You Will See
Piety
No one who is begotten by God sins because God’s seed
remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way, the
children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain; no one who fails
to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his
brother. 1 John 3:9-10
John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he
watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples
heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him
and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which
translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and
you will see.” John 1:35-39A
Study
Today’s saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, was born in New York
into an Episcopalian family, who ostracized her and left her penniless when she
became a Catholic in 1805. She had to leave New York, and in 1808-9, she
founded a religious community and a school for poor children at Emmitsburg,
near Baltimore in Maryland. Mother Seton died in 1821 but the Sisters of
Charity continue her work to this day.
In an address to her spiritual daughters, St. Elizabeth gave
us a pearl of wisdom. She told them: “And
what was the first rule of our dear Savior’s life? You know it was to do his
Father’s will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do
the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills; and thirdly, to do
it because it is his will.”[i]
John fulfilled that by pointing people to Jesus."Behold, the Lamb of God."
The two disciples fulfilled that by following Jesus. "Come, and you will see."
Action
How will we come and see what this has in store for us?
St. Elizabeth goes on to ask (and answer) her sisters and us,
“What are our real trials?”
Yet we know certainly that our God
calls us to a holy life, that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace;
and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace can carry us through every
obstacle and difficulty.
But we lack the courage to keep a
continual watch over nature, and therefore, year after year, with our thousand
graces, multiplied resolutions, and fair promises, we run around in a circle of
misery and imperfections. After a long time in the service of God, we come
nearly to the point from whence we set out, and perhaps with even less ardor
for penance and mortification than when we began our consecration to him.[ii]
Let us continue into this young new year with the courage to
persevere no matter what we face by beholding Jesus in the world and all we
meet. Then, perhaps we will come to see, like Peter, where the Lord is staying –
He is staying with us.
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