Amoris Laetitia (Pope Francis, 2016)

“The Bible is full of families, births, love stories and family crises. This is true from its very first page, with the appearance of Adam and Eve’s family with all its burden of violence but also its enduring strength (cf. Gen 4) to its very last page, where we behold the wedding feast of the Bride and the Lamb (Rev 21:2, 9). Jesus’ description of the two houses, one built on rock and the other on sand (cf. Mt 7:24-27), symbolizes any number of family situations shaped by the exercise of their members’ freedom, for, as the poet says, “every home is a lampstand.” Let us now enter one of those houses, led by the Psalmist with a song that even today resounds in both Jewish and Christian wedding liturgies:

She shared what she had learned about her vocation with her spiritual director, Fr. Cipriano Iñiguez, and he confided in her his aspiration to form a congregation that would care for the hospitalized. Together, in 1901, they founded a new religious order called the Handmaids of Santa Margherita Maria and the Poor. María served as a nurse from the start of the new order. She welcomed all in need, regardless of their social status or whether or not they could pay. For this she is known as the patron saint of nurses. She was then elected Superior General of the Congregation and taught the sisters of the congregation by example how to find joy in embracing poverty and being one with the poor they serve.

From 1911 to 1936 the Catholic Church faced persecution in Mexico. During this time, María made sacrifices to hide priests and the Archbishop of Guadalajara in the hospital, even putting her own life at risk. She continued to serve as superior general of her order until her death in 1963. The Handmaids of Santa Margherita Maria and the Poor continued to grow, and today has 22 houses in 5 different nations.

St. María Guadalupe García Zavala, sometimes known as Mother Lupita, was canonized by Pope Francis on May 12, 2013, becoming Mexico’s second female saint. Pope Francis, at her canonization Mass, shared this message about Mother Lupita: “This new Mexican saint invites us to love as Jesus loved us … to come out of ourselves and care for those who are in need of attention, understanding and help, to bring them the warm closeness of God’s love through tangible actions of sensitivity, of sincere affection and of love.”
 
Reflection questions for parish ministry

• St. María kept her heart open and actively sought to better understand what God was calling her to do and was therefore able to discern her vocation. How can you practice actively listening for God speaking to your heart in your own life? How can you support others in doing the same?
• Pope Francis shares that Mother Lupita, through her example, invites us to love others as Jesus loves them. Brainstorm tangible ways to encounter others with “sensitivity, sincere affection, and love” that you can incorporate into your own life.

 
Activity idea for families, children, and youth

• Spend time learning about St. María, patron saint of nurses, together. Then, make a card for a local nurse, thanking them for following Mother Lupita’s example of serving those in need.

"From the Field"

Paul Minarik
Director of Faith Formation
St. Edward Catholic Church

Paul Minarik is the Director of Faith Formation at his home parish of St. Edward (in the Mayfair neighborhood of Chicago). He and his wife, Whitney, have two daughters, Mariana and Magdalena. Born in Virginia, he earned a BA at George Mason University and a Master’s Degree in Church History at The Catholic University of America, before moving to the Windy City in 2008. He loves to talk, especially about books, beer, and baseball. 

 

When I first arrived in Chicago way back in 2008, I had no idea what I was doing. Actually, I knew exactly what I was doing: I was chasing a girl (spoiler alert: she is now my wife and the mother of our two beautiful daughters).  

What I didn’t know at the time, however, and what I hadn’t spent a whole lot of effort discerning, was what God’s idea for my life was, and how I ought to conform my actions to His plan. Let me be clear: I do not recommend this. This is just my story. 

I can tell you what I wanted God’s plan to be: I wanted to earn a PhD in Church History, get a cushy job in academia, and spend the rest of my days sipping port wine and marshalling high-brow conversations about investiture, reform, missionary movements, and Church councils. So, I came to Chicago, chasing a girl and trying to figure out how to make my plan a reality. 

At that point of my life, I was a practicing Catholic - going to Mass, occasionally praying, and even reading the Bible every now and then (!) - but I increasingly pushed my faith to the margins, especially when it seemed to interfere with my goals. 

God has many ways to break through this sort of self-obsessed myopia. For me, He used the time-worn classic of making me a father. Once my life was no longer about me, the bigger picture got clearer. Christ gave my daughters to me as a way to lead me back to Him. 

He also led me into teaching, and gradually revealed that my charisms were less meant for graduate-level seminars than they were for young children. I began teaching in Catholic schools and kept getting pulled to the youngest grades. God must have had a hearty laugh at my pride: “No, my son,” I can hear Him saying, “you weren’t made to discuss eschatology, but scatology. Now please write up an incident report alerting Tommy’s parents that he had another accident during nap time.” 

The funny thing about giving in to God’s plans, living out that fiat of our Blessed Mother, is that they are so full of enriching and rewarding surprises. I realized that I enjoyed working with small children, and they responded well to my personality. In a shocking turn of events, I was good at this unlooked-for job. All the while, my own faith was growing and I was rediscovering the wealth of our Catholic inheritance as I worked to share Christ’s Good News with my own little girls.  

During this period, my parish was assigned a young, newly-ordained associate pastor who possessed a gift for asking people to help him in his mission of building up the kingdom of God. I found myself drawn into leading a small prayer group of other young, Catholic families. Then I started helping teach our Baptism prep class. Then I helped with our Religious Education program. Then I helped teach pre-communicants about the Sunday Gospel.  

The more I got involved, the more my hunger to share the beauty of Christ’s Church with my fellow parishioners, especially the youngest of them, intensified. Eventually, that young associate pastor became our young pastor. One of his first orders of business was to look for a Director of Faith Formation. He personally invited me to apply. 

Of course, I had grown quite comfortable with my life as a teacher and sometime-volunteer. Why would God ask me to pivot again? I spoke to my wife. I spoke to my parents. I prayed. A lot. With the blessing and encouragement of my family, I applied and then accepted the job. 

Although still new in the role (I began in July), I have relished the challenges and opportunities it has offered me. We are actively working on emerging from the wreckage that Covid inflicted. We’ve re-started our Youth Group; we’ve grown our home-based Religious Education program; we’ve built up regular opportunities for our parish families to gather together; we’ve even transformed Confirmation prep into being driven by small groups of confirmandi led by adult mentors. Our God is truly a God of abundance. 

It has been a blessing to see young families partner with older parishioners and teenagers in this great mission Christ has given us all. Indeed, people of all ages hunger for the Eucharist and the graces God offers through His Church. I am humbled and inspired every day I go to work. 

Thirteen years ago, having just left my home in Virginia, I never would have guessed that God would lead me to St Edward’s Rectory Office. What a wonderful journey it has been! Along the way, I’ve learned much about myself, but most importantly I’ve learned to listen to God. I will forever be a work in progress, but as long as I let Him do the heavy lifting, I continue to find myself the better for having done so.