“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.” -- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Reflections on the readings for the Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (January 4, 2022):1 JN 4:7-10; PS 72:1-2,3-4,7-8; MK 6:34-44
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
Through the advice of a priest and the support of a donor, Elizabeth started a Catholic school for girls in Baltimore. This was the first in what would become the parochial school system in America.
On this Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, we honor a woman who knew wealth and poverty, social prominence and great rejection. She was a wife, mother, widow, and the founder of a religious order. Born Elizabeth Bayley in 1774, her rich, respected family were members of the Episcopal Church. She married William Seton and they had five children. But with his business failing and his tuberculosis growing worse, they went to Italy hoping for his health to be restored. Instead, he died there in in 1803. During this period Elizabeth was helped by friends who introduced her to the Catholic Church. Their example influenced her to convert when she returned to New York. Because the Church was generally looked down on in America at that time, she lost the support of family and friends. Parents of students in the school she had begun withdrew them and she struggled financially. Through the advice of a priest and the support of a donor, Elizabeth started a Catholic school for girls in Baltimore. This was the first in what would become the parochial school system in America. Joined by other women, she established the Sisters of Charity in 1809. Before her death in 1821 at age 46, this congregation and its schools and orphanages had spread to several states. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was declared a saint in 1975, the first person born in what would become the United States of America to be canonized.
Mother Seton’s devotion to the will of God and the Blessed Sacrament guided her life, as did her loving service to others, especially those in need. She certainly fulfilled what we hear in today’s reading: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. … In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through Him” (1 John 4:7,9).
Suggested missionary action: Let us salute St. Elizabeth Seton by asking her to help us extend our own compassion to those in need. Whether among our family and friends, or strangers who have no one to care about them, we have to be ready and willing to help others.
