Jesus is in the midst of his ministry in today’s Gospel. He is at work in his ministry and in his proclamation of God’s kingdom. Perhaps his mother and his family are concerned for his welfare. Perhaps they want to make sure that he is ok and well taken care of. Yet, Jesus knows he needs to be occupied with his Father’s work, so he declares that his true mother and his true brothers and sisters, are those who do the will of his Father in their lives.
St Angela Merici is the saint we celebrate today. Born in 1474, she was a ground breaking and influential figure in the Church in her era, having the distinction of founding the first secular institute and the first teaching order of women in the Church. When we see the influence Catholic sisters and consecrated Catholic lay women have had in Catholic schools and in the field of education throughout the centuries, we can appreciate the contributions of Angela Merici. She was orphaned as a child and faced a lot of obstacles in her life. She joined the third order Franciscans as a young woman, but later, at the age of 60, with twelve other women, she founded the Company of St. Ursula, which was named for a patroness of universities in medieval Europe. The Company of St Ursula constituted a new way of life, of single women consecrated to Christ and living in the world rather than as nuns in a convent. These women did not live in community, wore no special clothing, and made no formal vows, so it was quite different from living the life of a nun. Four years after her death in 1540, the rule of life that St Angela wrote for this group of women was approved; it prescribed for them the practices of chastity, poverty, and obedience.
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