(50 for 50 series) The imagery of Mother Seton seems to follow him everywhere. That’s James Anderson’s take on his journey through life with the saint. From a book club to volunteer work at the Shrine to studying for the diaconate in New Jersey and all travels in between, he looks for and finds Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. He finds her so often and in so many places, he feels that she has chosen him.
“I am a male, but the saint who chose me is female. It all started with the Seton Shrine Book Club. I joined it and started to see things connect.”
Although he lives in New Jersey, Anderson has done and continues to do a lot of volunteer work at the Shrine. Last year he helped provide the music for the Seton Route as people processed through the streets of Emmitsburg as part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
He comes back to the Shrine as often as he can even though his days are now filled with his studies as one of 52 men who are candidates for the permanent diaconate in Bergenfield, NJ. The academic formation is provided by the Center for Diaconal Studies at Seton Hall University’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. Anderson points out that Seton Hall University was founded by James Roosevelt Bayley, the first Bishop of Newark, NJ, and a nephew of Elizabeth Ann Seton. He is buried in the cemetery at the Shrine. This is another tie that Anderson has to the Saint. “When I went to the Shrine during the National Eucharistic pilgrimage, I went to talk to Bishop Bayley in the cemetery,” he said.
Although he has now come to expect that he will see signs of Mother Seton periodically, he says he is always delighted when it happens. He told another story about an encounter. “Last year at Lent we went on a retreat with Fr. Luke Fletcher, chaplain at our Lady of Fatima Shrine. Fr. Luke said: ‘You must know Rob Judge, the executive director at the Seton Shrine.’ I laughed and said, are you kidding me!”
Anderson reflects upon Elizabeth Ann Seton’s influence in his life, her devotion to God, and how her life and legacy inspire him. He notes that upon receiving the Eucharist, Elizabeth Ann Seton said, “God is mine and I am his.” James has adopted these words as his personal motto.
50 for 50 is a series of stories, quotes, clips, photos, and/or devotional statements from ordinary people to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the canonization of Elizabeth Ann Seton as the first native-born American saint.