Heart to Heart: Faith Seasons Podcast

Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

…The disciples put this question to him: “Why do the scribes claim that Elijah must come first?”  In reply, he said: “Elijah is indeed coming, and he will restore everything.  I assure you, though, that Elijah has already come, but they did not recognize him and did as they pleased with him.  The Son of Man will suffer at their hands in the same way.” The disciples then realized that he had been speaking to them about John the Baptizer.

Today’s Gospel picks up just after the Transfiguration where Peter, James, and John saw Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah and being transfigured.  Jesus showed these disciples that he valued the law and the prophets. Now Jesus explains to them that John the Baptist is the new Elijah preparing the way for the Messiah.  Jesus also shows that true prophets must suffer as John suffered and warns the disciples of His own suffering to come.

St. Vincent Ferrer was a follower of Jesus and lived much like John the Baptist in preparing people of his time to recognize Jesus as Savior through true repentance.  Like John, Vincent got an early start in knowing the Lord. Finishing his classical studies at 8 years of age, he began to learn theology and philosophy at 14. By 18, Ferrer had decided to enter the Dominican Order where, in the novitiate, he suffered great temptations to leave.  Through penance, he conquered these desires, was professed, and, by age 29, was ordained a priest.  He then earned a doctorate in theology and taught at the university level.  He served as spiritual director for one of the three men claiming to be Pope at the time. Soon, Vincent set out to evangelize Western Europe.

Though mild-mannered and kind, Vincent was an eloquent, fiery speaker like John the Baptist before him. He converted many over twenty-plus years.  Vincent practiced penance, showing by his life the beliefs he promoted, offering his suffering so that others could desire eternal life.

Vincent did not eat grasshoppers or wear animal skin as John the Baptist had, but he wore very poor clothing and lived simply. Fasting constantly, he would rise at 2:00 a.m. to pray.  Every day he celebrated Mass, preached for hours, tended the sick, and carefully prepared his homily for the next day before retiring.  In Jesus’ name, he worked miracles.

While Vincent is known for converting many Jewish people to Catholicism, he would not consider that his goal.  One source said that he led mobs to seize a synagogue and make it into a church, but another reliable source relates that the Jewish converts made their synagogue into a church.  No one is perfect, and we do not know the whole truth.  Another reliable source explains that Vincent stopped riots against Jews and, with his eloquence, talked people bent on persecuting the Jews to be at peace with them. Since he was mild-mannered by nature, it is hard to imagine he used his voice for anything other than good.

What we know for sure is that Vincent, called by God as all of us are, used his gifts and his life to prepare the way for Jesus, our Savior, to come into their hearts.  Was he imperfect?  Yes.  Is that hopeful for us all?  Yes.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

This Advent, how can we, like St. John the Baptist or St. Vincent Ferrer, use our gifts to prepare our own heart and the hearts of others to receive the Savior?

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Named Zoe Laboure at her birth in the Burgundy region of France in 1806, she was usually called Catherine, her Baptismal name. She was the 9th of 11 children. When she was only nine years old, her mother died. After the funeral, she went to a statue of Our Lady, kissed it and said, “Now you will be my mother.”

Her father’s sister who lived a few miles away cared for Catherine and her sister after their mother’s death for a few years. While at her aunt’s, Catherine had a dream of a priest who asked her to serve the sick. Later, she would recognize the priest as St. Vincent de Paul who had been canonized many years earlier. At the age of 12, Catherine returned to work on the family farm. She often went to the parish church and spent time in deep prayer. When she grew older, her father became concerned that she might have a calling to religious life. So, he sent her to work for his brother in Paris. Her uncle had a place that provided meals to poor laborers. There, Catherine became acutely aware of the suffering of the poor and wanted to help them. This reinforced her call to religious life. At the age of 24, Catherine entered the religious Order founded by St. Vincent de Paul, the Sisters of Charity, noted for their care for the sick and suffering.

When she was in the novitiate, Catherine was awakened in the night by the voice of a child who said “God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world.” Catherine went to the chapel where she found the Blessed Mother with whom she conversed. Four months later, the Blessed Mother again appeared to Catherine as she knelt at the altar. Mary seemed to be standing on a globe with the message, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Mary asked Catherine to take the image to her spiritual director and tell him to put it on medallions so that all those who wore the blessed medal and who prayed its words in faith would receive great graces. Catherine did as she was told. But, always humble, she never revealed who she was to anyone except her spiritual director until she was on her deathbed. The Miraculous Medal was adopted by millions of Catholics and is worn by many today.

As for Catherine, she took her vows and went to work in a hospice nursing the sick and elderly poor. She also worked on the hospice farm, caring for poultry and cleaning the stables. She was loved for her devotion to the infirm, for her prayer, and for her humility. She died at that hospice farm when she was 70. The Lord and his Mother certainly taught Catherine what was for her good and led her on the way she was to go. She walked the path they showed her right into eternal life, bringing many with her.

St. Catherine Laboure is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How might saying the words on the Miraculous Medal, remind you to have confidence in your heavenly Mother during difficult times?
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​O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

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Isaiah 40:9-11
Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news!  Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! 

St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan in the 4th century, was a noted theologian and doctor of the church, who still influences Christianity today.  He is recognized as a saint not just in the Roman Catholic Church but in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran denominations, and the Eastern Orthodox faith.  He did not fail to cry out, as today’s reading directs, that God is with all people.

The fourth century was a time of social, religious, and civil upheaval.  Paganism was still the belief of the majority. The Church was struggling to listen to how the Holy Spirit might help to clarify its doctrines, unify it, and bring people to hear the Good News of salvation.  Ambrose was particularly well-suited for this challenge.  Born into a well-educated and pious Roman Christian family, Ambrose studied literature, law, and public speaking.  He became a public servant and quickly rose to become the popular Governor of Aemilia-Liguria in northern Italy.  When a heretical Bishop died in Milan, Ambrose went into the Church there to quell what he thought might become a riot between those supporting the former heretical Bishop and those wanting to elect a Bishop who held true beliefs.  Instead, he found himself hearing, “Ambrose, Bishop!”  This cry became a thunderous acclamation by all present.  He appealed to both sides because while he believed the truth, he also showed understanding and charity toward those who held heretical beliefs.  Though he was not a priest, not trained in theology, and not even baptized, he listened to the call of the Holy Spirit.  Within a week, he was baptized, confirmed, and ordained.  He gave his money to the poor, adopted a disciplined lifestyle, and studied theology in earnest. Soon he was named Bishop of Milan. 

As Bishop, Ambrose presided at Mass regularly.  He constantly preached the Good News and untiringly reasoned with those who could not understand true doctrine.  At the same time, he wrote hymns to uplift the people and personally served the poor.  The Emperor, however, embraced heresy and demanded that two churches in Milan be handed over for use by the heretics.  Ambrose refused.  When the emperor’s forces came and surrounded one of the basilicas while Ambrose was praying the Liturgy of the Hours, he told the emperor: “If you demand my person, I am ready to submit: carry me to prison or to death, I will not resist; but I will never betray the church of Christ.  I will not call upon the people to help me; I will die at the foot of the altar rather than desert it.”  The emperor withdrew.

Truly, St. Ambrose can teach us how to courageously defend the truth with charity for all concerned.  He was unafraid to cry out to all, “Here is your God!”

St. Ambrose is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

Do you know anyone who, like St. Ambrose, not only gave up a former lifestyle, but totally embraced a new calling in the spirit of service?

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Today's Ornament of Grace for Wednesday of the second week of Advent is St. Monica.

Isaiah 40:25-31

The Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though the young faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar as with eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.

Monica, patron saint of mothers, was born in present-day Algeria, western North Africa.  Her parents, small landowners, gave her in marriage early in life to Patricius, a Roman pagan with authority in their city.  He had an abusive mother who caused Monica a great deal of sorrow.  But she drew strength from prayer and accepted her mother-in-law.  Her husband also led a wild life of infidelity and extreme sensual pleasures.  While all this would cause most of us to “faint and grow weary,” Monica remained faithful to prayer, daily Mass, and good works, renewing her strength day by day.

Monica counseled women who complained of difficulties at home, saying, “If you can master your tongue, not only do you run less risk of being beaten, but perhaps you may even, one day, make your husband better.”  Her gentle kindness soon brought her mother-in-law around.  And, after thirty years of Monica loving her husband into wholeness, he converted.

Monica and Patricius had three children who survived infancy, two boys and a girl. One of her sons and her daughter became religious.  The other son became well-known later as St. Augustine of Hippo.  His road to sanctity was not an easy one for his mother, as he would admit in his famous book, Confessions.

Augustine was a lazy boy, so Monica sent him to Carthage to study when he was 17. HIs father died while he was there, and Monica watched Augustine’s progress carefully.  He excelled in school and became a teacher.  Monica was proud of her son for that.  Sadly, though, he was converted to Manicheanism which saw the world dualistically, with the material part being dark or bad and the spiritual as light or good. Such dualism did not leave room for the goodness of all creation.  As we know, creation is a gift from God that we are to treasure. To heighten Monica’s distress, Augustine chose to live with a mistress for around ten years.

Monica, however, never gave up on her son, praying for him with tears every day for many years.  Monica followed her son to Rome, but she found he had gone to Milan from there.  So, she followed him to Milan. There, she asked St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, to speak with Augustine.  Ambrose was an instrument of grace for Augustine. At 28, Augustine opened his heart to God.

After this, Monica and Augustine enjoyed six wonderful months together in the Italian Lombardy region, both striving for holiness.  Then, Monica and Augustine headed back to Africa, stopping in the Roman seaport city of Ostia on the way.  There, Monica died in peace, knowing that her wayward son, all her children, as well as her husband and mother-in-law were now in God’s hands. Monica never gave up, and she drew upon strength from God to walk with those who needed her by them.  Surely, she sailed right into heaven!

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

During the Advent Season, who can you pray and sacrifice for who is struggling with the faith? 

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Today's Ornament of Grace for Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent is Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Zechariah 2:14-17
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!  See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord.  Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.

Today is surely a day to sing and rejoice – and maybe even dance!  This is a time for celebration, for we know that the Lord does dwell with us.  Realizing this, even in a very small way, should bring us deep joy and true excitement. 

Before the Incarnation, God’s Chosen Ones waited in expectation while the prophets offered them hope. One choice for today’s reading is from Zechariah. It explains that God is about to do something totally unexpected and wonderful for all nations. People then did not have the gift of knowing how Jesus came to live with us.  Today we may know it in our minds, but we might need someone to help us open our hearts to such a wonder.  Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast we celebrate, might just be the perfect someone to help us because she loves us so much.

This is a true, familiar story to many.  Briefly, Juan Diego, an indigenous man in what is now Mexico, had a vision of Our Lady on this day in 1531. She directed Juan Diego to tell the bishop to build a church at the site of her appearance so that all would know that she, the Mother of God, was their mother too. The bishop needed to be sure of the apparition, so he asked Juan for a sign from heaven as proof.  When Juan asked Mary for the sign, she told him to gather roses from a rocky, wintry hillside.  He did so.  Then he went to the bishop, opened his cloak, and the roses fell out.  Greater still was the image of Our Lady imprinted on Juan Diego’s cloak. 

If you have the good fortune to have a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, you see her eyes are cast down in humility.  Juan Diego would easily have recognized her beautiful dark skin and hair as one of his own people.  She is looking lovingly at her beloved child.  Around her waist is a band indigenous women wore when pregnant.  On her loose cloak or mantle are stars. These 46 stars represent the constellations visible over Mexico on Dec 12, 1531.  While we cannot see the sun because Our Lady’s image blocks it from our view, it is surely present, as the rays emanate from behind her.  She stands on the moon.  The picture might remind us of a passage from the Book of Revelation: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  She was with child…”.

The best news is that Our Lady of Guadalupe promised all who come to her that she would hear and answer them, for she is our mother and loves us as her children.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

What in the story or in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe draws you to prayer?

#guadalupejubileo #ourladyofguadalupe #catholic #hearttoheart #frmichael

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from Isaiah 29:18-19
On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.  The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1858, Katharine Mary Drexel’s mother died five weeks after giving birth, leaving Katharine and her older sister.  Her father, an extremely successful investment banker, remarried when Katharine was around two. A third sister came along soon.  The girls were tutored at home but traveled extensively as well.  Katharine and her sisters learned kindness early as the Drexel family distributed food, clothing, and money for shelter to the poor three times a week from their own home.  If widows or others in need were too proud to come to their home for assistance, Katharine’s father and stepmother would quietly seek them out and offer them help.

As a young, wealthy woman, Katharine made her social debut in 1878, but she knew money could not buy happiness or safety from sorrow. She had seen her kind stepmother fight and succumb to cancer.  A book she had read about the plight of Native Americans greatly affected her. She wanted to do something to help them. When her family visited the West in 1884, she saw firsthand the suffering of Native Americans and was determined to take action. She and her sisters donated money to various missions. After their father’s death in 1885, they contributed to the St. Francis Mission on a reservation in South Dakota. Katharine asked her spiritual director about possibly joining a contemplative community of nuns, but he advised her to wait and pray. In the meantime, she had many young men interested in marrying her.

In 1887, the three sisters had a private audience with Pope Leo XIII while visiting Rome. They asked the Pope to send missionaries to help the Native Americans. The Pope asked Katharine to become a missionary herself.  So, upon returning to Philadelphia, she asked her spiritual director for guidance.  He then encouraged her to become a religious. 

She decided to give herself and her inheritance totally to God in service of the Native Americans and African Americans.  She and thirteen volunteers began the Blessed Sacrament Sisters. Their desire for social justice was not easily received and, when building their Motherhouse, dynamite was planted nearby to frighten the Sisters. Still, Katharine was undeterred. 

Requests for help started pouring in from all over the country. In response to these requests, Mother Katharine Drexel established 145 missions, 50 schools for African Americans, and 12 for Native Americans. Her desire to help the poor rejoice in the Lord continued until she died at the age of 97.  Her Order’s work continues today.

Katharine Drexel is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How can you use what you have been given to bring hope to those in need?

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Luke 3:3-6

...as it is written in the words of Isaiah the Prophet: “A herald’s voice in the desert, crying, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, clear him a straight path. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be leveled. The windings shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth, and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.’”

Isaiah, like all the prophets, certainly suffered for wanting people to prepare a way for the Lord. He preached truth in spite of the powerful wanting to silence or ignore his message. John Robert Lewis, like the prophet, wanted everyone to experience the salvation of God. So, he worked toward that goal his whole life, even when persecuted for the truth.

Born in rural Alabama in 1940, John Lewis attended a Rosenwald School, one of many state-of-the-art schools built across the South for African-American students by Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, then President of Sears Roebuck. John, in recalling his school days, said he had a great teacher who encouraged him to read. He followed his teacher’s advice and read as many books as he could find. When he was sixteen, he and his siblings went to nearby Troy, Alabama, to get a public library card. They were told the library was only for Whites and were turned away. In the next few years, as he went to town more, he realized how segregated Troy was. In 1955, he heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the radio. He followed the Montgomery bus boycott, later meeting Rosa Parks who, by refusing to move to the back of the bus, played a significant role in that boycott.

Lewis graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, and was ordained a Baptist minister. From there he attended Fisk University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in religion and philosophy. Both were historically Black Colleges. While studying, Lewis became an activist for Civil Rights. He managed, with other students, to desegregate lunch counters in downtown Nashville. Lewis was arrested and jailed often, but he strictly adhered to nonviolence. During this period, John said it was essential to cause “good trouble, necessary trouble” in order to bring about racial justice.

In 1961, Lewis was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, a group of both whites and blacks trying to desegregate bus seating in the South. He and others were brutally beaten. John was even imprisoned for his actions. Still, he persisted. In 1964, he launched a campaign to engage college students throughout the country to register voters in Mississippi. In 1965, John organized the Selma Voting Rights Campaign along with the Selma to Montgomery marches to bring national recognition to the cause. On March 7, 1965, now called “Bloody Sunday,” Lewis and Hosea Williams led more than 600 marchers over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. When the group stopped to pray, they were attacked by State Troopers who beat them mercilessly. Lewis suffered a skull fracture but was blessed to escape with his life.

John Lewis knew that laws needed to be just, and so he began a political career. Elected to Congress in 1986, he served the cause of justice until his death in 2020 at the age of 80. During that time he tirelessly taught us how to make rough ways smooth and crooked ways straight in a nonviolent way. This was John’s way of preparing for meeting his Savior and for bringing others along with him.

John Robert Lewis is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

What are some ways you can work for the justice and good of all people?

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from Isaiah 41:13
For I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”

Juan Diego, whose feast we celebrate today, belonged to the Aztec people. Born in what is today part of Mexico City, Mexico, in 1474, Juan was baptized when he was around 50 years old by one of the first Franciscan missionaries to the area. He was a devout convert. The first Catholic saint indigenous to the Americas, Pope St. John Paul II canonized Juan Diego at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City July 31, 2002. It seems fitting that his feast follows right after that of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception because Juan was a missionary of Mary. He cooperated as she did in God’s saving plan. This is something we are all called to do.

Mary first appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, just outside of Mexico City, as he was on his way to Mass. Mary spoke to Juan in his native tongue and asked him to go to the Bishop and instruct him to build a shrine to her there. She wanted any of her children in need to have a place where they could go and know that she was close to them. Juan Diego did as he was told. The Bishop said he needed some time to think about the request and sent Juan away. On his way home, the Blessed Mother again appeared to Juan, and he told her he had failed to convince the Bishop. He also said that he was a simple man. He politely suggested that she might be successful if she sent someone more important to talk to the Bishop. But, according to tradition, Mary replied, “Listen, least of my sons. You must try to understand that I have many messengers and servants whom I could charge with the delivery of my message… But it is altogether necessary that you, yourself, should undertake this entreaty and that through your own mediation and assistance, my purpose should be accomplished.”

Juan obeyed the Blessed Virgin and returned to the Bishop the next day, but the Bishop asked for a sign. Mary said she would provide a sign the day after that. Unfortunately, Juan’s uncle became mortally ill and wanted a priest to hear his confession and minister to him. So, Juan avoided Tepeyac Hill so that he would not be delayed on his way to get a priest. But on a different route, the Virgin appeared to Juan, and chided him as a mother might, assuring him that his uncle was better. She told him to pick roses from the rocky hillside, flowers that could not have normally grown there. He put them in his tilma or cloak and Our Lady arranged them. Then Juan went to see the Bishop, opened his tilma and the beautiful roses fell to the floor while an image of Mary appeared on the tilma. The Bishop believed and did as instructed. When Juan returned home, he found his uncle cured. His uncle said Mary had appeared to him as well and told Juan to tell the Bishop that she wanted to be known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Juan Diego, trusting and obedient, did as he was asked.

Since he loved the Virgin Mary so much, Juan, who was by that time a widower, asked to live in a little hut next to the Church. There he lived until he died seventeen years after the apparitions. There he cared for pilgrims who came to honor their Blessed Mother. Today visitors can see the tilma with the image of Our Lady on it. Many miracles occurred. More importantly, many came to believe in Jesus because of St. Juan Diego’s willingness to be a missionary for Mary.

St. Juan Diego is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How can you realize your call to be a missionary even within your own home, place of work, city or parish?

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Luke 1:26-28

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. Upon arriving, the angel said to her: “Rejoice, O highly favored daughter! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.”

The Immaculate Conception

Even though this lovely feast finds its way into the Advent season, it celebrates Mary’s own sinless conception in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. It is celebrated nine months before what we call Mary’s birthday on September 8. The faithful observed this feast since the 7th century and Pope Clement XI declared it a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics in 1708. But the feast began being formally observed adding the words “Immaculate” when Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1854. Mary herself confirmed this truth when she appeared to Bernadette at Lourdes just four years later and said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way: To become the mother of Jesus, (Quote) “Mary was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” (End quote) So, Mary remained free of sin all her life, from the moment she was conceived until her death. The story of the Annunciation in Luke’s Gospel helps us understand how completely Mary loved the Word of God. She said in reply to Angel Gabriel, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.” And, it is this response that can guide all of us who were not conceived sinless. We have the freedom to choose to do whatever God asks of us, just as Mary did. While we may not always be sinless in this life, Jesus came through Mary to bring us God’s loving salvation. As we grow in God’s life, becoming purified through suffering, through joy, through our entire journey here, we can be immaculate someday too, rejoicing forever along with Mary in heaven.

So, let us hurry to offer ourselves completely to the Lord. Let us make room in our hearts, bodies, and spirits for the Lord who wants to dwell within us. Yes, we may suffer occasional backaches from carrying the Lord. We may feel a little sick when we are called to humanly unpleasant and tiring tasks for the sake of preparing the way. But we can say as Mary did, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.” Jesus can then be born again in our lives and touch the lives of those around us with his miraculous healing power of love. As we share in Mary’s gift of bringing Jesus into our world, so she will share the joy of her Immaculate Heart with us in heaven.

The Immaculate Conception is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

Can you name a specific time when you abandoned yourself to the will of God, saying: Let it be done to me as you say…

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Florence Nightingale is today's Ornament of Grace.

from Matthew 7:24-25
“Anyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on rock. When the rainy season set in, the torrent came and the winds blew and buffeted his house. It did not collapse; it had been solidly set on rock. Anyone who hears my words but does not put them into practice is like the foolish man who built his house on sandy ground. The rains fell, the torrents came, the winds blew and lashed against his house. It collapsed under all this and was completely ruined.”

We know that Jesus is the rock of our salvation, the one on whom our lives must rest if we are not to be carried away by the inevitable winds and storms of life. One person who understood and lived this truth well was Florence Nightingale who said, “How little can be done under the spirit of fear.”

Born in Florence, Italy, in 1810, and named after her birth city, Florence lived a brilliant, unselfish life, dying in 1910 at the age of 90. Florence’s father, a wealthy British gentleman, educated his two daughters in history, mathematics, philosophy, various languages, and classical literature. The family also traveled extensively. Florence loved learning and mastered each subject. Both her parents influenced her with a liberal humanitarian view of life. Florence’s education and her outlook proved valuable, especially after Florence received what she believed was her first call from God in 1837. She heard God calling her to devote her life to the service of others. An attractive young woman, Florence was courted by several affluent men. But she felt marriage would interfere with her desire to pursue a nursing career. So, she studied medical science.

When the Crimean War broke out, a friend who was the Secretary of War asked Florence, 38 volunteer nurses whom she had trained, and 15 Catholic Sisters to go to handle the masses of wounded and dying soldiers in a location across the Bosphorus Strait from modern-day Istanbul, Turkey. There she found inadequate supplies, food, and sanitation, along with an uncooperative staff. She and her volunteers got supplies sent from Britain, established the protocols of cleanliness, wound dressing, adequate meals, and comfort for the soldiers. There she earned the name “Lady of the Lamp.” This was because after a full day of working in the wards, she would carry a lamp to find her way among the wounded at night, offering help and encouragement as needed.

Suffering from fever and severe joint pain for at least 25 years, Nightingale continued serving whenever she could. After the war, she raised funds to educate nurses. By the 1860’s, she provided the first nursing staffs to care for the poor in London’s workhouses. She wrote a book outlining good nursing practices. The American Union Forces asked her for advice on setting up and running field hospitals during the Civil War. In the 1870’s, she mentored America’s first nurse, Linda Richards, who then had the ability to set up the first nursing schools in the United States. Florence continued writing, mentoring, and unselfishly caring for all she could until her death.

She did not build her life’s work on sand. No, she built the house of her life on God, her rock.

Florence Nightingale is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

​How is trusting in God in all life’s circumstances like building a house on rock?

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