January 4, 2022
by Susan Naatz
Creighton University's Ignatian Formation and Ministry for Faculty and Staff
click here for photo and information about the writer

Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious
Lectionary: 213

1 John 4:7-10
Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
Mark 6:34-44

Celebrating Christmas home page

For those celebrating Tuesday of the Second Week of Christmas.


 

I can still remember my first day of kindergarten at the age of four, oh so many years ago.  To walk into a room full of other children my age was magical.   I noticed that two of the children were crying but I couldn’t imagine why they were sad.  My heart soared and my happiness continued as I let go of my mother’s hand and fell in love with the wonderful Dominican sister who taught us each day.  Now that I have grandchildren in Catholic grade schools, I am delighted as they discover the same wonder, gifts, and beauty of both their education and their Catholic faith. 

A person who deeply invested in Catholic education in the United States was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first United States born saint in the Catholic Church. The liturgical Christmas season will soon come to an end, and how appropriate that we receive this gift today to celebrate Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s feast day during this season of love.  In addition to being the founder of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph (the first women’s religious order founded in the United States), her deep love for all people motivated her to live the gospel despite the deep grief and anguish she experienced when she lost her husband and two of her children.   She truly lived the words of today’s first reading:  Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. 1 John 4:  7

The Church in her wisdom has selected the Gospel of Mark today which teaches us about the miracle of the loaves and fish which at the behest of Jesus were served to 5,000 people by the Apostles.  How many hundreds of thousands of people have been served and fed by Catholic education and leaders like Elizabeth Ann Seton?  A powerful simile.

We witness her love for others which she poured out into the world through her family, friends, students, and women in her religious community.  "Her establishment of Saint Joseph’s academy and Free School for girls paved the way for the parochial school system in the United States…. Her spirituality and deep personal relationships as well as the detail of her life as widow, convert, single mother, educator and religious leader are revealed in hundreds of letters, personal journals, meditations, and instructions to the sisters." [Vincentian EncyclopediaElizabeth Ann Seton ]   

My Catholic education from that first day of kindergarten through graduate school shaped me. I taught in Catholic schools, answered a call to serve in parish ministry for 25 years and transitioned to university ministry where I currently serve.  All along the way, I was mentored by and partnered with sisters in religious communities.  I continue to celebrate several close relationships with women religious friends.  Their dedication and incredible leadership for our church and our world can never be matched.

Today we approach the end of the Christmas season and celebrate a New Year.  In memory of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, I encourage you to join me in thanking a woman (or women) in a religious community who may have made an impact on your life or the lives of others. 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us.

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