Category Archives: Saints

Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way

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Today is the feast of St. Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), a saint cut from the same cloth as St Mary MacKillopDorothy Day (1897-1980) and St. Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-62). St. Mary bravely sought to follow God’s will, refusing to accept easy answers or options to what she felt God had called her. A native Australian (of Scottish descent), Mary established her own religious order—since no existing ones quite met her expectations. The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (or Josephites) staffed orphanage schools and engaged other sorts of charitable work among the poor. Much like Dorothy Day, Mary started this apostolic work in her twenties, and like Day she encountered resistance from powerful church leaders. Mary’s bishop actually excommunicated her for a while, having misread her and her order’s independence as dissent. Much like St. Gianna, who endured physical pain (dying from cancer while pregnant), St. Mary endured the spiritual pain of excommunication patiently. The human foibles that led to St. Mary’s temporary banishment still puzzle us, because she and her Josephite sisters clearly engaged in Christ-like work. Her online biography states:

Despite her struggles with Church authorities, Mary MacKillop and her Sisters were able to offer social services that few, if any, government agencies in Australia could. They served Protestants and Catholics alike. They worked among the aborigines. They taught in schools and orphanages and served unmarried mothers.

Once reinstated, she wisely sought assistance from Rome and eventually won the support of Pope Leo XIII himself. At her death in 1909, the Josephites thrived. Beatified in 1995 by St. John Paul II, St. Mary MacKillop was canonized, the first Australian recognized as a saint, in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.

St. Mary’s witness resonates in today’s lectionary, too. Like Dorothy and St. Gianna, and surely an entire host of holy women—some canonized, others known only to God—St. Mary MacKillop feared God’s authority, not men’s. Through the prophet Jeremiah God declares He will gather the remnants under new leadership, ones who tend to God’s people. “I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing”. Psalm 23 likewise celebrates God’s abiding care, even in the shadows, while St. Paul encourages the Ephesians through Christ the remote and marginalized are brought near to God. St. Mary MacKillop endured what she did sustained by these biblical calls to justice for God’s people.

Finally, St. Mark (ch. 6:30-34) details Christ’s concern for the masses—many of whom thwarted his and the apostles’ desire for quiet reflection—and His unflinching gift of Himself. After all, they were “like sheep without a shepherd.” Surely this very Gospel example helped inspire St. Mary’s wide-ranging work among Australia’s poor. William Placher, along with many other theologians and biblical scholars, has noted St. Mark’s stark, often shocking, imagery which propels Christ through the Gospel. In Mark, Jesus always acts immediately. It is almost as if Jesus is impatient with the entire narrative, rushing through His ministry towards the Passion, His ultimate self-giving. Facing a leaderless yet expectant crowd, the exhausted Jesus teaches nonetheless. That same fervor spikes our interest in saints like St. Mary MacKillop, holy women who courageously addressed the problems right before them.

Guest blogger Jeffrey Marlett blogs at Spiritual Diabetes.

“Do I have a vocation?” Yes!

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The Church places great emphasis on “praying for vocations” with good reason. In order to carry out Christ’s mission on earth we need strong families, faithful lay people and, of course, priests, deacons and religious to care for our sacramental and spiritual needs. There is, however, a part of any discussion of vocations that is often left out: what is a vocation? This is an important question to answer because knowing what a vocation is will tell us who has one.

Before I met my husband people would ask me if I was married, or seeing someone. As the years went by and my twenties turned to thirties and beyond, the question came with a twist: “Well, have you considered a vocation?” That really bothered me, I guess because it felt like a reminder that I was “alone.” But it’s actually a question based on a misunderstanding – namely that as a single person I should only consider the religious life because I didn’t already have a vocation. The truth is that each one of us has a vocation, and it is activated at our baptism.

Pope TweetThe Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 2013) quotes Vatican II, saying: “’All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity.’ All are called to holiness….” The word vocation means a call, and this call comes from God and requires our response. The call to holiness is our responsibility and task as Christians. What does it mean to be holy? Scripture says God is holy, and that we are to be like God. According to St. John, “God is love.” (1 Jn 4:8). If being holy is to be like God, and God is love, then our call from God – our vocation – is to love! The answer to the question I heard repeated as a single person– “Have you considered a vocation?” – is, “I already have one. And so do you!”

The specific way we carry out our vocation to holiness and love is called our state of life. The states of life generally refer to marriage, priesthood and the consecrated life (religious sisters and brothers). We can spend many more articles just on the states of life, but the important point is that each one of us is called to holiness, to become like God: to love. Love is not a feeling, but a decision to do what’s good for another. If love were simply a feeling we couldn’t count on it, because our emotions change all the time. As persons made in the image and likeness of the God who is Love, it’s possible for us to love even when it’s difficult – or when we don’t particularly like someone. The way we love each day is enacted in our words, our actions, and in our very presence to another. We do this within our families, at work and school, at church, and in all of the encounters we have throughout our day.

Each of us is called to live out our vocation, regardless of our age or ability. For example, we wouldn’t think an infant “has a vocation,” because he can’t enact love in the ways we mentioned, much less make a decision to do so. Yet even the baby of the family is living his vocation by his very presence in the home. Next time you’re at church sitting behind a family with a baby, or see a mom or dad with a baby in a shopping cart, note your reaction. It’s only natural to coo, make faces and try to make him laugh. His presence alone is enough to draw out our love! God’s love is made present to us through the innocence (and cuteness!) of a child, and that child draws us out of ourselves. The same thing happens when we care for a family member who is ill, or non-responsive. She may not be able to say the words “I love you,” but her presence, her vulnerability and her need for us draw out love. We forget ourselves and we desire only the good of someone else. Our vocation to love is enacted in the care for a loved one – or fussing over the baby. Their vocations are enacted when they provoke in us a response of love. This provocation comes directly through the grace and loving presence of God.

We should “pray for vocations” every day; that each one of us enacts his or her vocation to love as spouses, parents and grandparents, children, priests and religious, and single persons, regardless of our age or capabilities. How is God calling you to carry out your vocation to love?

Ann Koshute teaches theology for Saint Joseph’s College Online. This article first appeared in Eastern Catholic Life, the official publication of rhe Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic.