CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The life of EWTN foundress Mother Angelica was a testament to St. Paul\u2019s teaching that \u201cGod chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,\u201d preached the celebrant of vespers at a prayer vigil offered for her repose.<\/p>\n\u201cHow we do need to interpret\u201d Mother Angelica\u2019s life, Fr. Anthony Mary, MFVA, preached, \u201cis if we\u2019re going to boast in anything, the boast of Mother Angelica was not herself. The boast of Mother Angelica was always Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fr. Anthony Mary preached at Thursday evening\u2019s solemn vespers for Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN and abbess emerita of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, as she lay in repose in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.\u00a0Mother Angelica passed away Easter Sunday, March 27.<\/p>\n
The vespers were followed by a prayer vigil for Mother Angelica celebrated by Bishop Robert Joseph Baker of Birmingham.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The reading for the vespers was 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, where St. Paul writes that \u201cGod chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no man might boast before God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mother Angelica lived this reading, Fr. Anthony Mary said, because she, like the Apostles, was \u201cweak\u201d and \u201clowly\u201d yet served God faithfully when chosen by Him. \u201cOur Lord didn\u2019t call the perfect\u201d to spread the Gospel, he noted, but men who were \u201cold\u201d and \u201cweak.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow deeply she loved them,\u201d he said of Mother Angelica and the Apostles, because \u201cshe rejoiced in the weakness of those men\u201d because they were like us, and not perfect.<\/p>\n
She came from a \u201chumble\u201d and \u201cchallenging background,\u201d Fr. Anthony Mary said, and then chose a \u201clife of humility\u201d by responding to her vocation as a cloistered nun. Mother Angelica also dealt with back pain and used crutches for years and had severe asthma. She suffered a stroke in 2001 that forced her off the air. After that she lived a \u201chidden life\u201d where she was \u201cfrail\u201d and \u201cweak,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPain is my constant companion,\u201d Fr. Anthony Mary quoted Mother Angelica, saying it was her \u201cconstant reminder\u201d of her \u201cunion with Our Suffering Lord.\u201d This helped her to be in tune with the promptings of the Holy Spirit, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her operation, EWTN, had a humble nature, he added. It started in a garage and the main campus in Irondale is still \u201cnot really anything much to look at,\u201d he said. It\u2019s \u201cnot CNN\u201d and \u201ccertainly not ESPN,\u201d he added to chuckles in the audience. Yet it \u201ccarries out the mission that Mother founded\u201d and has done great work, he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like the Apostles who were instructed by Christ in the Gospel to cast their nets over the side of the boat, the nets were tearing at the size of the catch, Fr. Anthony Mary said. It was Jesus and the Father Who did this, not the Apostles, he emphasized. They simply \u201cfollowed the command of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mother Angelica taught that when we preach the Gospel, \u201cwe have to cast the nets\u201d and respond to God\u2019s call, he explained. She lived this by obedience to God and trusting in His call, he said, and God produced the fruits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Preaching at the prayer vigil later on Thursday, Fr. Miguel Marie Soeherman, MFVA, admonished those in attendance to heed the words of Mother Angelica on death and judgment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDeath indeed is the reality that everyone will face,\u201d he said, noting that Mother called it \u201cthe beautiful moment of our life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be judged on love,\u201d he said, on the choices we made \u201cfor God or for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMake your choice now,\u201d he quoted Mother Angelica. \u201cWherever you land, wherever you go, it\u2019s forever. So make it a good destination.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Hanceville, Alabama, Mar 31, 2016 \/ 07:33 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The life of EWTN foundress Mother Angelica was a testament to St. Paul’s teaching that “God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,” preached the celebrant of ves…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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