Jesus cautions people about the “tribulation” rulers will cause for them, “Those times will be more distressful than any.” The tribulation focuses on the rulers terrorizing and killing him. But Jesus understand rulers will terrorize and kill commoners of every age. Commoners will face the tribulations with love and courage.
Francesca Cabrini, born in Lombardy, Italy, in 1850, followed Jesus’ Way and knew many tribulations. She knew the tribulation of being born early and subsequently being frail and sickly as a child. As a child, she felt called to be a missionary, unlikely given her poor health. Francesca knew the tribulation of losing 8 siblings who did not survive past adolescence. She knew the tribulation of losing both parents by age 20. She sought entry into a religious order hoping to fulfill her call to be a missionary. Francesca was turned away and dissuaded from the missionary calling because of her frail health. She knew the tribulation of difficult work while ministering at an orphanage to younger souls who had also lost their parents. She made the decision to gather together a community of other women. They were women who, like her, had also known tribulations but were dedicated to love and courage. They founded their own religious order, as a missionary order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. They began their work in their native Italy. They proved to be great community organizers, very focused and resourceful and were successful in opening homes and schools for the poor. She was urged to be a missionary to the United States. Italians, primarily from the poor southern region of that nation, were emigrating to the U.S. and being met with discrimination. They too needed her orphanages and schools. In 1889, she travelled to the U.S. and fulfilled her longing to be a missionary. Now called Mother Cabrini, she was just as great a community organizer, just as focused, resourceful, and successful in the States. She was always gathering people together around Jesus’ loving Way. She was always encouraging the new immigrants, of whom she was one, to be joyous through their tribulations. A great and generous community formed among the immigrants and, led by Mother Cabrini, 67 institutions were founded; orphanages, schools, and hospitals. They served primarily immigrants. Immigrants who knew the tribulations of living in shacks and on the streets, working in low paying jobs and often dangerous ones. Dangerous jobs like the New York City Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, whose subhuman conditions resulted in a fire that killed 146 garment workers, mostly young Italian and Jewish girls. Dangerous jobs like Colorado’s Ludlow Mine, whose mostly Italian and Mexican workers organizing unions were shot down, as were their wives and children. Colorado held one of the earliest celebrations of Columbus Day, chosen to show white supremacists that the face of one of their founding heroes was an Italian face. It was a sad parallel though, for as the Italian Columbus had terrorized the indigenous people so too these white supremacists were terrorizing the Italian people. Ethnic prejudice against people who were indigenous and immigrants, certainly Italians, remained fierce. Organized crime, long the practice of the white master class through slavery, Jim Crow, and all things capitalist, suddenly became the practice of Italian immigrants only. Organized crime was projected onto Italians and a ‘Mafia’ and its members were its only practitioners. Italians were stereotyped as crooks and have been used as the face of a thuggish criminal underclass, especially by Hollywood. For example, ‘Godfather’ movies are acclaimed rather than accepted as updates of D.W. Griffith’s ‘Birth of a Nation.’ Italians were classified as “colored” upon entry in the U.S. Some Italians embraced the classification while others rejected it. Those rejecting it knew to be classified “white” instead, brought fewer tribulations. The Catholic churches of the Italian immigrants were being vandalized, pillaged. Italian families were being burned out of their homes. Italians were being lynched, in numbers second only to Blacks. White supremacists, immigrants too but white ones, willingly broadened beyond the Black community the terror they spread to include Italian immigrants. The hateful crooks of organized crime known as the KKK, increased their membership, recruited over Italian Catholic immigration. The hateful and crooked organized crime of white supremacy unfortunately continues on to this day in the same hateful and crooked manner. That Italians are any part of it is a disgrace and a betrayal of Mother Cabrini. Mother Cabrini’s words apply to white supremacy then as they apply to white supremacy now, “The world is poisoned with erroneous theories, and needs to be taught sane doctrines, but it is difficult to straighten what has become crooked.” Mother Cabrini lived those sane doctrines – communion and love. She straightened out what was crooked by loving the white supremacists who opposed her and by healing their crookedness. November 13th is celebrated as the feast day of the U.S.’s first canonized saint, Francesca Cabrini.
“I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know him or have forgotten him.” (Francesca Cabrini)
Prayer: Spirit of Mother Cabrini, guide us through our tribulations with love.
Question: Will I go anywhere and do anything to communicate love?
Nov 14, 2021 Gospel Mark 13:24-32 Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time