Villa Maria College

Here is our seventh reflection on what it means to be Franciscan:

Villa Maria College was founded by the Felician Sisters. We have adopted their core values as our own. They include respect for human dignity, compassion, transformation, solidarity with people in need and justice and peace. Each value relates to the life and teachings of Saint Francis. Francis’ literal and figurative embracing of the leper attests to his respect for human dignity. Unwilling to write a Rule of Life reflective of earlier cloistered traditions, Francis wanted his Friars to be among the people living lives of compassion and service. As Francis began to repair the dilapidated Church of San Damiano, as he believed that God had called him to do, he soon realized he had been chosen for a more essential role. The role of transforming the Universal Church to a more genuine and authentic living of the Gospel. Francis would repudiate his family’s material wealth by dramatically removing the fine clothes provided to him by his father, in part to show his solidarity with people in need. His willingness to engage the Muslim Sultan at the height of the Crusades showed his commitment to the promotion of justice and peace and cooperation among all peoples.

We have had to call upon these core values and our Franciscan heritage to deal with the trauma and shock of the recent mass shooting at a local market in Buffalo, N.Y. not far from our campus, which has directly affected our students and staff. We have the largest population of African-American students than other private colleges in our region. Our reaction can best be summarized by our college president, Dr. Matthew Giordano, who released a statement that said in part, “It is our responsibility to lead. It is our responsibility to actively fight racism, hatred, and violence and to improve the communities that have been most affected by these scourges. It is our responsibility to dispel baseless and dangerous conspiracy theories, to counter disinformation with real education. It is our responsibility to foster dialogue and communication.”

Thank you to those at Villa Maria College who wrote this reflection! Have no fear - we'll continue over the weekend! Pace e bene!