Today’s Word:
“Whoever is not with me is against me” (Luke 11:23)
On This Date…
On March 3, 1175 Norbertine Abbot Frederick died in Holland. He was the son of a poor widow, became first a teacher, then a priest, and finally a Norbertine. Just before he died he asked his community, “Pray for me because I could not care for the poor as much as I wished since the monastery was so poor.” He has been venerated as a saint since 1728.
On March 3, 1955 Mother Katharine Drexel died in Philadelphia at age 96. She and her two sisters were raised in Philadelphia by their father, a widower and banker; he set up a trust fund for his daughters. Her sisters married but Katharine became a nun and founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1891. Mother Katharine established 145 Catholic missions, built 112 school for Native Americans and 50 schools for African Americans, donating her trust fund of $20 million dollars for her charitable work. Mother Katharine was canonized on October 1, 2000.
In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Whoever is not with me is against me”. Abbot Frederick and Mother Katharine were “with Jesus” in their care for the poor, models for us in Lent.
– Father McLaughlin