Today, we celebrate the feast day of Blessed Michael McGivney. He was born on August 12, 1852 in Connecticut to Irish immigrant parents. He died on August 14, 1890 at the age of 38. He left school at the age of 13 to work in a factory to help support his family. Even when he was able to start his studies for the priesthood, that time was interrupted by the death of his father. He was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Hartford in 1877. Reflecting on the struggles of his own family and other immigrant families, he and a group of men at his parish formed the Knights of Columbus in 1882 at his parish of St Mary’s to promote charity, unity, and fraternity amongst them and to assist the widows and orphans of the parish. The organization grew in a short period of time beyond the parish boundaries and now is an important part of the Catholic Church in the US and in other countries. Father McGivney died from pneumonia in 1890. He was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis. At Father McGivney’s beatification, Pope Francis praised his zeal in his proclamation of Christ’s Gospel and his generous concern for his brothers and sisters, making Father McGivney an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance.
Our Gospel today presents us the parable of the lost sheep. Father McGivney’s vision was to reach out to the poor, the lost, and the forgotten in society. May we find inspiration in his example.
No comments:
Post a Comment