Part 2: The Bishop, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Good ol' Father Kapaun

Last Friday, January 4th, was the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I was excited for school to end so I could go to Wichita for the 5:30 mass at St. Francis. I went with a past student of mine, so I was also excited to just celebrate mass with a fellow sister in Christ.

We got there kind of early and there seemed to be quite a few other people there too. Like more than usual. And then even more people showed up. It was almost like having a Sunday mass at Holy Name. Then they did the Entrance Antiphon and the priest's voice was a little different than normal, yet very familiar. The voice actually belonged to Bishop Jackels. What a pleasant surprise! No wonder there were so many people here. Anyway, I kept my cool and remained reverent and then got excited about it after mass. haha

Bishop Jackel's homily was short and sweet and worth repeating. He talked about how Wichita reporters that were covering Fr. Kapaun's canonization process where doing interviews on the East Coast. They found themselves in Emmitsburg, Maryland, which is where the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is built. They decided to stop in and visit. They then concluded if this lady could be a saint for what she did, SURELY Fr. Kapaun should have been a canonized a saint yesterday. I could relate....I even told you last post I wished I had picked a "cooler" saint. I'm glad I was wrong. :)

Then Bishop explained how that kind of comparison on what they both accomplished isn't really fair. We should instead focus on the why. Why did they do what they did? We should follow their example and strive to do the will of God- in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Whether it be a POW camp, or in a convent, or Ark City, America, or insert your place here. We should answer His call to be holy where we are and in the circumstances He has provided. Amen!

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton pray for us!