Feast of the Canonisation of Saint Julie Billiart
Matthew 5:1-12a
Feast Day Gospel Reflections by Sister Magdalen Lawler

For many years in my youth, St Julie Billiart was known as Blessed Julie. It was how I came to know her in my Notre Dame secondary school, long before I went to College and before I joined the Sisters of Notre Dame.

Today we thank God for confirming Julie’s blessedness in the eyes of all believers by declaring her a saint of the Church. In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus bestowing his blessing in a special way on an astonishing group of people, who reverse the world’s usual values. The group includes the poor, the grieving, the gentle, the pure; those who continue to strive for justice and those who are persecuted for what they believe. Many women and men come to mind as we hear those words; not all of them are formally declared saints and we may recognise some of them as belonging to members of our own families. Today, however, we focus on how Julie lived out these qualities in such a way that she is considered to be heroic in her efforts to put them into effect; in fact, truly blessed.

Like Moses, in the Hebrew scripture, Jesus ascends a mountain to give us a new law; one of love; a law that turns conventions upside down. Like his mother in her Magnificat song, those whom he blesses are not the ones that the world recognises. Jesus passes on a solemn wisdom to his followers; we are told that he is seated like a teaching rabbi, and that his disciples are at his feet, attending to his word. Julie’s life indicates that she heard Jesus’ words in her heart; sat at his feet like Mary of Bethany, one of his women-disciples, and that she lived his teaching to the best of her ability. If we could hear her, too, she would be urging us to sit with Jesus on that mountainside and hear those same words in our own hearts and for our own times.

Julie was born in 1751 to a large rural family in N W France but only two of her siblings survived into adulthood. Poverty and grief were common experiences for the poor, as they are today. She became paralysed in her early twenties and was severely disabled. By the time she was thirty she was living in a country torn apart by revolution and civil disturbance. During this time, Julie was also persecuted for her religious beliefs. As a mature woman, she was cured of her paralysis and Julie set about gathering a new a group of religious women who would teach the values of the Beatitudes in the towns and countryside and, later, in their schools and colleges. Through her heroic initiative, Sisters of Notre Dame continue her work of interpreting the Beatitudes for our times, working with women and men to bring justice and peace to our world, by engaging in her mission in many new ways.

Julie died on 8th April 1816. Her last words were those of Mary in the song of the Magnificat, ‘My soul and my spirit proclaim the greatness of the Lord.’ Julie was declared a Saint of the Church on June 22nd 1969.

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:
“How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage.
Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted
Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied.
Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.
Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.
Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.
Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

            This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

Sister Magdalen Lawler

Sister Magdalen Lawler was born in London of Irish immigrant parents in early 1940 during the intensive BLITZ of London before the air defences were in place. Her home was bombed and her father joined the RAF. Magdalen and her mother took refuge in the far north east of Scotland for the duration of the war and for a short time afterwards.

When she was 11 years old Magdalen went to school at Notre Dame, Battersea .On leaving school she attended Notre Dame College in Liverpool and she entered the Congregation shortly after leaving the College and just before her 21st birthday.

After profession she was sent to continue her studies and she specialised in Art and Art History, at Liverpool, acquiring a national BA degree in Art and Art history in 1967. Later, when Catholic theology became available for women, she returned to London University for a Master of Theology degree and a Diploma in Pastoral Theology from Heythrop, the Jesuit School of the University of London. In 1980 she trained in Ignatian Spirituality in St. Beuno's Ignatian Spirituality Centre, North Wales.

She has worked extensively in secondary and tertiary education as well as residential groups for young adults. Since 1980 this has been in tandem with retreat work for students and adults. Magdalen retired from formal education in 2000 and now works in pastoral formation and retreat work with various groups of adults, especially women. Her work takes her all over the UK and she has developed a great interest in the relationship between spirituality and the visual arts. She serves as Chair of the Catholic Network for Retreats and Spirituality and advises other bodies in ecumenical association with that network. This brings her into frequent working contact with Anglicans, and other denominations, such as Quakers and Methodists. Art is a wonderful way into the spirituality of others and frequently helps people to find a language for their experience.