Editor's Note: On April 20, 2023, Bishop Stephen Raica of Birmingham, Ala., celebrated a Solemn Mass for the 100th Anniversary of Mother Angelica in Rome. Please find the homily published here with permission. 

 

My sisters and brothers,

Welcome to Rome and Holy Spirit Church, Chiesa di Santo Spirito, in Sassia, on this magnificent occasion to recall with gratitude the life and mission of Mother Mary of the Annunciation, whom we know as Mother Angelica. 

I have to confess right away that other than by reputation, I never had the occasion to meet her personally. I have met so many who have been touched by her life and the ministry of the network she founded, many of whom encountered Christ and are Christian because of her life and witness. 

Assuredly, her life has been an inspiration to many and, dare I say, a challenge for some. We gather today to mark the centenary of her birth on April 20, 1923 in Canton, Ohio, to Italian immigrant parents. Her early life was not easy. Family life was difficult and painful at times. Nor did she have a conducive environment in the formative years of her life that we come to expect today for one to excel and succeed. She described her early life with her mother as a matter of mere survival — like “a pair of refugees” — from one crisis to the next. 

The brokenness she experienced, however, prepared her for a further grace — an encounter with the healing power of Christ. In spite of many setbacks, with family life, with school, with her health, she didn’t consider herself a victim, as broadly understood today, or a victim of circumstance but an instrument of God’s providence and a witness to God’s healing grace. For instance, “A stomach ailment that Rizzo had from 1939 continued to cause severe abdominal pain, despite the extensive medical treatment she received. Her mother took her to Rhoda Wise who was hailed as a mystic and stigmatic and ‘who claimed to receive visions of St Thérèse of Lisieux.’ Wise instructed Rizzo to pray a novena (a nine-day course of prayers) and made the girl promise that she would spread devotion to the saint if she was cured.”

“On January 17, 1943, following the novena's final day, Rizzo declared that she woke up with little pain and the abdominal lump causing it had vanished. This experience profoundly touched her; she believed that God had performed a miracle and she traced her lifelong commitment to God to this event.   She later told an interviewer ‘[at that point] I knew that God knew me and loved me and was interested in me. All I wanted to do after my healing was give myself to Jesus.’” [Excerpts from Wikipedia]

“God knew me and loved me and was interested in me.” … and “Give myself to Jesus” … those were her words. They describe the impact and the effects of an encounter with Christ, which was amplified by her love of the Eucharist, both at Mass and in adoration. The journey to truth, the journey to understand the deepest part of our selves begins with an encounter with the Mystery, i.e., with God — most often in an unexpected moment, when we least expect it. That event is similar to so many narrated in the Gospels, even more poignantly so during the Easter season. Encounters with Christ, the experience of healing and providence were road markers for her on her exceptional life journey. Most especially for the child Jesus — Santo Niño — the Divine child, who, for her, was love incarnate. She fostered devotion to the Divine Child. As a result, she shared her experience with all and for all as she promised she would. She could not remain silent in the midst of the greatest gift she came know in her life — Jesus Christ. She sought to proclaim it “from the rooftops”, through the airwaves, and through satellite to the entire world.

 Our readings touch on the amazing phenomenon illustrated by those same sentiments. In the Acts of the Apostles, you can see how unsettling the “Jesus” and even more so the “Risen Jesus” question became for the Sanhedrin, the high religious authorities, as they attempted to maintain good civil order. Quite obviously, it was neuralgic issue they wished they didn’t have to contend with at tried to suppress. Naturally, they thought that everything was returning to normal after His death on the cross and burial. So, the fact that his “disciples” were teaching in the public squares had to be dealt with. Thus, they were ordered to “stop teaching in that name.” The more they were told not to, the more compelled they felt. Not unlike what Mother was doing. Nothing could stop this dynamo of faith. Neither she nor the Apostles held back. The more they saw that God, or the experience of God, is removed from the civil discourse in society, the more they felt they had to find new ways to proclaim and teach in the “name of Jesus.” For the power was not in them personally, but in the saving name of Jesus, i.e., “one who saves.” “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth” we proclaimed a few moments ago in the Responsorial Psalm. 

Above all, the Apostles, were witnesses of what happened to Jesus. They could not deny the experience and willingly shared it with those who came to know them. In our episode in the Acts of the Apostles today, this included even preaching about that “name” to the court officials. About this passage, St. John Chrysostom comments: 

“God allowed the apostles to be brought to trial so that their adversaries might be instructed, if they so desired. […] The apostles are not irritated by the judges; they plead with them compassionately, with tears in their eyes, and their only aim is to free them from error and from divine wrath.” 

Only later, in tomorrow’s reading, do we learn that Peter’s preaching had some effect. One of them, Gamaliel, reasoned that if this truly is of God, they would not be able to stop it. If it is not, the movement would die out naturally. So, their preaching bore some initial fruit, and his analysis was correct. 

Her religious name, Sister Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, also provides another clue for our consideration. The angel comes with a message — a message of hope. Messaging is quite foundational as part of the angelic mission — we don’t have to go find God. No! God has come to us in a way we can see Him face to face and can understand. If we use the Incarnation as an explanation, we could say: God became man or “the Word became flesh.” That is, the Word didn’t merely become a nice idea. No! The Word became flesh! Salvation, the victory over sin and death won for us by Christ, needs to be trumpeted utilizing all the new means and methods available to us. The message of salvation offers us hope. 

Perhaps the question comes to mind when we hear about Christianity. The question is: “Is it possible to live this way?”, the way proposed by Christ? The Apostles, saints, and our tradition of over two thousand years suggest that it is indeed possible. Reading Mother Angelica’s biography, one can attest: “Yes, it’s possible!” It can be done and is done by countless new witnesses in their own life circumstance today. Their lives are lived worthily, lived in hope in the midst of adversity, and lived by deeds of mercy rather than criticism or skepticism, lives of steadfast certainty rather than constant victimization. The zealousness of the Apostles would not survive, if the saving event of Christ had not occurred, if his resurrection was a fiction, if he had not sent the Holy Spirt to be handed on from one generation to the next down to the present day. We are truly blessed to know about such witnesses and what they can teach us about keeping our eyes focused and fixed on Christ Himself. They wouldn’t be able to do so, if Christ were not the foundation and center of their lives.

My friends, on this centenary of Mother’s birth, during the season of the Easter Season, here in Rome, in the church under the patronage of the Holy Spirit, where the image of Divine Mercy is enshrined, we gather in grateful appreciation for this amazing religious woman who with the love of Christ in her heart, and intrepid apostolic zeal, sought to share the saving message of Christ to the world. As in the past, we commend her to God’s abiding mercy, and draw strength from her conviction, that we, too, can be bold witnesses for Christ. We must give our lives to Jesus and let ourselves be transformed by Him. 

Is it possible to live this way? It was for the Apostles on mission and the early church. It was for Mother Angelica. It is possible for us too! Again, we thank the Lord for this extraordinary gift of her life and commend her to the Lord’s merciful gaze. 

 May God bless you!

 

Bishop Steven J. Raica is the bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama.