From Season to Season

We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to his decree. —Romans 8:28   When many of us think of saints, our minds most often go to European or American models of holiness. However, recent years have seen an explosion in the number canonizations and beatifications of women, men, and children from Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. The small country of Madagascar (off the southeastern coast of Africa) has given the Church three new models of holiness since 2002, including Saint Jacques Berthieu , a French Jesuit missionary who was martyred in Ambiatibe in 1896, Blessed Jan Beyzym , a Jesuit missionary from Ukraine who died in Marana in 1912,   and Blessed Raphaël-Louis Rafiringa , a native-born Christian Brother who died in Fianarantsoa in 1919. But honored alongside these male religious is a remarkable laywoman and Church leader who was beatified more than a decade before her male counterpa...

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them Because they were troubled and abandoned… Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; So ask the master of the harvest To send out laborers for the harvest.” - Matthew 9:36-38   Compassion is not a uniquely Christian virtue, but it is a spirit of empathy for the suffering of others that is a fundamental part of how we Christians are to love. Ultimately, to have compassion isn’t just about being kind; rather, it means to share in the sufferings of another person. Pope Benedict XVI reflected that the mandate to love one another demands that we “acknowledge our responsibility towards those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of God…If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts" ( Message for Lent , 2011) Women religious have always stood with th...