By Father Thomas Gross |
Hawaii
Catholic Herald
“If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for
you like midday.”
This has been an emotional and historic eight days for the people of
Kalaupapa, our Diocese, our State, and especially for the Sisters of St.
Francis. The legacy of Mother Marianne has indeed affected us all. Her example,
her ministry, her goodness and her love not only brought light to the people to
whom she ministered on Kalaupapa, but continue to bring light to our islands
today. I know that many of the sisters here today have been inspired and
encouraged in ministry by the life of Mother Marianne. Our Diocese has been
blessed by the presence of the Sisters of St. Francis and by their ministry of
healthcare, education, parish work and, above all, prayer. The Sisters of St.
Francis have carried on the legacy of Mother Marianne. In their ministry, the
Sisters have inspired so many others to bring light into the gloomy parts of
the world just as Mother Marianne brought light to the gloom of that diseaseridden
peninsula so many years ago.
Why do we as a Church go through all the trouble to have someone
declared a saint? Why do we make such a fuss over their remains? Because we
need heroes of faith. We need people who exemplify what it means to be
Christian. We need saints who are human, who have bodies like we do, who have
temptations like we do, and who face everyday challenges like we do. We need
them. They give us hope and courage. They bring light to the gloom that is
caused by sin. Are there people who are not declared as saints who can fill
this need? Yes, there certainly are. They are all around us. But the saints,
the holy ones who are part of our Church history, remind us to look for the
extraordinary in the ordinary, to look for holiness where we may least expect
it. And the relics of the saints remind us of their own humanity and ours; their
own ordinariness and ours; their membership in the human family and ours.
With respect and love, we send the earthly remains of Mother Marianne
back to Syracuse.
But her legacy lives on here in Hawaii.
We thank God for Mother Marianne, for the Sisters of St. Francis, for the
people of Kalaupapa, and for all those unsung saints and heroes who bring light
to our lives and our world. With confidence we can say:
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”