THE DO GOOD BROTHERS

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St John of God 8th March

John of God was born in 1495 in Portugal. As a child he left home, the reason still unknown, and ended up a homeless orphan in Spain. He found work as a shepherd, and then became a soldier, but was accused of stealing and was almost condemned to death. He returned to the farm but later decided to enlist again, and for the next 18 years he served in various parts of Europe. John eventually moved south near Seville, finding work once more as a shepherd, but began to realise that this no longer satisfied him. He wanted to see Africa, and maybe work to free enslaved Christians. On the way, he befriended a Portuguese family, but when they became ill he began to nurse them. Troubled and feeling spiritually lost from his failure to practice his faith during his years of service, he returned to Spain, trying to find what God wanted from him. A vision of the Infant Jesus is said to have directed him to go to Granada.

In 1537, John experienced a major conversion while listening to a sermon by John of Avila, a leading preacher who would encourage him in his quest to improve the life of the poor. Perceived by others as a victim of a mental breakdown, he was imprisoned in a Hospital for the mentally ill, but he regained peace of heart and left the hospital. He established a house for the sick poor, at first doing his own begging, but still found himself misunderstood and rejected. Later he received the cooperation of priests and physicians, and slowly John drew to himself a dedicated circle of disciples who felt called to join him in this service.

John of God died on 8 March 1550 in Granada and was canonized in 1690. He was later named a patron saint of hospitals, the sick, nurses, and others. A church was erected in 1757 to house his remains, where the September Pilgrims celebrated Mass in 2006. He had organized his followers into the Order of Hospitallers, who still care for the sick in 53 countries around the world, operating more than three hundred hospitals, services, and centres. Commonly known as the Fatebenefratelli, the Do-good-brothers, in Italy, they serve a wide range of medical needs, supported by tens of thousands of benefactors and friends who identify with and support the work of the Order for sick and needy people across the world. Folks from Canton may remember the sisters who taught in St Mary’s.

Fr Matthew

RESPECT AND ADMIRATION Billy Graham RIP

newsletter,

I remember one day in seminary around 1975 there being a conversation about Billy Graham. The air was a slightly superior, scoffing one, hinting that as he was neither British by birth nor Catholic in his behaviour, so, well, we didn’t need to worry too much about him. Then one student piped up that actually it was through attending a Billy Graham rally that the Lord had turned his life around in his early twenties. That shut us up!

Billy Graham, perhaps the best known evangelist of the second half of the twentieth century, died 21 February 2018, at the age of 99. An ordained Southern Baptist Minister, he was popular among Christians of all denominations as well as those of other religions. During a public ministry spanning more than half a century, he reached more than 180 countries and preached before more than 200 million people. He was a spiritual advisor to several American presidents and numerous civic and political leaders. Graham met several times with Saint Pope John Paul II and the two were frequent correspondents.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York released the following statement on Graham’s passing: “As anyone growing up in the 1950s and 1960s can tell you, it was hard not to notice and be impressed by the Reverend Billy Graham. There was no question that the Dolans were a Catholic family firm in our faith, but in our household there was always respect and admiration for Billy Graham and the work he was doing to bring people to God. Whether it was one of his famous Crusades, radio programs, television specials, or meeting and counseling the presidents, Billy Graham seemed to be everywhere, always with the same message: Jesus is your Saviour, and wants you to be happy with Him forever. As an historian, my admiration for him only grew as I studied our nation’s religious past, and came to appreciate even more the tremendous role he played in the American evangelical movement. May the Lord that Billy Graham loved so passionately now grant him eternal rest.”

Fr Matthew (with acknowledgements to zenit.org)

LENT: PAUSE, SEE, RETURN

lent,

“Lent is the time for allowing one’s heart to be touched…” Pope Francis said at Mass on Ash Wednesday. “God does not tire, nor will he tire, of holding out his hand.” He encouraged us to pause, see, and return to the Father.

He offered suggestions of how to pause, including refraining from showing off, or from an attitude which gives rise to unproductive thoughts and self-pity. These lead us to forget our call to encounter others and share in their burdens. He urged an end to the desire “to control everything, know everything, destroy everything,” which stems from a lack of gratitude for our life and what we’ve been given. Lent is a good time for the “creative power of silence” in order to “leave behind the unrest and commotion that fill the soul with bitter feelings which never get us anywhere… Pause from this compulsion to a fast-paced life that scatters, divides and ultimately destroys time with family, with friends, with children, with grandparents, and time as a gift… time with God.” Francis warned about “haughty looks” and “fleeting and pejorative comments,” words stemming from a lack of “tenderness, compassion and reverence for the encounter with others, particularly those who are vulnerable, hurt and even immersed in sin and error.”

Francis urged us instead to see – to reflect on those actions which promote faith, hope and charity – to look upon the faces of the vulnerable and in need, like families who, despite hardship, still strive to make their homes “a school of love.” May we see the faces of children and youth, yearning for a future, the faces of the elderly reflecting “God’s wisdom at work,” and the faces of sick people and their carers, whose vulnerability reminds us of the value of every person. “See the remorseful faces of so many who try to repair their errors and mistakes, and who from their misfortune and suffering fight to transform their situations and move forward.” Finally, the Pope encouraged everyone to make time during Lent to “see and contemplate the face of Crucified Love… To see his face is an invitation filled with hope for this Lenten time, in order to defeat the demons of distrust, apathy and resignation.”

Pope Francis invited all to “return without fear to those outstretched, eager arms of your Father, who is rich in mercy, who awaits you. Return without fear, for this is the favorable time to come home.”

Full text can be viewed here.