The saint we celebrate today in our liturgical calendar is St Scholastica, the twin sister of St Benedict, who lived in the 5th and 6th centuries. She established a monastery of nuns only five miles from the famous monastery of Monte Casino that her brother founded. Benedict became the spiritual director for his sister and her group of nuns. St Scholastica is honored as the foundress of Benedictine monasticism for religious sisters. Both Scholastica and her brother Benedict had a huge influence in the development of monasticism and the Church for many centuries. With fewer monasteries and fewer vocations to consecrated religious life in the modern world, it is hard for us to comprehend the influence the monasteries had on society, culture, and learning in the era of the Middle Ages. Today, as we celebrate St Scholastica as the patron saint of nuns and religious sisters, we honor all of those women who serve in religious life and contribute so greatly to our society today. They are certainly symbols of God’s mercy and justice in the world.
We hear the Gospel reading of the miracle of the loaves and fish today. We have modern day miracles of loaves and fish as well. Yesterday, thanks to the generosity of the Carmelite sisters and others, I was able to bring some food out to the prison for us to have a Mardi Gras party. The fellowship and food we have at those celebrations is so important to our prison ministry. And what touches the men most of all is the generosity of the many people who reach out to help them. How we live out our faith is so important. All of us live busy lives with a lot of responsibilities and obligations. But how is our life of faith bearing fruit? How are we reaching out to others?
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