[Salvation]

April 6, 2005

Bishop James A. Healy

James Augustine Healy, the first black Catholic bishop in the United States, was born on this day in 1830, on a plantation near Macon, GA., the son of a mulatto slave and an Irish soldier. His parents believed in the value of education so James and his nine bro6hers and sisters attended school in the north, where they weren’t considered slaves. James attended a Quaker school on Long Island, and then was part of the first graduating class of Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA,

He entered the seminary in Montreal, and then went to the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris. In 1854, he was ordained at Notre Dame Cathedral.

For 21 years, Fr. Healy served in the Diocese of Boston. Then, in 1875, he was named bishop of a diocese which then consisted of the states of Maine and New Hampshire.

Bishop Healy died on Aug. 5, 1900. His grave is marked by a tall Celtic cross.

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Known for his work among the poor, Bishop Healy refused to live in the bishop’s mansion. Rather he lived at the cathedral.

[Salvation]

Wednesday, Second Week of Easter

He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to the, “What sort of things?”

Luke 24:17-19

Luke knows how to tell a story.

Jesus asks his question and the two disciples who were walking with him stop. Everything comes to a halt.

They are astounded and ask Jesus, “Are you the only one in town who doesn’t know what’s happened?”

How ironic. They are talking to the only one in town who really does know what’s happened.

It’s a great scene, perfect for meditation.

We can put ourselves in Cleopas’ shoes, summon all our frustrations, and say to the Lord:

Are you the only one who doesn’t know what I go through…how I really feel…what my days are like…the things I have to put up with?”

And the Lord asks me: “What sort of things?”

Take it from there.

Spend some quiet time with the Risen Lord.