St. Gianna Beretta Molla MD

Mary Suffered Suspicions And Accusations

"The one who exemplifies for us the way of self-abandonment to God in every situation was not free from the prosaic situations in life, from the all-too-common suspicions and accusations. The difficult experiences did not diminish her faith. God led her through them in a way known only to Him. Moreover, she accepted every design of God."

(In the Arms of Mary, pg. 127)

http://www.stmichaelgodsknight.org/

St Gianna Beretta Molla MD

Feastday: April 28
Patron of mothers, physicians, and unborn children 
Birth: October 4, 1922
Death: April 28, 1962
Beatified By: April 24, 1994 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized By: May 16, 2004 by Pope John Paul II

St. Gianna Beretta Molla was an Italian pediatrician born in Magenta in the Kingdom of Italy on October 4, 1922. She was the tenth of thirteen children in her family.

At three-years-old, Gianna and her family moved to Bergamo, and she grew up in the Lombardy region of Italy.

As a young girl, Gianna openly accepted her faith and the Catholic-Christian education provided to her from her loving parents. She grew up viewing life as God's beautiful gift and found the greatest necessity and effectiveness in prayer.

In 1942, Gianna began her study of medicine in Milan. She was a diligent and hardworking student, both at the university and in her faith.

As a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Gianna applied her faith in an apostolic service for the elderly and needy.

She received degrees in both medicine and surgery from the University of Pavia in 1949, and in 1950 she opened a medical office in Mesero, near her hometown of Magenta.

In 1952, Gianna specialized in pediatrics at the University of Milan and from there on, she was especially drawn toward mothers, babies, the elderly and the poor.

Gianna considered the field of medicine to be her mission, and treated it as such. She increased her generous service to Catholic Action, a movement of lay Catholics dedicated to living and spreading the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in the broader culture. The Catholic Action movement is still at work today, throughout the world.

Gianna hoped to join her brother, a missionary priest in Brazil, where she intended to offer her medical expertise in gynecology to poor women.

However, her chronic ill health made this impractical, and she continued her practice in Italy.

She chose the vocation of marriage and considered this to be a gift from God. Gianna embraced this gift with all her being and completely dedicated herself to "forming a truly Christian family."

In December 1954, Gianna met Pietro Molla, an engineer who worked in her office. They were officially engaged the following April, and married in September 1955, making Gianna a happy wife.

Gianna wrote to Pietro, "Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of men and women."

In November 1956, Gianna became a mother to her first child, Pierluigi. Their second child, Maria Zita, in December 1957, and their third, Laura, in July 1959.

Gianna handled motherhood with grace and was able to harmonize all aspects of her demanding life.

In 1961, Gianna became pregnant with her fourth child. Toward the end of her second month of pregnancy, Gianna was struck with an unimaginable pain.

Her doctors discovered she had developed a fibroma in her uterus, meaning she was carrying both a baby and a tumor.

After examination, the doctors gave her three choices: an abortion, which would save her life and allow her to continue to have children, but take the life of the child she carried; a complete hysterectomy, which would preserve her life, but take the unborn child's life, and prevent further pregnancy; or removal of only the fibroma, with the potential of further complications, which could save the life of her baby.

Catholic teaching affirms what medical science, the Natural Law, the Bible and unbroken Christian tradition affirm, the child in the womb has a fundamental Human Right to Life. Wanting to preserve her child's life, Gianna opted for the removal of only the fibroma.

In fact, she was willing to give her own life to save the life of her child.

Gianna pleaded with the surgeons to save her child's life over her own. She sought comfort in her prayers and her living faith.

The child's life was saved, for which Gianna graciously thanked the Lord.

After the operation, complications continued throughout her pregnancy, but Gianna spent the remainder of her pregnancy with an unparalleled strength and insistent dedication for her tasks as a mother and a doctor.

A few days before the baby was to be born, Gianna prayed the Lord take any pain away from the child. She recognized she may lose her life during delivery, but she was ready.

Gianna was quite clear about her wishes, expressing to her family, "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child?I insist on it. Save the baby."

On April 21, 1962, Gianna Emanuela Molla successfully delivered by Caesarean section.

The doctors tried many different treatments and procedures to ensure both lives would be saved. However, on April 28, 1962, a week after the baby was born, Gianna passed away from septic peritonitis. She is buried in Mesero.

Gianna was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994, and officially canonized as a saint on May 16, 2004. Her husband and their children, including Gianna Emanuela, attended her canonization ceremony, making this the first time a husband witnessed his wife's canonization.

In 2003, mother-to-be Elizabeth Comparini experienced a tear in her placenta when she was 16-weeks pregnant. Her womb was drained of all amniotic fluid. She was told the chances of her baby's survival was little to none. Elizabeth is said to have prayed to Gianna Molla and asked for her intercession. Elizabeth was able to give birth to a healthy baby.

During Gianna's canonization ceremony, John Paul II described her as, "a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love."

St. Gianna is the inspiration behind the first pro-life Catholic healthcare center for women in New York, the Gianna Center.

St. Gianna Beretta Molla is the patron saint of mothers, physicians, and unborn children. Her feast day is celebrated on April 28.

Sanctification and Evangelization of Labor

The work of Jesus began during the wedding feast in Canna, when at the behest of His Blessed Mother He changed water into wine for the wedding guests.

Today’s Gospel marks the announcement of Jesus work and his embarking from his native land, for as we are told, a prophet is not welcomed in his own homeland.

We are also remined or work in both the Gospel the epistle and the homily. Work brings sanctity – separation. To work has its roots in the original sin of Adam and Eve and sets us apart as Christians and separates us from the world. When I say the world, I am not referring to the poor those who cannot or do not work, for their work, the poor, is to give us the opportunity to show compassion and gives our own work new meaning when we know the fruits of our labor are shared.

Jesus shared his labor and fruits first with the 12 and then all of those who followed him. They were hungry and He fed them they were sick and He healed them, they are many more ways for us to sanctify ourselves through work as described in the Christian way of life in Matt 25:31-46.

As the life of St. rose who’s feast we celebrate today we are reminded that our work encompassed in our respective vocations and jobs is that of sanctification and evangelization. We are separated from the wealthy, who do not work and the dignity of our labor whatever that may be is to be a lesson in evangelizing them.

St. Joseph was not known for being an owner but revered for being a worker. As men and women of God St. Joseph and Jesus our models of evangelization and sanctification through labor.

Copyright 2017 Fred Celio

Easter in Chatsworth 2017

"For they did not yet understand that scripture that He had to rise from the dead."  It is Easter Sunday -- Resurrection Day 2017. I waited around this house where i live in a communal living situation for a house meeting, instead of my usual Sunday of attending 8 AM Mass at St. Catherine of Sienna  parish in Reseda California, where i am Eucharistic minister at Mass and as a member of the legion of Mary to bring communion to one we tend to on Sundays.

The meeting never occurred. So I attended Mass at St. Mel's parish at 1:15. then I had my Easter meal of Pancakes, eggs, and bacon at a local Restaurant.
Before and after Mass I was in a heated text discussion with Eileen regarding politics, the intelligence community, and north Korea. She is afraid. We are on opposite sides of part of the discussion.
Jesus rose from the dead, and we celebrate that truth today. How is it possible that He a man could do this -- He is God. He is fully God and fully human. A mystery that is meditative to contemplate. What does it mean fully God and fully human -- not half and half not maturing into nirvana, but since birth fully God and fully human. contemplating such things frees me from the earthly the temporal and allows me to focus on things above. This is what we are extolled to do this day and all days as a Christian.
In addition to missing my commissioned usual Sunday calling, yesterday was a party at the house, after I returned from a reading service and the men's group at St. Mel's. At the party were to cakes in the shape of a penis. And I knew i could not live here anymore.
The phallus is a pagan symbol from Greek mythology. It is a symbol of fertility . Father forgive them they know not what  they do. I cannot be around such things, and yet this is Chatsworth famous for pornographic films.
I must keep my eyes focused above, my mind under the will of Christ.
Meekness comes to mind. Meekness is not timidity. Meekness has been discribed to me as like a horse who has been broken. All the strength and power remains it is just under the guidance and obedience to the rider. I choose to be meek under Jesus.
To whom shall we go Lord You have the words of eternal life.

It is the Mark of a True Christian to Love Our Enemies

What does it mean to hate the sin, but love the sinner. This is a hard teaching; who can understand it. Yet with God all things are possible.

As Catholics we are hated by all. Now where is this more evident than in the political realm.

Those on the left hate us, because we are pro-life, and although we do not condemn homosexuals, we are not ready to raise the practice of homosexuality to normalcy.

Those on the right hate us for the same reasons -- we are pro-life all of life. Certainly of the conceived, but also of those who are already born. They also hate us because although we do not sanction homosexual acts, we love the homosexual.

And we love the poor and the immigrant.

And how do we show our love, by standing up for them.

Many Catholics cannot stand up for the homosexual, lest we be seen as sanctioning their activity.  Yet, none of us are without sin, and none of us have actually witnessed their sin.

Is Caitlin Jenner a sinner? Sick? Misguided? Confused?

What is sin? For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent." CC 1857

Does the homosexual know he/she is committing sin? The abolitionist? The Catholic politician who supports choice? The Christian politician who opposes choice, and yet votes against supporting the born?

Who am I to say? Am I Jesus? Do I know, can I see a persons heart? Can I read their mind?

It is hard to love my enemies, and who are my enemies, save those who have sinned against me. But what of those who have not sinned against me personally, but whom I judge for having sinned against God. 

If I love people, I have no time to love them -- St. Theresa of Calcutta.

Who am I to judge? -- Pope Francis I

I consider myself to be a member of Democrats for Life of America http://www.democratsforlife.org/. I am pro-life for the whole life. 

To love my enemies, do I sit quietly while fellow Catholics vote for abortion and it's expansion, or, hold strong to the belief, one which I once held -- it is not up to me. for me now this view which once made so much sense and seemed perfectly right and justified seems so foreign. There is a child in the womb at conception, a child which is entitled to all the rights I have -- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The child in the womb's mother and father is also entitled to these rights, but our rule of law encompasses the idea that we are not entitled to excersize our rights at the expense of another's. Even in the womb the child is entitled to the same rights of the mother. who is the enemy in this situation, who is the enemy that I must love, in order to be a follower of Christ and have my soul saved for eternity.

Do I deny my love to the abortionist, to the parents of and aborted child. Do I deny my love to myself, for insisting that my then wife abort our child? Do I let myself off the hook, by holding fast to the lie that it was ultimately her choice? And how do I mend this sin? 

Ultimately do I deny my love to others, because they have sinned in the same way I have?

Do I deny my love to the self described homosexual, even though I have never witnessed their activity? To the poor? To the homeless? The convicted murderer, whether guilty or not? Do I deny my love to the child molester, because I was molested? I find justification for this in Mathew 18. Do I deny my love to those who insist on stopping abortion, but excersize no political responsibility for caring for the poor?

In the end to I justify my behavior, because of the sins of others, or will I be judged by my love even to those I feel enmity for? Or will I be judged by my love for them, my charity to them?

Is there evil int he world. Most assuredly there is. I publish a website http://www.stmichaelgodsknight.com, the basis of which is explaining my faith, but love triumphs over faith. For in the end in the final analysis, when I am judged by Jesus without a lawyer, will it be righteousness upon which i will be judged, or the extent of the love in my heart. There is evil in the world, Jesus testified to this when he saw Lucifer being cast from the sky. He and his follows roam the earth looking and tempting souls to be devoured. Will I be judged by righteousness, or the love in my heart?

Do I love that person in the oval office, with whom I disagree, and judge on a daily basis? How do I fight for righteousness and justice, with a heart containing only love? How do I follow Christ?

Is my heart sick, full of righteousness, justification, justice and judgement, so that the love is overshadowed.

Did I love even my own family, when I pursued employment and material success, rather than time with them? Did I spend my time disciplining and judging them and not loving them? Do I fool my self my justifying my duty to provide ahead of by love for them, confusing provision with love? Do I delude myself with the false justification that discipline is really a form of love?. 

As I approach cancer surgery, these are the questions I wrestle with, as wrestling with the devil until I tire and give in to love of all, including those who perpetrated me, in who's face I refuse to see Christ.

Will the man in the oval office allow my surgery? Does this uncertainty illicit love in my heart or bitterness and judgement? 

From the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta, I hear that there is not room in my heart for love and judgment. 

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

.  

http://www.fredcelio.com

http://stmichaelgodsknight.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-abused-childs-prayer.html

http://stmichaelgodsknight.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-daily-prayer-that-never-fails-and.html

Today's Mass Readings; Yesterday's News

Today's Mass Readings; Yesterday's News

Today we heard readings about humility and relying on God for our needs, as well as, the Gospel message from the sermon on the mount. Being meek and poor in spirit we align ourselves under Jesus. In our own country, we saw just yesterday the meek and the humble in the form of refugees, held back from safety, by the cruelty of the powerful and prideful. this action not only reflects the theme of today’s readings but also the power of God to stand for the humble, and humble the prideful, as the order to ban refugees was struck down. The Pope has spoken on the relationship between Christianity and support for those fleeing oppression.

Pope Francis: You can’t defend Christianity by being ‘against refugees and other religions’

Today we heard readings about humility and relying on God for our needs, as well as, the Gospel message from the sermon on the mount. Being meek and poor in spirit we align ourselves under Jesus. In our own country, we saw just yesterday the meek and the humble in the form of refugees, held back from safety, by the cruelty of the powerful and prideful. this action not only reflects the theme of today’s readings but also the power of God to stand for the humble, and humble the prideful, as the order to ban refugees was struck down. The Pope has spoken on the relationship between Christianity and support for those fleeing oppression.

http://www.stmichaelgodsknight.com/

http://www.fredcelio.com

Genuine Humanity

John 3:8New International Version (NIV)

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Question

I just get up in the morning and take it from there. Im usually quite happy as long as im not hormonal or anxious. Its unrealistic to think you can be blissful all the time. Thats just daft. But there are programs and some kinds of new age beliefs systems that promise this kind of stuff. Well it works well if thats your belief system and things are going good in your life but when life takes a turn these kinds of belief systems are disastrous because the person blames themselves.

Response

I understand what you are saying and can empathize, although I always awaken with anxiety, even when things are going well, this is a product of my abuse/trauma experiences, which occurred at night and left me with no memory but the anxiety I the morning. I think that anxiety is an indicator of repression as is depression. I think though to be an authentic human being I must experience all emotions as the occur. I do not believe in negative emotions putting a value judgement on an emotion to me is like comparing a healthy redwood with a healthy eucalyptus. One may prefer one to the other; this preference may even change on different days , but the fact is they are and the can be appreciated. With emotions this is this time taken to appreciate the existence of a tree is called processing. While admiring a tree may be a luxury for some, processing emotions is a necessity of genuine humanity. Watching the waves of the sea is the best analogy I have found for describing the play of emotions within a human being. They are many and different and ebb and flow as they well they crest and valley as they will. To not notice this sea of emotions within us and react appropriately is to not be fully human. I think the goal of must new age religions, and I have found them to be mostly variations of Hinduism invite us to sea the ocean while ignoring the waves. Additionally, this is onr of the fundamental flaws of cognitive psychology v. constructivism. Pax Christi

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Page 72 Chapter 12 section one  from the handbook Legio Mariae
THE EXTERNAL AIMS OF THE
LEGION
1. THE ACTUAL WORK IN HANDS
The Legion aims not at the doing of any particular work,
but has as a primary object the making of its members holy.
For the attainment of this it relies, in the first place, upon its
members’ attendance at its various meetings, into which
prayer and devotion are so wound and woven as to give their
complexion to all the proceedings. But then the Legion seeks
to develop that holiness in a specific way, to give it the
character of apostleship, to heat it white hot so that it must
diffuse itself. This diffusion is not simply a utilisation of
developed force, but (by a sort of reaction) is a necessary part
of the development of that force. For the apostolic spirit is
best developed by the apostolate. Therefore, the Legion also
imposes on each member, as an essential obligation, the
weekly performance of some active work prescribed by the
praesidium. The work proceeds from the meeting as an act of
obedience to it, and, subject to the exceptions later indicated,
the praesidium can approve of any active work as satisfying
the member’s weekly obligation. In practice, however, the
Legion outlook would require the directing of the workobligation
towards actual needs, and among the latter,
towards the gravest. For that intensity of zeal which the
72 SCHEME OF THE LEGION CHAPTER 11
Legion strives to generate in its members requires a worthy
objective. Trivial work will react unfavourably upon it, so that
hearts that were ready to spend themselves for souls, and to
return love for the Christ-Love, and effort and sacrifice for his
labours and death, end by settling down to pettiness and
lukewarmness.
“Not so easily was I remade as made. He spoke and all things were
made. But while he made me simply and at once by a word, he has in
the remaking of me said many words, and worked wonders and suffered much." Saint Bernard

 Allocutio
The primary object of the legion is making the members Holy. For me this accrues from the love we put into the very basics of attending the meetings and performing assignments.  

The Catholic Church is my home. The other homes I have are subordinate to the parish and the presidium and other parishes. 

The Catholic Church is also the mystical body of Christ, and as such I have a part. The legion is a part of the mystical body and keeps my connected.  I believe, and I believe it has been said in the handbook that we are the heart that draws souls to Christ through Mary.  So as legionaries we are the heart of the mystical body.  

What does this mean?

We must meet, and through our work, blood is pumped through the rest of the body.
We are love in action.  This is no more evident than in our meetings and our home to home visitations.

I think it is important that all of our works for the legion be done as the heart, from love for this is Mary.  

St. John the Evangelist said that God is love. Mary after having been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and then receiving God in her body and carrying Him,  as shelter, as mother is the epitome of love. The love that as blood flows from the heart. 

For me this is difficult to relate to personally. This love of mother and Son. For I never had a mother's love, until Mary. She is my mother.

I remember mentioning this to father Paul once, as we sat in the front pew before bible study,  how can Jesus take my pain and experience with him, to the cross.   In his humanity He had a family of perfection not of abuse. He, Jesus, does not, in his humanity, have my experience. He had a perfect family. Mine was abusive -- sexually, physically, emotionally, and through neglect. He was loved. Those people had me for a different reason. Father Paul sat quietly and listened. 

I came to the conclusion though that in His divinity Christ took all my pain as well. 

As with Christ even our works must been done from the heart with love, even as Christ showed love from the cross. 

The presidium is the heart of the parish. Our deeds are the acts of love from Mary to the parish. This deeds we do are the flow of the heart of the mystical body of Christ where Mary resides.  . 

The deeds of the legion are the love of Mary from the heart of the mystical body as the life blood of that body.  

Something I learned this week that I wanted to share. It is a message of being prepared. As a mother as my true mother I am always prepared for her. She is always there. There is not much I have to do to prepare for her at the weekly presidium meeting. Do the readings and the assignment and show up. I would like to be punctual and yet I am not always. As my mother she knows this about me. I would like to be at every meeting and yet I am not always able. . As she pointed out to me at Mass this week, she is always there. The responsibilities of the world, and I am a human being living in the world even though I am not of the world, often times demand preparation. 

A few weeks ago, I was preparing for a job interview, and I debated whether or not I should be excused from the presidium meeting.  I decided it was more important to go. This while not a mistake most likely caused me to lose that opportunity. I would have been better prepared had I stayed and prepared for the interview.  Neither choice was wrong. But the guilt that drove me to the presidium meeting was. As she said to me at Mass when I questioned her about this very simply, I am always here for you, the opportunities in the world come and go. The world's opportunities open and shut. What she said was that she was always there and waiting as a mother and there is no need to guilt myself into a meeting or a deed, for that is duty not love. That is from criticism for which there is no room in the heart of the mystical body.  Deeds are done from love not of duty or fear or guilt. 

Mary as Jesus and the Holy Spirit and Our Father are always there always with me. My Holy family my real family Jesus Mary and Joseph are always there for me. I do not need to guilt myself for their love. They love me. I can take time and prepare for an opportunity the world has to offer for me to use my talents in union with Mary.  She and the Holy Family are with me and love me whether I am at the meeting weekly or preparing for an opportunity the world has to offer.

I am a lay person consecrated to Mary since 2008 I remember when Father Paul signed my book indicating I had complete the consecration work of St. Louis de Montfort. As a lay person she is with me in everyday life and is a part of those opportunities and responsibilities of a lay person in the world. She was with me whether I stayed home form the presidium meeting or attended. The difference is motivated by guilt I was blessed by attending the presidium meeting but may have missed an important blessing of the lay life

The point is that she is always with me and for me wherever I am, and would have been just as satisfied had I stayed home and prepared for the interview. It was I who was judging myself.

I think there is a truth here that applies to our deeds of service for legion. That they be done from the heart and from love and not from a sense of duty or guilt if we do not do them. 

Mary is my mother, Jesus my Brother and my God, St. Joseph is my father they are my family and they are pleased to bless me with opportunity -- these are the deeds of  the legionary.