FROM THE CARDINAL

SUMMER 2019

SUMMER IS HERE, A SEASON OF GLORIOUS GROWTH among God’s creations. All around us, seeds sown in good soil are producing one hundredfold and more. It is a vast miracle that we somehow take for granted.

When God calls us, and we answer, it’s impossible to anticipate how our mission will blossom and bear fruit. That’s what happens when a seed is sown in good soil: Day by day, year by year, for a lifetime and beyond, the harvest grows and multiplies.

Case in point: Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint. Archways is filled with the fruits of her life. We didn’t go looking for them – they are so numerous that we kept bumping into them!

In 1805, Seton – a 30-year-old widow and mother of five – converted to Catholicism at St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan. By the time of her death 16 years later, she had laid the foundations for Catholic education in America and founded one of the country’s most prolific religious orders, the Sisters of Charity. Her legacy is everywhere in the Archdiocese of New York: in Catholic schools and the thousands who were “educated by Charity”; in institutions that serve children in need; and in dozens of other agencies founded or sponsored by the sisters.

In Dutchess County, we discover the spirit of Mother Seton at Sisters Hill Farm ("Harvest of Faith,"),  founded to promote care for creation while fulfilling the Sisters of Charity mission to feed the needy. The farm, supported by the sisters and by community shareholders, provides food to dozens of needy families and also educates apprentice farmers who carry their knowledge of organic, sustainable, nonpolluting agriculture to other communities.

Elsewhere, we find the sisters providing housing for the homeless from Staten Island to Orange County; expert, loving care for medically complex children at Elizabeth Seton Children’s in Yonkers; and support for needy children and families in New York and Puerto Rico through the New York Foundling.

Finally, for our story on one-day pilgrimages, we visit the inspiring Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton at Our Lady of the Rosary in lower Manhattan. Pay a visit, say a prayer, and meditate on the still-multiplying harvest of charity that began when this American saint said yes to the Lord’s call.