26 May 2020 - Homily - Tuesday of the 7th week of Easter - Acts 20:17-27

        Back in May of 1996, I arrived in Quito, Ecuador to start my time of service as a missionary with the Comboni missionaries, a religious order originally from Verona, Italy.  I remember that on one of the first weekends that I was there, we were at one of the old church in Quito when they were celebrating the feast day of Mariana de Jesús de Paredes, the first person to be canonized as a saint from Ecuador.  Mariana was born in the city of Quito in Ecuador, located high in the Andes mountains, in 1618.  Born of aristocratic parents, even though she dreamed of entering a convent as a nun or going off to a far off land as a missionary, she ended up living with her sister and her family after her parents’ death, living as a third order Franciscan under the guidance of her Jesuit spiritual director.  She felt called to undertake many sacrifices in her life, including extreme fasting, long vigils, and even wearing a crown of thorns. Her gifts included prophecy and the ability to heal people.  In the year 1645, the city of Quito was struck by a terrible earthquake and a severe epidemic that claimed many lives.  Some claimed that these calamities were caused by the sins of the people of the city.  Mariana publicly offered herself as recompense for these sins. The earthquakes ceased at around this time.  She fell ill and died in 1645 at the age of 26.  She was lauded by many as having saved their city.  She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950.  She is beloved in the country of Ecuador to this day and serves as that country’s patron saint.  
      In the Acts of the Apostles today, we hear Paul say: I consider life of no importance to me, “If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.”  In her way, St Mariana de Jesús followed the call she heard from God, making sacrifices and pledging her life for the people. I remember frequently passing by the trolley station in Quito named after her when I was a missionary in Ecuador.  The station was near to where our missionary order was headquartered.  I would like to pray for the people of Ecuador today, who have been very hard hit during this pandemic, as we celebrate their patron saint.