Journeying With The Saints

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. The boat is out at sea and pretty much everyone is sick.

The poor Sisters. I'm telling you, I would be sick right there with them. I am not good with movement on the sea. If I had been one of Mother Cabrini's Sisters, I would have been down for the count, too.

So, what started out as a trip full of beautiful seas and blue skies has turned into one of misery as they fight to not feel like they are dying. I think we should all take a moment to appreciate what they were willing to endure for the sake of souls. How much are we willing to endure? That's a good question to ask ourselves.

Let's open to page 46 and see how they are faring.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother Cabrini and the Sisters are aboard the ship. They sleep on the ship the night before it sets sail and they wake early in the morning to go to Mass before leaving port. After Mass, they head back to the ship and have breakfast.

So, if you can just imagine as we read, they are off again steaming through the English Channel. England is to their north and France to their south. It's a beautiful day, so let's turn to page 45 and hear about the start of this voyage.

Hello, fellow Pilgrims. Welcome to our third voyage with Mother Cabrini.

Mother is getting ready to leave to head back to NY. It's been a year since the last voyage. Before leaving for America, she gets to visit Montmartre which is a well-known hill in Paris. It's a district in Paris and at the top of the hill in this district sits the beautiful Sacre Coeur Basilica. In English, this means, Sacred or Holy Heart. So, a perfectly fitting place for Mother Cabrini to visit.

Also, Mother Cabrini is going to speak of a saint whose work we have read here on the podcast: St. Francis de Sales. Isn't that amazing? I love it when my little bevy of saints come together.

So, let's start this third journey with Mother Cabrini by turning to page 43.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Mother Cabrini has landed in Havre and is on her way to Paris.

This is a very short reading today, but since we are at then end of a voyage, I will be offering my reflection.

Please open your books to page 41 and let's begin.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, Mother Cabrini is on her last day at sea for this particular voyage.

She spends time in reflection on the gift of the Holy Eucharist. This is something that all Saints have in common—their love for the Eucharist. They come from different walks of life, different missions, different personalities, and different struggles, but they all love the Eucharist and understand it's significance and importance.

Let's listen to Mother Cabrini as we turn to page 40.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

So, last time, we read an entry that was marked August 21st and, today, we will also be reading from an entry marked August 21st. What I'm guessing is that Mother Cabrini wrote at two different times during the same day.

What I would love for you to do today is imagine receiving these words from Mother Cabrini. Imagine that she has written to you. I know that most of you aren't religious brothers or sisters, but still place yourself as the receiver of these words. She has excellent advice for all of us.

With that, let's open to page 39.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. I'm so happy that you decided to join me and Mother Cabrini today.

Growing up Protestant, there was only one path you could really take in life and that was to get married. There is no vocation of the religious life in Protestantism. Funny enough, I interviewed an ex-atheist years ago and one of the things that converted him was those in the religious life. He said, "I knew I couldn't take Protestantism seriously because it lacked religious. If you don't have people who are willing to give up nearly everything for God, how could I take you seriously?"

That was very striking to me. I think sometimes we pity those in the religious life because we feel they are missing out. As you'll hear from Mother Cabrini today, she doesn't feel like she's missing out at all.

Let's open to page 38 and look to the August 21st entry.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today in our reading, we find Mother Cabrini still at sea and still conversing with the Protestant woman.

The other day I was telling my husband about Mother Cabrini and her interaction with the Protestant lady. I explained how she had simply gone up to pet this woman's dog and that was her in. Then, I told him that I wished I could have more of these conversations, but they never seem to happen. He laughed and said, "Well, sounds like you need to pet more people's dogs."

I do think that religious garments open the door more readily. When people see a nun in her habit or a priest in his collar, they sense authority. I think this makes it easier for religious to have religious conversations, because people just naturally understand that you are probably going to talk about God and faith.

Makes one wonder what we as lay people can do to open that door a bit more. Let's see what Mother has to say today by turning to page 38.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are on day three of Mother Cabrini's trip back across the Atlantic from New York to Havre, France. Seas are calm and this trip, so far, seems less eventful.

Back in 2015, my family attended the World Meeting of Families in Philly. I went to a talk given by a woman professor, I think. The only thing I remember from that talk is that she said that Catholics should stop wasting their time trying to convert Protestants. "They love Jesus and we should focus our attention on those who have no faith."

Well, I was not pleased with this line of thinking, especially as a former Protestant. The best thing in the world that ever happened to me, aside from marrying my husband and having my kids, was being converted to Catholicism.

I'm with Mother Cabrini on this. She is trying to convert a Protestant woman on board the ship and I get why she would be desiring to do so. If you really love people, you want them to experience the fullness of the faith—not a watered-down faith full of heresies.

So, with that said, let's open to page 37.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Mother Cabrini isn't feeling particularly well today as we will hear in her writings. I think something to keep in mind as we travel around with her is that she had very frail health. She was born prematurely and, being born in 1850, that set her up for a life of struggling with her health being as the medical care isn't what we have today.

Then, as a young girl, she almost drowned, which is where she got the fear of water. If you saw the movie, the drowning is depicted. So, this would have only added to her fragility. And yet, through all this, she carries on.

Today, Mother Cabrini is resting and taking some time for meditation as she sails on the ocean. Let's open to page 36.