4 November 2020 - Wednesday of the 31st week of Ordinary Time - St Charles Borromeo - Psalm 27

     The month of November is only four days old, but already we have had four great feast days, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and St Martin de Porres earlier in the week, and today St Charles Borromeo.  Charles Borromeo was born in the tumultuous 16th century, the era of the Protestant Reformation.  A book I read a couple of years ago was entitled: True Reformers: Saints of the Catholic Reformation.  We often think of the reformers who brought about the Protestant Reformation, as Reformation Sunday was recently commemorated in Protestant church throughout the country.  However, there was a lot of renewal and reform going on in the Catholic Church at the same time, which may not be common knowledge for a lot of Catholics.  In that book, Charles Borromeo is listed as one of the reforming saints of that era, along with St Thomas More, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, and St Francis de Sales - quite an illustrious group.  In a lot of ways, Charles made an unlikely reformer.  He was a member of the influential Medici family.  His uncle became Pope Pius IV in 1559.  While he was still a young man, Charles was named deacon-cardinal and administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan.  He later became the secretary of state for the Vatican, assuming responsibility for the papal states.  He was ordained a priest at the age of 25 and became the Bishop of Milan.  Charles was very influential at the Council of Trent, keeping the sessions on track when they were on the verge of falling apart.   He is well-known for promoting the system of seminaries that we have today to educate our priests.  He could have lived a life of great luxury and privilege, but he gave much of his wealth to charity, led a very simple life, and took out enormous debts in order to feed the victims of the plague in his city.  

      The psalm declares today: The Lord is my life and my salvation.  There is one thing I ask of the Lord: to seek to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.  This so reflects Charles Borromeo’s zeal and dedication to his faith.  We unite our prayers with the prayers of St Charles Borromeo today.  May his spirit of renewal and charity be alive in our Church today.