ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, A CATHOLIC BISHOP WHO EXEMPLIFIED GOSPEL VALUES OF REFORM AND RENEWAL..........

Charles Borromeo was a sixteenth Church leader, who hailing from the infamous Borgia Family, and whose uncle was the Pope, could have had a very comfortable, carefree, existence secularly or sacredly.  However he dedicated himself to God and the Church and by age 22, was not only a priest and bishop, but a Cardinal, and the Vatican Secretary of State.  As a Bishop of the Church he participated in the counter Reformation Ecumenical Council of Trent, (1545-1563), and then returned to his Diocese of Milan, Italy to put the reforms and renewal of the Council into effect.  He was, and is, viewed by many to be a model bishop, admired for his leadership.  Among his contemporaries who saw him in that light, was the great St. Francis de Sales.  Following the Council of Trent back in Milan, he vecame a founder of seminary formation for the education of future priests; placed a strong emphasis on the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, (CCD); and convened several provincial councils, and diocesan synods.  St. Charles Borromeo is the Patron Saint of Catechists and Cathechumens, the former - those devoted to teaching the Catholic-Christian Faith; and the latter - those who inquire into our Catholic-Christian Faith and seek to be initiated into membership.  Having been born on his Feast Day, I also claim St. Charles Borromeo, as my patron saint.  What an outstanding historical role model as an ordained servant-leader of God's Church could I have ?  And so, on this my 54th Birthday as I pray through the intercession of St. Charles Borromeo, may God continue to grant me the courage and the wisdom, to serve with the zeal with which he served, and to lead with the conviction with which St. Charles enlightened the Chuerc - The Body of Christ..........Fr.  Troy