13 November 2020
Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin
There is much talk today about leadership but it is always good to clear the air now and then and identify leaders in the church who got the job done and do not get the respect and attention they deserve. Francis Cabrini (1850-1917) certainly would not make the first cut for what is considered a leader by today’s standards. Slightly anemic, very pious, and from a poor background, she hardly would be the image of leadership we see today. Francis Cabrini wanted to work in the China missions but Pope Leo XIII recommended that she transfer her missionary fervor from the East to assisting poor Italian immigrants in the New World. Her story astounds. Hospitals, orphanages, and schools all were founded under her inspiration. Her care for the poor rested on the single inspiration in that all persons, particularly the poor, were images of God, saved by Jesus Christ and therefore worthy of all respect and care. Francis Cabrini’s understanding of the human person, particularly the poor immigrant, stood in stark contrast to the contemporary message of eugenic and racial theory that circulated among America’s elite universities. The church has recognized her as the patron saint of immigrants, and all of us can look to her as a model showing that direction and desire can be just as important a means for change as resources.