” Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, wrote in an Oct. 2 opinion piece posted at www.foxnews.com.
“This year’s Women’s March is not about following science or anything that elevates women or humanity. When we march for life every January, we welcome all human beings – most especially expectant mothers and their unborn children,” she said.
If anyone expected the Oct. 2 event would be a gathering “that welcomes all women,” they instead found “a monolith of thought almost exclusively focused on pro-abortion ideology,” Mancini said.
The marchers and the event’s organizers, she added, make “no effort to keep up with emerging science as it relates to embryonic development,” nor do they “draw any lines between early abortions and procedures that cross over into infanticide.”
Recognizing “equal rights for unborn women,” she added, “sadly … does not make its way into the policy platform.”
Mancini also noted that in the nearly 50 years since the Roe v. Wade decision, “medical science has made stunning advances.”
“We now know that a baby’s heart starts to beat around five weeks, and a recent study found that babies could experience pain as early as 12 weeks,” she said. “These discoveries and numerous others should shape how we approach abortion, especially after 15 weeks, but pro-abortion advocates are stuck in the past.”
She called the Mississippi law’s 15-week limit on abortion “a modest limit.”
Editor’s note: Bishop Joseph Kopacz celebrated a Red Mass at St. John Oxford on Sunday, Sept. 26. Below is a excerpt from his homily.
By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
During the time that the Diocese of Jackson was preparing to introduce Sister Thea Bowman’s Cause for Canonization in 2018, I discovered that she had done her doctoral dissertation at Catholic University, Washington, D.C. on St. Thomas More’s final masterpiece while imprisoned in the Tower of London for 15 months prior to his execution. There are more than a few blessings in this discovery, and one in particular is the universality of the Catholic Church. A preeminent Englishman of the 16th century, who had reached the heights of the legal and political professions of his time before becoming a saint and martyr, captured the imagination of a 20th century Servant of God, Sister Thea Bowman.
What is the bond that linked these two disciples of the Lord Jesus from over a span of 400-500 years? The English barrister died in 1535 and the Religious Sister was born in 1937.
More was a confidant and favored companion of Henry VIII until he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the King who was declaring himself as the head of the Catholic Church in England. His refusal earned him lodging in the Tower of London, but his imprisonment was not time wasted. In the Spring and Summer of 1534 while he waited in the Tower for formal trial and sentencing More began the writing of A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation. He wrote the dialogue to stir and prepare the minds of Englishmen to withstand courageously and not to shrink at the imminent persecution which he foresaw and immediately followed, against the unity of the Church and the Catholic Faith.
More died in physical poverty and worldly disgrace. In A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation he left his last testament and the final legacy of his wisdom. Following the example of Jesus at the Last Supper when he consoled his apostles in anticipation of the tribulation to follow with his crucifixion, this intrepid martyr understood the power of words as a lasting legacy when coupled with witness.
Sister Thea removed from the shelves of academia A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation in order to breathe new life into a masterpiece, whose pages still reach out to us, urging enduring solutions to perennially recurring human problems, she stated at the conclusion of her thesis in 1972.
She entitled her scholarly work, The Relationship of Pathos and Style in A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation: A Rhetorical Study, her successful doctoral project to elevate pathos into the realms of logos and ethos.
She contended: “More’s attempt to reach the needs of his audience, to reach their hearts as well as their minds, to fire their imaginations with images of Christ’s suffering, yelping devils, damned souls, or the protective care of God, and to delight them so as to make them more receptive of his message, is conscious and deliberate. Pathos, the endeavor to stir the emotions of his hearers, in large measure determines the distinctive character of A Dialogue.”
• The Mass is celebrated in honor of the Holy Spirit with those present seeking wisdom, understanding, counsel and fortitude in the courtroom.
• The first documented Red Mass was celebrated in 1245 in Paris; however, it is believed the Mass was celebrated as far back as 1200.
As of 1310 the Mass had become an annual tradition in England to commemorate the beginning of each new Court term. From England the tradition of a yearly Red Mass spread throughout Europe. The tradition was adopted in the U.S. in the early 20th century.
• The name comes from the red garments worn not only by Royal Judges of the Vatican tribunal, but also by the celebrant. The first Red Mass to take place in the U.S. was held at the Church of St. Andrew in New York City in 1928 with Cardinal Patrick Hayes presiding.
• Beginning in 1953, a Red Mass has been said annually in Washington, D.C. with Supreme Court justices, members of Congress and other government departments and occasionally the president in attendance. Today, the Supreme Court include six Catholic justices – Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
(From George Washington University, History News Network and America Magazine)
NATION
WASHINGTON (CNS) – President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will have an audience with Pope Francis Oct. 29, the day before the G20 Leaders’ Summit starts in Rome, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Oct. 14. “They will discuss working together on efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis and caring for the poor,” she said in a statement. Biden and Pope Francis previously met in 2016, when Biden was vice president, after they both spoke at a conference on adult stem-cell research at the Vatican. In recent weeks, there has been speculation that the two leaders would likely meet since Biden would be in Rome. In a recent interview with Catholic News Service, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, said he was helping the Holy See prepare for Biden’s first presidential visit to the Vatican, sometime during an Oct. 30-31 Rome summit of leading rich and developed nations. “It would be an anomaly if he did not meet the pope while in Rome,” especially since Biden is the first Catholic to be U.S. president in 58 years, the nuncio said.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (CNS) – In his welcoming remarks to open the diocesan eucharistic congress, Memphis Bishop David P. Talley told attendees that “we are all the living body of Christ, in that we are what we receive” – the Eucharist. Christ’s mission “is our mission, for we are members of his body,” he said. “Our work is with our parishes, our parishioners and all of those who have not heard the words of Jesus Christ,” emphasized the bishop, who was installed as the sixth bishop of Memphis in April 2019. Guided by the theme, “That All May Be One” from John 17:21, the Memphis Diocese celebrated its 50th anniversary with its first eucharistic congress, held at the city’s downtown Renasant Convention Center the evening of Oct. 8 and all day Oct. 9. The congress – and the anniversary celebration – was delayed a full year by the arrival of COVID-19, and the havoc it caused. Passion and a sense of purpose were evident nonetheless – and in great abundance. The diocese in western Tennessee was established June 20, 1970, and has a Catholic population of 70,000. The “Opening Mass for All” was celebrated Oct. 8 by retired Memphis Bishop J. Terry Steib, who was the diocese’s fourth bishop, and was its first African American shepherd. He headed the diocese for 23 years, retiring in 2016.
VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul I, clearing the way for his beatification. The Italian pope served only 33 days as pontiff; he died in the papal apartments Sept. 28, 1978, at the age of 65, shocking the world and a church that had just mourned the death of St. Paul VI. The Vatican announced Pope Francis’ decision along with a number of other sainthood decrees Oct. 13. In the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul I, the approved miracle involved a young girl in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who developed a severe case of acute encephalitis and uncontrollable and life-threatening brain seizures, and eventually entered septic shock. After doctors told family members her death was “imminent,” the local priest encouraged the family, nurses and others to pray to the late pope for his intercession, according to the website of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. A panel of experts studying the cause determined there was no scientific explanation for her complete recovery in 2011 and that it could be attributed to the late pope’s intercession. The Vatican did not immediately announce a date for the beatification ceremony.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Christian freedom means respecting other cultures and traditions rather than finding ways to impose “one’s own model of life as though it were the most evolved and the most appealing,” Pope Francis said. “How many errors have been made in the history of evangelization by seeking to impose a single cultural model,” the pope said Oct. 13 during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI audience hall. “At times, even violence was not spared to make a single point of view prevail. In this way, the church has been deprived of the richness of many local expressions that the cultural traditions of entire peoples bring with them. But this is the exact opposite of Christian freedom,” he said. The pope continued his series of talks on St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians by reflecting on the freedom from slavery to sin and death that comes from Christ’s death and resurrection. St. Paul’s assertion is that freedom, given to humanity through grace and love, is “the supreme and new law of Christian life,” which “opens us up to welcoming every people and culture, and at the same time opens every people and culture to a greater freedom,” Pope Francis said.
WORLD
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines congratulated veteran journalist Maria Ressa on being the first Filipino to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Congratulating Ressa Oct. 10, the bishops highlighted the importance of media freedom in the Catholic faith, reported ucanews.com. The Nobel Prize Committee announced Oct. 8 that Ressa and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov would share this year’s prize for their “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said in his message to Ressa: “Recent popes have, on occasion, highlighted the important role that the press plays in gauging the health of a healthy democratic society. “For journalists, their work has become more and more difficult because of the level of disinformation and fake news that continue to spread through social communications. The vocation and mission, therefore, of members of the press (as envisioned by our popes) is to contribute not only for the search for truth but, more importantly, to help build a culture of dialogue,” said the message on behalf of the bishops.
Por Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
En 2022, la Iglesia Católica marcará el 50 aniversario del Mes del Respeto a la Vida en los Estados Unidos, un año antes de la decisión de la Corte Suprema en Roe v. Wade que continúa ensombreciendo nuestra tierra y nuestras conciencias.
En realidad, las raíces de una conmemoración más formal del respeto por la vida en el mundo moderno se encuentran en los escritos del Concilio Vaticano II. Gaudium et Spes, la Constitución pastoral de la Iglesia en el mundo moderno, proporcionó un fundamento evangélico para lo que surgiría en las décadas siguientes como los principios de la Doctrina Social Católica.
“La Iglesia, al prestar ayuda al mundo y al recibir del mundo múltiple ayuda, sólo pretende una cosa: el advenimiento del reino de Dios y la salvación de toda la humanidad. Todo el bien que el Pueblo de Dios puede dar a la familia humana al tiempo de su peregrinación en la tierra, deriva del hecho de que la Iglesia es “sacramento universal de salvación”, que manifiesta y al mismo tiempo realiza el misterio del amor de Dios al hombre. Mientras persigue este objetivo señalado de llevar la salvación a todos, la Iglesia no solo comunica la vida divina a la humanidad, sino que también refleja en cierta medida la luz de esa vida en todo el mundo. Lo hace especialmente a través de su trabajo de restaurar y realzar la dignidad de la persona humana, de fortalecer el tejido de la sociedad humana y enriquecer la actividad diaria de hombres y mujeres con un significado e importancia más profundos. La Iglesia cree que de esta manera puede hacer una gran contribución para llevar una mayor humanidad a la familia de la humanidad y a su historia.”
En esta maravillosa sección de Gaudium et Spes que se traduce como alegría y esperanza, nos sentimos inspirados a mantener nuestros ojos en la meta de la vida eterna, pero nunca apartados del mundo donde trabajamos nuestra salvación.
La dignidad de la persona humana y el tejido de la sociedad humana son parte integrante del Reino de Dios y de la misión de la Iglesia. Esto se afirma con vehemencia en las primeras líneas de Gaudium et Spes. “Los gozos y las esperanzas, las tristezas y las angustias de los hombres de nuestro tiempo, sobre todo de los pobres y de cuantos sufren, son a la vez gozos y esperanzas, tristezas y angustias de los discípulos de Cristo.”
La Doctrina Social Católica se basa en esta visión de la vida humana, la actividad diaria y nuestro destino final con los principios de solidaridad y el bien común que promueven la vida familiar, el empleo remunerado, junto con los elementos esenciales para una vida digna: alimentos, agua, atención médica, educación, vivienda y seguridad, en el contexto de la sostenibilidad de la creación de Dios.
San José, como se reflexionó anteriormente, es un modelo ejemplar de alguien que acepta la vida de madre e hijo. Volvamos a San José y la Sagrada Familia para comprender algunas de las luchas que asolan a la familia humana hoy y necesitan redención. Desde el principio, su Sí a la voluntad de Dios y el don de la vida estuvo plagado de problemas. Se emprendió un viaje agotador desde el norte de Israel hasta Belén en el sur con María a punto de dar a luz con cada rebote en el camino sobre una bestia de carga. Les esperaba la descorazonadora falta de alojamiento.
Sin embargo, su resistencia se hizo evidente en la utilización del establo para traer al Hijo de Dios a la luz del día. Ni siquiera sabemos si tuvieron tiempo de inscribirse en el censo decretado por César Augusto, porque luego de un breve respiro se dieron a la fuga para evitar el veneno asesino del rey Herodes. Las sagradas escrituras nos dicen que José y María con su recién nacido pasaron dos años en Egipto antes de poder regresar a su amada tierra natal y comenzar a construir una vida de estabilidad en Nazaret para el Hijo unigénito de Dios.
Sus primeros años juntos nos ofrecen una dirección para nuestra fe católica y el mundo moderno. Como pareja casada, tenían una profunda confianza y respeto mutuos, una base sólida para superar las dificultades y el odio. Tenían una fe viva en su Dios amoroso, evidente en su capacidad para seguir los impulsos de sus mejores ángulos para aceptar la voluntad de Dios, los unos a los otros, y la urgencia del momento. Sin embargo, con todas sus fortalezas personales y relacionales, en su vulnerabilidad tuvieron que depender de algunos en Egipto que dieron la bienvenida al extraño y les dieron un punto de apoyo para sobrevivir.
Hay una gran cantidad de personas en movimiento en nuestro mundo de hoy, por razones paralelas a las de la Sagrada Familia. A los migrantes, inmigrantes y refugiados a menudo se les despoja de todo excepto de la ropa que llevan puesta. Muchos han demostrado una capacidad de recuperación notable y han sobrevivido. Pero en su vulnerabilidad siempre existe la necesidad de que los buenos samaritanos los acompañen y se recuperen.
Extendiendo la realidad de la vulnerabilidad, damos gracias durante la conmemoración de este mes de respeto a la vida a todos los que acompañan y sirven a quienes están al borde del colapso.
Las razones pueden ser innumerables, pero el objetivo es la restauración de la dignidad humana, el fortalecimiento del tejido de la sociedad humana y la construcción de un mundo más humano. Esta es la mentalidad que conviene a los discípulos del Señor Jesús al servicio de todos los hijos de Dios.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Dominican Sister Mary Gianini, OP, died peacefully Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, at St. John’s Hospital in the 66th year of her religious profession. Known for a time as Sister M. Mystica, she was born in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1930, to Philip and Rosa (Aguzzi) Gianini. She joined the Dominicans in 1954 and professed her vows in 1955 at Sacred Heart Convent, Springfield, Illinois.
Sister Mary taught first and second grade children for 36 years, preparing them for the sacraments. In Illinois, she taught at parochial schools in Granite City, Evergreen Park, Odell, Bethalto, Chicago, Springfield and Jacksonville. Sister Mary also taught grades 1-2 in Brawley, California, and served a year each at the religious education centers in Hillsboro and Arcola, Illinois. For a dozen years after leaving classroom teaching, she provided hospitality for visitors to Benincasa Renewal Center, Riverton, and later at Siena Hall in Springfield.
Proud of her Italian heritage and her Mississippi roots, Sister Mary often spent summers assisting in the medical records department at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, allowing her time with her sister Ann (Jack) Mellott in Columbus, Mississippi and brother Gus Gianini, Cleveland, Mississippi, both survive her. She is also survived by three nieces; three nephews; and many great-nieces and nephews and cousins.
Sister Mary’s funeral Mass was held on Oct. 11, 2021, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel with Dominican Father Michael DeTemple, as celebrant. She is buried at Calvary Cemetery.
Mass and graveside services can be viewed at https://springfieldop.org/sister-mary-gianini-op/.
Memorials to honor the memory of Sister Mary may be made to the Dominican Sisters Retirement Fund, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL, 62704.
