THE 31ST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE THE MEMORIAL OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO.............

As we stream into November, the last month of the 2012 Liturgical Year, it is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.  But where it not Sunday, when the liturgical  season takes precedence as the focus over most of the Sabbath days during the year; November 4th, is the sanctoral Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, the 16th Century Italian Catholic-Christian who was a Priest, Cardinal-Archbishop of Milan, and a leading light among Bishops during the Catholic Counter Reformation following the Council of Trent.  Born of noble heritage, the son of the Count of Arona, and his mother being a Medici, Carlo's uncle, his mother's brother was Pope Pius IV.  At age 12, another of his Borromeo uncles resigned an abbacy to him making him an Abbot of the Church.  Charles applied the monies he received from his position as Abbot to charity and helping the poor.  He studied civil and canon law and received a Doctorate in 1559.  The following year his uncle Angelo became Pope Pius IV and appointed him Protonotary Apostolic, the Secretary of State of the Vatican.  He was then elevated to being the Cardinal of Romagna, and a March of Arona, becoming the supervising authority over the Franciscan and Carmelite religious orders, and the Knights of Malta.  Also at the outset of his uncle's Papacy, he became the Archbishop of Milan and  was the one who negotiated the successful conclusion of the Council of Trent and the creation of the Tridentine Catechism.  In Milan he applied the reforms of the Council, establishing an academy of learned men, a college, and believing clergy ignorance to be a chief problem, founded seminaries for the education and formation of priests.  He also advanced catechises and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, CCD.  Some of his reforms were opposed and controversial, as was his support of the suppression of witchcraft and containment of the Protestant Reform in addressing what were considered heresies in Switzerland.  He also engendered opposition to his church reforms from civil Governor of the province of Milan, and from the Leadership of the Brothers of Humility religious order.  An assassination attempt was even made on his life in the Archbishop's chapel.  But Charles Borromeo also personally and pastorally assisted victims of bubonic plague, by visiting them, ministering to the sick, and burying the dead, while also punishing priests who were not carrying out their pastoral ministries.  The Legacy of ministry and reform Charles Borromeo carried out outstandingly outweigh the controversies his episcopal ministry and administration engendered and he is remembered and venerated accordingly.  I adopted him as my patron saint as an altar server, and chose the Confirmation name, Charles-Edward, in recognition of the admiration I have for him and for Monsignor Kavanagh.  Catholicism is better for the overall life and ministry of  St. Charles Borromeo, who as a reformer helped renew and invigorate the Church.  Catholic-Christianity in the World today would be well served by more ecclesiastical leaders like Carlo Borromeo, who despite the life of privilege he was born into, was not absorbed in self-interest; but put the common good of  God's People and the well being of the poor, the sick, the uneducated, on par with the prerogatives of the affluent and the powerful.  He was a faithful minister of the Gospel and Disciple of Jesus Christ.  St. Charles Borromeo Pray For Us, as we strive to emulate your reforming, renewing, and reinvigorating example............Fr.  Troy