Today, the Church celebrates the liturgical Memorial of Saint Robert Bellarmine (4 October 1542 - 17 September 1621), an Italian Jesuit Cardinal who was canonized in 1930 and named a Doctor of the Church - a title that has been awarded to only 36 of the saints.
Bellarmine was a professor of theology and later served as Rector of the Roman College. In 1602, he became Archbishop of Capua. He was a major figure in supporting the reform decrees of the Council of Trent, which dealt with many serious issues and calls for change which came about as a result of the Reformation. Along with others, he helped to re-orient the Church so that we could continue faithfully following in the footsteps of Jesus.
The gospel proposed for today's Mass places Jesus at the gates to the city of Nain, where he met a woman who was greatly distressed (Mt 7:21-29). Her world had been turned upside down when her only son had died. Without her even realizing it, Jesus re-oriented her by bringing her son - the one who would care for her and support her - back to life. We might even say that Jesus restored within her the gift of hope for a better future.
Like Jesus, like Robert Bellarmine, perhaps someone needs us today to help them, to re-orient them and to give them a reason to hope.
Have a great day.
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