A Special Memorial

Jean Fox

(1931–2004)

"No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends." — John 15:13

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Jean Fox, the Director General of Women of Madonna House, died suddenly at age 72. On Palm Sunday, just before the liturgy of Holy Week began, Jean had a massive stroke. She did not regain consciousness, and died the morning of April 6th, 2004.

Jean Fox was born October 30th, 1931, and took her First Promises as a member of Madonna House on March 25th, 1969. In December 1985, after the death of our foundress Catherine Doherty, Jean was elected and served as the first Director General of Women until her death.

 

In her last letter to the staff of Madonna House, dictated the night before she died, Jean wrote:

“Holy Week has finally arrived. For some this Lent has been long and arduous, for others, it has been like the snapping of a finger, quick and unsurprising. But Holy Week this year, will be different from other years, simply because almost everyone in Combermere has seen The Passion of the Christ during this Lent. The impact of that experience, for it’s hard to call it a movie, varies from person to person. As yet, I have not heard anyone say they found it dull or that it had no effect upon them. For most of us, it had an incredible interior and seemingly lasting influence on our mind and heart.

“So we know that the words we will hear this week, are going to boom and enter our consciousness in a very different fashion. The important thing is that our love of Jesus grow, that our closeness and savoring of the Word, will reach new heights, depths and nuances. And certainly we pray that the life-giving gift of the Eucharist will be enveloped in a way that will have lasting and permanent changes in our soul....

“If we do not learn to love one another, the globe will perish. If we do not learn how to take into our hearts the Jews, the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, the young, the old, people from different cultures and ways of life, we will perish. If we do not plunge ourselves into the Word of God and into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we will not be apostles for the coming days. We must be ready to die. We must be ready to lay our lives down for the sake of the Gospel. This globe has become very, very small. The human knowledge acquired, has reached an unprecedented point. Unfortunately, knowledge does not always bring wisdom and knowledge can destroy as well as give life. For this reason, we must safeguard the faith, safeguard the presence of Jesus in our midst, and especially pray for the priests.”

 

We'd like to take this opportunity to share with you a few quotations from Jean Fox's book, Inflamed by Love, published from her collected staff letters:

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Years ago, when I was a single woman living in New York , I cried out for the Lord to show me someone or something that I could give my life to, that would have authority over my life, that I could be obedient to. I found myself being obedient in hidden ways to my employer, to my roommates, to traffic lights. Surges of joy came to me when I gave that authority to Jesus Christ, when I obeyed him.

Spiritual rebellion is pervasive today. Most drivers accept the validity of and obey without question road rules that prevent accidents. They stop at red lights, because they know that if they don’t they could be killed. Why then is it so difficult to translate into the spiritual realm this simple approach to life and death?

Catherine was relentlessly obedient to her Lord, Jesus Christ. Not so much in her exterior conformity but always in her interior yielding. That was where she found her peace and love, the source of the great fruitfulness that we saw in her.

Jesus Christ is our living legitimate spiritual authority. Those persons who have authority over us are bound to be sinful, weak, and inept. But we obey them anyway and trust God to remedy any mistakes they make. When we obey them, we obey Jesus Christ through them, and life flows into us. In this way we strengthen our relationship with God.

O Lord,
What little I have to give you—
you who gave everything
so that I could know you
and love you
and serve you.
Please, take me into your heart
and consume me
with the fire of your love.
I accept both joy and pain
as my constant companions
until I see you face to face.

 

Whatever purification is needed for each of us, individually and as a family, is underway. Fear nothing. The power of God’s mercy will rush through your entire body, mind, heart, and soul with increasing vehemence in the days ahead. Expect miracles and new life, an increase of love and the fruit of the joy of the cross.

Now we must hold one another in prayer—and in our arms, if need be, so that the radiance of God’s love will shine through us in ways that we can hardly hope for or imagine. We need to take deeply and seriously our reality as Christians.

Jesus Christ encompasses all of us. He encompasses East and West, North and South. He is here for every person of every nationality and color, who is walking the face of the earth. We will be strained and purified in accepting others’ cultural backgrounds, in the days to come. No matter where we go, we will be, first and foremost, Christians believing in Jesus Christ and knowing that our Savior is not an ideology.

He is none other than God’s gift of his beloved Son.

For each of us, we know that the battle is in our own hearts. The wisdom given to us through Catherine is needed more now than ever. When my heart is purified, when I’m flooded with faith, then I can be sure that perfect love will cast out all fear. In the meantime, look at fear not as an enemy but as the gateway into perfect and eternal union with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

Go to Our Lady like a child and let her lead you today.

 

We use the word “Nazareth” over and over again. What does it mean in this period of the Church? It means beginning again. Our Lord is asking us to live the gospel life in a new way and yet in a very old way. All of us have lost the true light and direction that brings forth this new creation. We struggle with our wounds and sinfulness. Do not fear. Our Lord gave us to his Mother.

 

Your eyes and ears and heart must be recreated daily through repentance and conversion. Never think that you’ve arrived. Never think that the Lord is finished with you.

Until the whole earth is filled with the glory of God, we have to be available and compliant to his desire to reveal his glory, person to person, in unique and bold ways.

Never get stuck in a narrow vision. Keep your eyes wide open and learn from everyone. Every person who comes to you is a presence of God. Ask yourself, “What will this person teach me?” And not only, “What can I give?” but, “What can I receive?” As we give and receive, we will be enriched. Our cup will overflow, our hearts will expand, and love will grow.

 

If we are unified in love for one another, we can do anything. The scriptures tell us that ultimately it’s not our love for God, but God’s love for us that truly matters. Therefore to fully incarnate the gospel, we must totally surrender our hearts to him. Then we’ll have listening hearts, hearts at peace.

Teach us, your little ones,
always to reflect on
and recognize your presence in us.
Teach us to go quickly to you
in the Blessed Sacrament
and reconnect with you
when we’re unmoored.
Teach us to so realize
your coming into our bodies at Communion
that nothing
can deter us from our faith
and our belief that you live in us
at that moment and for all eternity.

 

It takes the fire of God. It takes the faith of the saints. It takes the all-consuming love of each one of us to bring to completion the great calling in life that has been given to us. We must move, for there is little time. We must keep our eyes on our destiny, which is sanctification, divinization, transformation. We must look at our God to know who we are as individuals. We must take the road of the gospel or we will perish.

 

Be bold! Have confidence! Stand rooted in our heritage. Safeguard it. Pass it on with generous hearts. The world is starving for life, love, and truth. We have these in our way of life, but our life will die if we do not pass them on. Let us run, not walk, into the third millennium, going deeper and higher into the gospel.

 

In this era of families torn asunder, of wars and rumours of wars, of people trembling with fear of bombs and planes falling from the sky, of worry over life-destroying micro organisms spreading through our water or air, it is a relief to be wrapped in the silence and presence of the Mother of God. She watches over her children as we falter or hesitate on our journey in staying faithful to her Son. She is eternally soothing us, holding us, and whispering words of consolation and tenderness into us.

Pause to contemplate and appreciate that it was the Mother of God who carried the Lord Jesus Christ in her womb for nine months. She was the first to have his physical presence inside of her body. What he gave to her none of us can begin to comprehend. But we who are the followers of Our Lady in this journey consume Christ daily in the Eucharist.

Ponder the Eucharist during these days. This is a time of waiting, of silence, of expectation, but Christ was enfolded not only in the womb of Our Lady 2,000 years ago, he is spiritually present in you. In faith, contemplate this gift. We must believe with a faith we have never seen before in the history of Christianity.

If we could see with our human eyes what happens at the moment of the consecration of ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we would fall flat on our faces with joy, adoration, and praise. Know that the Lord who was present in Our Lady’s womb is just as present in our bodies when we receive him in the Eucharist. After receiving the Eucharist, take a few minutes to allow him to consume every cell of your body, so that in the days ahead you no longer live but only he will live in you. The Eucharist is with us, God is with us.

As a page of history turns, we must live our days in this coming time ever mindful of who we carry, who humbly comes to us daily through the Eucharist. You, you, carry God. Where is the real action? Enter the depths of your heart— ponder God’s presence in you, and you will be at the heart of the greatest activity known to man. You will be in the heart of the Trinity.

Excerpted from Inflamed by Love, published by Madonna House Publications, 2002.

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Jean Fox

October 30, 1931 – April 6, 2004
Madonna House First Promises: March 25, 1969

“No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13