Dear Friends,
One of the more amusing passages from the New Testament is in the twelfth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
King Herod was persecuting Christians and had Peter put in prison. The night before his trial, God sends an angel
to free Peter. He was sleeping between two soldiers and other guards were outside the cell. He was also chained.
The chains fell from his wrists and the angel told him to get dressed and follow him. Peter initially thought it was a
dream until he passed through all the guards and out the front gate of the prison. When Peter realized that he
was free he scurried to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where a group of Christians had gathered in
prayer. There he pounds on the outer courtyard door until a maid by the name of Rhoda came to answer. She
does not open the door but speaks to Peter through the door and recognizes his voice. She can hardly believe
what she is hearing. Instead of opening the door, she runs back to tell the others, leaving Peter standing outside.
When she tells the others, they think she is out of her mind because Peter is in prison. She insists and they decide
the visitor might be Peter’s angel. Peter, meanwhile, being his impetuous self, continues to pound on the door.
The men finally come and look out the door. They let him in with great rejoicing but Peter motions to them to be
quiet and tells them what had happened. Since they had made such a ruckus, Peter decides to go and stay
somewhere else to avoid being arrested again. It is easy to imagine the scene and Peter’s wonderment
throughout.
Early Christians gathered in homes to worship, like the one Peter went to that night. One had to knock and be
recognized as a fellow Christian to be allowed inside. It took many centuries before Christians could worship
openly and freely. When we gather at Cabrini we no longer have to knock on the door to receive permission to
enter. We do not have to worry about being arrested because of what we believe. Hopefully, you know that
Cabrini is your home. You belong to the family of God. You enter Cabrini freely as you come and spend time with
God and with the family of fellow believers. People have prayed within these walls for one hundred and fifteen
years.
We do not live in a country where we have to fear being arrested like Peter for simply confessing that Jesus is
Lord. However, we may have to endure ridicule and exclusion for being Catholic. You do not have to look far on
social media to find a comedian ridiculing our practices and beliefs. This is one of the reasons we need a
supportive community to help us on our faith journey.
One of the charisms of the Cabrini community is our wonderful sense of hospitality. I watch it Sunday after
Sunday. While respecting others who are praying, you readily offer a quiet greeting, a handshake, a nod, a smile,
an embrace or a kiss. You make others feel like family whether it is the first time they have visited or if they have
been coming for years. Here we are all brothers and sisters, children of the one God. No one is ever a complete
stranger. If you did not have a chance to meet the newcomer on the way into church, many of you seek them out
after the Mass has ended.
Years ago, Malcolm Muggeridge, a British journalist wrote one of the first books about Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
The book was entitled Something Beautiful for God. Mother had described her ministry as an attempt to “do
something beautiful for God.” And she succeeded. By being responsive to God’s grace and love and by reflecting
that love back to others, Mother Teresa became one of the most beautiful people in the world. She knew the
truth that she was the place where God dwelt.
That is the ministry of each one of us as we welcome people to our family at Frances Cabrini, to reflect the love of
God to them, to let them know they are loved, to be something beautiful for God.
Peace,
Fr. Damian