8 Feb – Memorial for St. Jerome Emiliani; Memorial for St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin
St. Jerome (1481–1537) was born wealthy, the son of Angelo and Eleanor Mauroceni Emiliani. His father died when Jerome was a teenager, and he ran away from home at age 15. After a dissolute youth, he became a soldier in Venice in 1506. He commanded the League of Cambrai forces at the fortress of Castelnuovo near Trevso. He was captured by Venetian forces on Aug 27, 1511, and was chained in a dungeon. Here, he prayed to Our Lady for help and was miraculously freed by an apparition. He hung his chains on a church wall as an offering. He became Mayor of Treviso while studying for the priesthood, and was ordained in the spotted-fever plague year of 1518.
He cared for the sick and housed orphans in his own home. At night, he roamed the streets, burying those who had collapsed and died unattended. He contracted the fever himself, but survived. He founded six orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes, and a hospital.
He founded the Order of Somaschi (Company of Servants of the Poor, or Samascan Fathers) in 1532. It is a congregation of clerks regular vowed to the care of orphans, and named after the town of Somasca where they started, and where they founded a seminary. The society was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540 and it continues its work today in a dozen countries. Jerome is believed to have developed the question-and-answer catechism technique for teaching children religion.
In 1928, Pope Pius XI declared him the patron saint of orphans and abandoned children.
- Patron Saint Index
St. Josephine (1868–1947) was born to a wealthy Sudanese family. At age 9, she was kidnapped by slave-traders who gave her the name Bakhita. She was sold and resold in the markets at El Obeid and Khartoum, finally purchased in 1883 by Callisto Legnani, an Italian consul who planned to free her. She accompanied Legnani to Italy in 1885, and worked for the family of Augusto Michieli as nanny. She was treated well in Italy and grew to love the country. She joined the Church as an adult convert on Jan 9, 1890, taking the name Josephine as a symbol of her new life.
She entered the Institute of Canossian Daughters of Charity in Venice, Italy, in 1893, taking her vows on Dec 8, 1896 in Verona, and served as a Canossian Sister for the next 50 years. Her gentle presence, her warm, amiable voice, and her willingness to help with any menial task were a comfort to the poor and suffering people who came to the door of the Institute. After a biography of her was published in 1930, she became a noted and sought-after speaker, raising funds to support missions.
She was canonized on Oct 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II, and is thought to be the only saint originally from Sudan.
- Patron Saint Index
1 Kgs 11:4-13
Mk 7:24-30
…she came and fell at his feet.
“The whole world is the Titanic and Christ is the lifeboat.” I recently read those words in Dr. Peter Kreeft’s book, The God Who Loves You “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”, and in reading the words above from scripture, ‘she came and fell at his feet’, my heart lifted with joy for her in knowing WHO this Jesus is, The Christ. She recognized Him.
When was the last time you sat in silence and recognized WHO this Jesus, who never stops knocking at your heart, who never turns from you, really is? As Fr. Mike Schmitz recently shared in a homily, we don’t recognize Jesus and therefore don’t acknowledge Him, much less fall at His feet, because we are so distracted. The enemy uses all the simple tools to distract us from fully realizing who Jesus is –- so much so that we don’t recognize Him as King. We don’t recognize Him as our lifeboat. In fact, many modern day Christians have been so desensitized by the enemy’s smoke, mirror and lies (out of the mouths of ‘good Christian people’ – including Catholics, even Catholic priests) to WHO Jesus is, that many in the modern world have come to define Jesus Christ as a really good, nice guy, tolerant of all peoples and all things, all the time — simply walking around loving everyone, being everyone’s buddy. But no one’s lifeboat.
For anyone who has ever searched for TRUTH, we know this isn’t who Jesus is, or ever was, or ever could be. No one would ‘fall at the feet’ of their ‘buddy’. Yes, Jesus is your best friend, but friendship is simply one tiny facet of Jesus to give us an example of His perfect love for us -– a love that took him to the crucifix.
Jesus isn’t simply the ‘best buddy ever’ — even the demons know that. Throughout scripture, it is ALWAYS the demons who know WHO Jesus is. The rest of us keep wondering and changing our minds – waiting for another sign; after all, we don’t need a lifeboat right now. So, we wait to see what He is going to do for us, or do for us next, to determine to what degree we will acknowledge Him this week.
Yet, the woman in scripture today knew Jesus was the lifeboat. She didn’t ask for a sign — she fell at His feet. When was the last time you fell at His feet? That is the physical position that shows humility and reverence. The physical position that acknowledges the King in front of you. That is a physical position that the modern world rolls its eyes at, isn’t it? And yet, at a point in the future, a day will come when — like the woman at the table today — every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The woman at the table in today’s scripture knew that Jesus was the lifeboat. What must we change in our life so that we will change our day, so that we are falling at His feet – so that we are acknowledging Him as KING of our life in our words and actions? So that we are clinging ONLY TO HIM, our lifeboat? You can only swim so long, and then, without THE lifeboat, you will sink. The lifeboat – it’s always within reach.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gina Ulicny)
Prayer: Father God of all, how we praise You and Your Holy Name. May we share your Holy Name today, and every day.
Thanksgiving: Lord, thank you for the lifeboat of your Son.
OXYGEN 
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