Happy May everyone,

Spring is in the air! Have you notice all the beautiful flowers blooming everywhere... even along the freeways! I like Spring season a lot, it gives me a feeling of "renewal" - new beginning. The grass are greener, the flowers are more colorful than ever, the birds sing louder, the sky seems bluer and the air, a bit clearer as well. It’s the perfect month to celebrate life. It’s also a perfect month to honor our mothers - those who brought us into the world and through whom we receive our first breath of life! May 14 is Mother’s Day, which is also designated as the Jubilee Day for Mothers by U.S. Bishops. What are you going to do for your mom? Wait, before we celebrate with our moms, I think we should first show respect to The Mother of all mothers - The Blessed Virgin Mary. Since the day that Jesus (while on the cross) entrusted Mary & John to each other to become mother and son, the Blessed Virgin became the spiritual Mother of the Church (which includes all of us, Jesus’ followers), we in turn become her children. Since that time, Mother Mary has been caring and loving us as her own. She never ceases to pray and intercede for her children, especially in time of need. By the way, when was the last time you prayed to her or invoked her help? In this month of May, let’s get closer to Mother Mary. She has so much to offer! She can teach us how to love Jesus, how to obey God’s will, how to faithfully perform our duties and to pray. We can also ask her to teach us the best way to honor and appreciate our own mom? I know for sure that it would make Jesus very pleased if we love and honor His Mother because Jesus loves her dearly. The closer we are to Mother Mary, the better we’ll learn to love Jesus.

Speaking of loving Jesus, there is an article about Father Francis X. Seelos for you to read. He’s a man who showed his love for Jesus by being faithful to his daily duties. On April 9th, Fr. Seelos, was proclaimed "Blessed" by Pope John Paul II, whose 80th birthday we will celebrate on May 18. Sometimes we think that holiness is just too hard to achieve. Well, Fr. Seelos will show us how to be holy by just doing our daily duties with a humble and loving heart. We don’t have to do something extra-ordinary or fancy in order to be holy, we just need to put our heart into doing the things God calls us to do and remains steadfast to those duties. Like taking out the trash every night, finishing all assignments from school, be attentive to the needs of those around us,. whatever the duties may be.

I hope the spring air will refresh you and make your days brighter, happier and... free from allergies!!) For those who have final exams coming up, I pray that you’ll do well (get all A’s)... Hang in there, only a few more weeks to go before summer break begins.

Your friend,

BLESSED FRANCIS XAVIER SEELOS, C.Ss.R.

Francis Xavier Seelos was born on January 11, 1819 in Fussen, Bavaria, Germany. He was baptized on the same day in the parish church of St. Mang. Having expressed a desire for the priesthood since childhood, he entered the diocesan seminary in 1842 after having completed his studies in philosophy. Soon after meeting the missionaries of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded for the evangelization of the most abandoned, he decided to enter the congregation and to minister to the German speaking immigrants in the United States. He was accepted by the Congregation on November 22, 1848, and sailed the following year from Le Havre, France arriving in New York on April 20, 1843. On December 22, 1844, after having completed his novitiate and theological studies, Seelos was ordained a priest in the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

After being ordained, he worked for nine years in the parish of St. Philomena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first as assistant pastor with St. John Neumann, the superior of the Religious Community, and later as Superior himself and for the last three years as pastor. During this time, he was also the Redemptorist Novice Master. With Neumann he also dedicated himself to preaching missions. Regarding their relationship, Seelos said: "He has introduced me to the active life" and, "he has guided me as a spiritual director and confessor."

His availability and innate kindness in understanding and responding to the needs of the faithful, quickly made him well known as an expert confessor and spiritual director, so much so that people came to him even from neighboring towns. Faithful to the Redemptorist charism, he practiced a simple life style and a simple manner of expressing himself. The themes of his preaching, rich in biblical content, were always heard and understood even by the simplest people. A constant endeavor in his pastoral activity was instructing the little children in the faith. He not only favored this ministry, he held it as fundamental for the growth of the Christian community in the Parish. In 1854, he was transferred from Pittsburgh, to Baltimore, then Cumberland in 1857, and to Annapolis (1862), all the while engaged in Parish ministry and serving in the formation of future Redemptorists as Prefect of Students. Even in this post, he was true to his character remaining always the kind and happy pastor, always prudently attentive to the needs of his students and conscientious of their doctrinal formation. Above all, he strove to instill in these future Redemptorist missionaries the enthusiasm, the spirit of sacrifice and apostolic zeal for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people.

In 1860 he was proposed as a candidate for the office of Bishop of Pittsburgh. Having been excused from this responsibility by Pope Pius IX, from 1863 until 1866 he dedicated himself to the life of an itinerant missionary preaching in English and German in the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

After a brief period of parish ministry in Detroit, Michigan, he was assigned in 1866 to the Redemptoirst community in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here also, as pastor of the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption, he was known as a pastor who was joyously available to his faithful and singularly concerned for the poorest and the most abandoned. In God’s plan, however, his ministry in New Orleans was destined to be brief. In September, exhausted from visiting and caring for the victims of Yellow Fever, he contracted the dreaded disease. After several weeks of patiently enduring his illness, he passed on to eternal life on October 4, 1867, at the age of 48 years and 9 months.

His Holiness Pope John Paul II proclaimed Father Seelos Blessed in St. Peter’s Square on April 9th of the Solemn Jubilee Year 2000.

In the eyes of the secular world, Father Seelos’ life was of little consequence. In the ecclesiastical world, he held no place of eminence in the American Church. However, his legacy is more important than this because he touched many people in their struggle to live out their faith through trouble, difficulties, and temptations of this world.

As God calls each one of us, in every walk of life, to holiness, Father Seelos responded to this call by faithfully serving his Redemptorist confreres and the Church as a priest. He performed his duties and accepted his daily cross with humility and joy. His example clearly shows that holiness is attained not in doing what the world considers heroic but in being true to the responsibilities of one’s state in life as God ordains them. The life of this remarkable man proves beyond doubt that joy and holiness come to those who serve God and neighbors with a full and devoted heart.

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