Written by Barb Spies, OFS, Director of Mission Services and Pastoral Care
What have you read today? A newspaper? A letter from a friend? An E-mail? A novel? A biography? A Lenten reflection? Reading is a beautiful gift. We expand our horizons, learn about the world, keep up with people we care about, and understand our faith better. Pope Francis wrote an entire letter on “The Role of Literature in Formation.” He said, “Time spent reading may well open up new interior spaces that help us to avoid becoming trapped by a few obsessive thoughts that can stand in the way of our personal growth,” He’s not talking about the kind of reading that only builds the walls of an echo chamber. He’s looking at how we grow in our understanding of God’s people by learning about cultures other than our own and experiences beyond our reach. When we read the literature of the world we become “more sensitive to the full humanity of the Lord Jesus, in which his divinity is wholly present.”
When the Felician Sisters first arrived in North America, those five women brought books with them in Polish. They were coming to serve the Polish immigrant community in Polonia. Teaching the children was a key aspect of their ministry. Unfortunately, not long after their arrival, the building in which they had all the books burned down. It turned out that there were people in the community who were not pleased with the immigrants and had begun the fire with arson. Their struggles simply to enable children to read speaks volumes about the struggles of immigrant children here today as well.
The Sisters persevered. From the Chronicles of the Felician Sisters in American Polonia by Mother Mary Monica: “It was almost five years since the congregation came to America and no one either imported or printed Polish intermediate readers for the Polish schools. Having their own schools, the congregation felt a great need for such books. The superior compiled a manuscript and turned to Polish printers in Chicago to publish it. They refused to undertake this work, and the congregation was faced for the fifth year with a lack of Polish intermediate readers. It was then that Father Dabrowski made a whole outlay for a printery and other necessary apparatus. He taught the sisters how to set type and to print. The sisters began this work so zealously that in their spare time outside of studies and spiritual exercises, they completed printing the books in three months. They now faced the problem of how to bind the books. Again, Father Dabrowski bought a cutter, taught the sisters bookbinding so that in a few weeks a few hundred copies of the book were bound.” What amazing dedication! Let us also persevere in our service to others. And let us read to expand our minds in knowledge of God and God’s people.
Blessed Angela: “Desire more and more to grow in the love of God.”