Solemnity of St. Gertrude
“School Dazed” Fr. Cekada on some recent controversies
Bishop’s Corner
Blessed St. Gertrude’s Day, and happy anniversary. Today we keep the solemn, public feast of our patroness with great thanksgiving, and yes… thanksgiving! It is easier to say thank you when covered with compliments and comfort, as we have so often been. But the bitter gifts are best, God sends them too! Still, He always encloses a “sweetness conversion kit” with each cross. Those who stand on the side of Christ Crucified by the God Who is love can never lose, but the victory begins with a “gratitude attitude.”
I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving. But for it to be so, say thanks for everything. Don’t divide your life between “delete” and Deo Gratias. Start by saying thanks for that humiliating scene, that troubling personality, that persistent pain. These, too, come from the hands of an All Provident God, and are “thanksworthy in Christ Jesus Our Lord.” As you can imagine, we at St. Gertrude the Great have an awful lot to be thankful for.
Use your imagination and memory in quiet prayer. Bring the good and the bad back before God, offer it upon the paten, make it part of your Holy Eucharist or Sacred Thanksgiving. God means that you should have peace in your souls and in your life! But peace comes through prayer, the prayer which lets us say “thank you” to God for everything.
Remember the old days, when we were taught to say thank you when Sister corrected us in school? Imagine if even grown ups practiced that! What humility, what honesty would reign, what peace! Well, you could try it in your life. What a difference one thank you can make! I’m grateful for all of our St. Gertrude the Great faithful, those who still are, and those who are not, and those who are struggling or suffering. I’m especially grateful for those who have stepped forward to help us keep this great church going, and those who have never stopped doing so, and those who have dropped us like the proverbial hot potato. I love you all in Our Lord’s Sacred Heart, and place you daily in Mary’s heart for safe keeping.
May their Heart keep yours thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!
–Bishop Dolan