While Fr. Pawel was in the Holy Land in 2018, 2 beautiful pieces of art work called out to him while shopping in The Good Shephard Christian Store. These beautiful hand made icons are the work of one of the small Christian Communities still living in the Holy Land. By creating these and many other religious items, they make their living. Did you know there are only 2% of Christians live in the land that our Lord walked!!
The Mystical Supper' is the translation of the Greek words on top of the painting. Greek had been the language of international communication and education for centuries before and after Jesus in southern Europe and the Middle East. That is why it also became the primary language of the Church in that region. In Greek are also the abbreviations above Jesus’ head. “IC” stands for ‘Jesus’ and “XP” for ‘Christ’. The Greek words in Jesus’ halo are Greek translation of the Hebrew “Yahweh”. In English the name is rendered as “I am who I am”.
What can we see?
All Christians will immediately recognize Jesus in the middle. Most will guess that the others are the 12 Apostles. Even with no knowledge of Greek, we will assume it may be the Last Supper.
What may we overlook?
The circle
If we go back to 1 Cor 12 about the Church as the Body of Christ, we will remember that the Bible views each one of us as equally important within our communities. It is in a circle and not in a pyramid how God sees us in relation to one another.
Jesus as the Head
Jesus is painted bigger than his companions. In arts, it is called “inverted perspective”: the persons in front are smaller than Jesus farther back. Our church communities are not democracies of pals but brothers and sisters around Jesus as the source of wisdom and power and unity.
The bread
Yes, yes, we know: the bread. But we sometimes forget what it means.
We are capable of joining a Christian community only if we learn to receive – to be fed – by God.
We are capable of finding peace only if we learn to be as simple as the Bread.
We are capable of finding our mission only if we learn to become like the Bread.
We are capable of enjoying our communities only if we learn that everyone has a place and an assignment; that everyone else is different than ourselves but that is exactly as it should be.
The light
In their artwork, Western painters cast light at Jesus from some angle. Typically for the Eastern tradition icons, Jesus is the source of light in the painting. We can see that in our icon as well. Behind Jesus’s head, we can see the halo or nimbus – a symbol of the Sun as the source of light and life and power. Our communities can function only as long as He is our Teacher.
The festive decoration
Jesus never opposed fun or enjoyment of life. He opposed sin. It is Christian to celebrate, to enjoy, each other’s company, to enjoy beautiful objects. The Bible describes Heaven as celebration.
The wood board
This material as background for a painting of Jesus echoes the Good News of his words and actions: God is simple. Happiness is found by following Jesus in simplicity. Far from being disgusted by us, God reaches out from his holiness to us in our sinful reality. He is comfortable with us and around us. He is comfortable on a wood board.
Other persons
Personally, I can be sure about two of them. The young man leaning on Jesus is John the Gospel Writer. His deeper understanding of Jesus’ message – compared to the rest of the Apostles – is illustrated here by his physical closeness to Jesus. The older man on the other side of Jesus is Peter.
What can we see?
All Christians will immediately recognize Jesus in the middle. Most will guess that the others are the 12 Apostles. Even with no knowledge of Greek, we will assume it may be the Last Supper.
What may we overlook?
The circle
If we go back to 1 Cor 12 about the Church as the Body of Christ, we will remember that the Bible views each one of us as equally important within our communities. It is in a circle and not in a pyramid how God sees us in relation to one another.
Jesus as the Head
Jesus is painted bigger than his companions. In arts, it is called “inverted perspective”: the persons in front are smaller than Jesus farther back. Our church communities are not democracies of pals but brothers and sisters around Jesus as the source of wisdom and power and unity.
The bread
Yes, yes, we know: the bread. But we sometimes forget what it means.
We are capable of joining a Christian community only if we learn to receive – to be fed – by God.
We are capable of finding peace only if we learn to be as simple as the Bread.
We are capable of finding our mission only if we learn to become like the Bread.
We are capable of enjoying our communities only if we learn that everyone has a place and an assignment; that everyone else is different than ourselves but that is exactly as it should be.
The light
In their artwork, Western painters cast light at Jesus from some angle. Typically for the Eastern tradition icons, Jesus is the source of light in the painting. We can see that in our icon as well. Behind Jesus’s head, we can see the halo or nimbus – a symbol of the Sun as the source of light and life and power. Our communities can function only as long as He is our Teacher.
The festive decoration
Jesus never opposed fun or enjoyment of life. He opposed sin. It is Christian to celebrate, to enjoy, each other’s company, to enjoy beautiful objects. The Bible describes Heaven as celebration.
The wood board
This material as background for a painting of Jesus echoes the Good News of his words and actions: God is simple. Happiness is found by following Jesus in simplicity. Far from being disgusted by us, God reaches out from his holiness to us in our sinful reality. He is comfortable with us and around us. He is comfortable on a wood board.
Other persons
Personally, I can be sure about two of them. The young man leaning on Jesus is John the Gospel Writer. His deeper understanding of Jesus’ message – compared to the rest of the Apostles – is illustrated here by his physical closeness to Jesus. The older man on the other side of Jesus is Peter.
'The Holy Ones / The Saints' - That is the translation of the Greek words in the top left corner of the painting. In the right corner we see ‘Joseph’ in Greek. On the left we see the abbreviations for ‘Mother of God’, and - above Jesus’ head - “IC” and “XP” which stand respectively for ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christ. The Greek words in Jesus’ halo are Greek translation of the Hebrew “Yahweh”. In English the name is rendered as “I am who I am”.
What do you feel looking at this icon?
Have you noticed…
…the affection? Their heads and faces turned toward one another, their arms protecting each other.
…the unity in love? Expressed by their bodies forming together a bigger whole. Even the folds of their clothes align toward the center.
…the unity in diversity? Each having his/her own name as well as separately colored clothes.
…the wood board? Read more about it above.
Symbolism
Typically for the Eastern monastic icon tradition, Jesus put two of his fingers together. This gesture reminds us of his two natures: He is both 100% God and 100% human.
Typically for the Eastern monastic icon tradition, Mary wears a blue undergarment and a deep wine red overgarment. This symbolizes that she is human (blue) but received God-like holiness (red).
What do you feel looking at this icon?
Have you noticed…
…the affection? Their heads and faces turned toward one another, their arms protecting each other.
…the unity in love? Expressed by their bodies forming together a bigger whole. Even the folds of their clothes align toward the center.
…the unity in diversity? Each having his/her own name as well as separately colored clothes.
…the wood board? Read more about it above.
Symbolism
Typically for the Eastern monastic icon tradition, Jesus put two of his fingers together. This gesture reminds us of his two natures: He is both 100% God and 100% human.
Typically for the Eastern monastic icon tradition, Mary wears a blue undergarment and a deep wine red overgarment. This symbolizes that she is human (blue) but received God-like holiness (red).
St. Teresa of Calcutta
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
(1910 Skopje, Macedonia – 1997 Kolkata, India)
“I was hungry and you gave me to eat” Mt 25:35
Young Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu wants to teach poor children as a missionary in India. At the age of 18, she joins the Loreto Sisters in Ireland. She learns English there. A year later she boards a ship to India. The trip takes months. Once there, she starts learning how to be a nun and a teacher. She learns Bengali – the language of eastern India. As she becomes a nun, she takes the name of Teresa (after St. Therese of Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries). She also becomes a teacher, and later the principal of a school for rich Indian girls in Calcutta (today: Kolkata). Now people call her “Sister Teresa”.
Many saints lived their lives watching their dreams being shattered and yet staying faithful to God. Did Anjezë’s dream come true? In your life, do you follow God’s call?
World War Two brings famine and epidemics to India. Sister Teresa lives comfortably on the school premises. Her students come from rich families who can pay for food, good-quality buildings and nice gardens. One day Sister Teresa leaves the premises to take a trip. She is horrified to see filth and poverty everywhere. Very thin, hungry people steal food wherever they can. On the streets lie hundreds of people who are so sick of hunger and cannot walk any more. When she looks closer, she realizes many of the lying people are already dead. Flies swarm around the bodies. Rats scurry between them. No one cares. She hears God telling her to go and help the poor. Jesus’s words: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat” became her life’s motto.
What is your life’s motto?
Nobody supports her new idea. Even the bishop tells her to forget it. She is a white woman from Europe. There is no way she can just go and stay with poor Indians. People will reject her. She may get hurt. Sister Teresa insists and the bishop finally allows her. She gets training in medical assistance. She puts on a white sari with three blue stripes – a dress of poor women who sweep the streets. She moves into a small hut in the Kolkata’s slums. Using a stick on trodden ground, she teaches the neighborhood children reading and counting. Children flock to her “school”. Education means better jobs which means more money for their families. Soon enough a huge surprise happens – 12 of her former students from the rich school decide to leave their families and their comfortable lives behind and join her in the slums. The community of Missionaries of Charity is formed. Sister Teresa becomes Mother Teresa. The sisters decide to live for the poorest of the poor. In order to be witnesses of God’s love for the poor, they share their lives. Each sister owns three saris (one to wear, one to wash one to mend), a Bible, a notebook, a pencil, a plate and spoon, a pair of sandals.
Are you capable of saying no to one comfortable thing in your life for a week? E.g. no TV, no warm water, no iced drinks?
With growing numbers, sisters can extend their help to many people. They search for abandoned babies in trash cans and then look for families who would love to adopt a child. They provide simple medical services to the sick. They gather dying people from the streets and transfer them to homes where they can die in dignity. They set up centers for lepers where they can provide medical help and work for them.
You may not have God’s calling to help lepers or teach poor children. You may have a calling to reach out to people in need who may look “normal” and yet need you: your older aunt who lives alone, the neighbor across the street, a student in your school who gets teased. Very likely it is your little brother who needs your love and your time. Just tear your eyes away from the screen for 15 minutes.
Mother Teresa has many critics. They say she should get involved in politics to combat poverty. She answers: “You guys go ahead and sit in conferences that seem to go on for years. In some distant future, maybe you will solve the problems. In the meantime, I will respond to the needs that people have right now.” They say she should construct state-of-the-art hospitals with the generous donations that people give her. She answers: “Modern hospitals will turn us into administrators and businesswomen. We will no longer be in touch with the poorest and the neediest. You guys save your money and build hospitals yourselves. Manage them and do business. We will send to you our poor. In the meantime, I will stay with them and share their lives.”
When did you receive kindness from someone this week? Take a moment to thank God and to bless the person.
(1910 Skopje, Macedonia – 1997 Kolkata, India)
“I was hungry and you gave me to eat” Mt 25:35
Young Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu wants to teach poor children as a missionary in India. At the age of 18, she joins the Loreto Sisters in Ireland. She learns English there. A year later she boards a ship to India. The trip takes months. Once there, she starts learning how to be a nun and a teacher. She learns Bengali – the language of eastern India. As she becomes a nun, she takes the name of Teresa (after St. Therese of Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries). She also becomes a teacher, and later the principal of a school for rich Indian girls in Calcutta (today: Kolkata). Now people call her “Sister Teresa”.
Many saints lived their lives watching their dreams being shattered and yet staying faithful to God. Did Anjezë’s dream come true? In your life, do you follow God’s call?
World War Two brings famine and epidemics to India. Sister Teresa lives comfortably on the school premises. Her students come from rich families who can pay for food, good-quality buildings and nice gardens. One day Sister Teresa leaves the premises to take a trip. She is horrified to see filth and poverty everywhere. Very thin, hungry people steal food wherever they can. On the streets lie hundreds of people who are so sick of hunger and cannot walk any more. When she looks closer, she realizes many of the lying people are already dead. Flies swarm around the bodies. Rats scurry between them. No one cares. She hears God telling her to go and help the poor. Jesus’s words: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat” became her life’s motto.
What is your life’s motto?
Nobody supports her new idea. Even the bishop tells her to forget it. She is a white woman from Europe. There is no way she can just go and stay with poor Indians. People will reject her. She may get hurt. Sister Teresa insists and the bishop finally allows her. She gets training in medical assistance. She puts on a white sari with three blue stripes – a dress of poor women who sweep the streets. She moves into a small hut in the Kolkata’s slums. Using a stick on trodden ground, she teaches the neighborhood children reading and counting. Children flock to her “school”. Education means better jobs which means more money for their families. Soon enough a huge surprise happens – 12 of her former students from the rich school decide to leave their families and their comfortable lives behind and join her in the slums. The community of Missionaries of Charity is formed. Sister Teresa becomes Mother Teresa. The sisters decide to live for the poorest of the poor. In order to be witnesses of God’s love for the poor, they share their lives. Each sister owns three saris (one to wear, one to wash one to mend), a Bible, a notebook, a pencil, a plate and spoon, a pair of sandals.
Are you capable of saying no to one comfortable thing in your life for a week? E.g. no TV, no warm water, no iced drinks?
With growing numbers, sisters can extend their help to many people. They search for abandoned babies in trash cans and then look for families who would love to adopt a child. They provide simple medical services to the sick. They gather dying people from the streets and transfer them to homes where they can die in dignity. They set up centers for lepers where they can provide medical help and work for them.
You may not have God’s calling to help lepers or teach poor children. You may have a calling to reach out to people in need who may look “normal” and yet need you: your older aunt who lives alone, the neighbor across the street, a student in your school who gets teased. Very likely it is your little brother who needs your love and your time. Just tear your eyes away from the screen for 15 minutes.
Mother Teresa has many critics. They say she should get involved in politics to combat poverty. She answers: “You guys go ahead and sit in conferences that seem to go on for years. In some distant future, maybe you will solve the problems. In the meantime, I will respond to the needs that people have right now.” They say she should construct state-of-the-art hospitals with the generous donations that people give her. She answers: “Modern hospitals will turn us into administrators and businesswomen. We will no longer be in touch with the poorest and the neediest. You guys save your money and build hospitals yourselves. Manage them and do business. We will send to you our poor. In the meantime, I will stay with them and share their lives.”
When did you receive kindness from someone this week? Take a moment to thank God and to bless the person.
St. John Bosco
Be cheerful, do good, and let the sparrows chirp.
What do you think it means?
Giovanni Bosco lived in the 19th century. He was born into a very poor family in northern Italy. Giovanni craved to learn and this caused serious hostility from one of his older brothers. His life in the family home became so unbearable that he had to leave it at the age of 12. He found kind and supportive adults and, against all odds, finished his education all the way through college. He became a priest and started serving in different parishes. In his native Italian people addressed him as a priest: “Don Bosco” and this is how the rest of the world calls him today.
Whatever you accomplished in life, you could not have done it without support from kind people.
Who are they? Take a minute to bless them.
The 19th century in the Western world means wild industrialization with savage exploitation of workers. Time comp, unions, pensions, insurance etc., still belong to the realm of science fiction. Parents work from sunrise to sunset, public schooling is not available yet, so teenagers roam streets all day – looking for work or looking for trouble. Don Bosco starts to reach out to teenage boys around his parish. He plays soccer with them, tells them stories, and listens to them. They sing and laugh together. And… what do you know – his parishioners take offence. He is supposed to sit in church and pray. He is supposed to spend time with them – the adults. They start a slander campaign against him. Yet, some people admire his ministry. One family donates him a house where Don Bosco can move his ever-growing group of teens. Soon enough neighbors start a campaign against it – too much noise and too many scary kids around the neighborhood. The pattern of moving from house to house chased away by good people who hate the noise repeats itself a number of times. Finally, Don Bosco moves into a bigger house outside the city. By now, there are already a few hundred boys in his ministry. He teaches them the 3Rs and religion. He looks for work for them. He demands from employers to promise him not to beat the boys they take as workers.
Some of the boys steal from Don Bosco’s house, from his parishioners, or from their employers. Some start fights. Some are rude and demanding. Some priests portray Don Bosco to the bishop as a madman or as a heretic who takes kids out of churches. The bishop reprimands Don Bosco severely without bothering to investigate on site. Local politicians fear Communist revolution and suspect Don Bosco of political ambitions as a worker leader. There are a few assassination attempts on Don Bosco.
Which part of Don Bosco’s cuddly youth ministry would you consider as less nice?
If you lived in Turin at that time, would you support or oppose Don Bosco? Did you say: “Support”? Oh, come on. You are kidding yourself.
Finally, Don Bosco gets very sick. The stress takes its toll. He lands up in a hospital. The boys are very distressed but they are not allowed to come and see him. Hundreds of them stand on the street looking at his hospital window and wave. They organize themselves into orderly groups. They take turns in twos to come and visit him. The whole neighborhood – first terrified at the sight of hundreds of “hooligans” – comes to admire their discipline and love for Don Bosco. People discover how different these boys are from their countless unmannered and neglected peers around the city. Politicians who rack their brains how to address the teenage homelessness and vandalism in the city see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even anti-church decision-makers recognize value in Don Bosco’s work.
What does Jesus mean when he says: “By their fruit you will recognize them?” (Mt 7:16) What fruit did people in Turin notice?
What fruit can people notice in you? Do you know the fruits of the Spirit by heart? Google them.
How can we prevent burn-out in our ministries?
Don Bosco recovers. His mother moves from the countryside to his house in Turin. She cooks and cleans for him. Young adult men join him and become leaders of boys. Maria Mazzarello and a group of women start a ministry for girls. Married people support both ministries by becoming volunteers or even members of Don Bosco’s religious organization. Soon the groups develop into Salesian Fathers, Salesian Sisters, and Salesian Cooperators. The Queen of England hears of this successful way of addressing marauding teenagers in industrialized cities and sends her representatives to learn more. The king of Italy follows suit (and he should have been first to do it, right?). Soon Don Bosco receives wide support from people inside and outside the Church.
Today the Salesian Fathers is the biggest Catholic male religious order in the world. There are a number of female communities who serve young people following Don Bosco’s spirituality. Think of the millions of teenagers in many countries being helped by men and women who chose to give their lives for young people instead of pursuing their own careers, getting married, buying a nice house with a pool, etc.
What do you tell God after learning more about Don Bosco?
What do you think of Don Bosco’s advice to others:
“Be cheerful, do good, and let the sparrows chirp.”?
What do you think it means?
Giovanni Bosco lived in the 19th century. He was born into a very poor family in northern Italy. Giovanni craved to learn and this caused serious hostility from one of his older brothers. His life in the family home became so unbearable that he had to leave it at the age of 12. He found kind and supportive adults and, against all odds, finished his education all the way through college. He became a priest and started serving in different parishes. In his native Italian people addressed him as a priest: “Don Bosco” and this is how the rest of the world calls him today.
Whatever you accomplished in life, you could not have done it without support from kind people.
Who are they? Take a minute to bless them.
The 19th century in the Western world means wild industrialization with savage exploitation of workers. Time comp, unions, pensions, insurance etc., still belong to the realm of science fiction. Parents work from sunrise to sunset, public schooling is not available yet, so teenagers roam streets all day – looking for work or looking for trouble. Don Bosco starts to reach out to teenage boys around his parish. He plays soccer with them, tells them stories, and listens to them. They sing and laugh together. And… what do you know – his parishioners take offence. He is supposed to sit in church and pray. He is supposed to spend time with them – the adults. They start a slander campaign against him. Yet, some people admire his ministry. One family donates him a house where Don Bosco can move his ever-growing group of teens. Soon enough neighbors start a campaign against it – too much noise and too many scary kids around the neighborhood. The pattern of moving from house to house chased away by good people who hate the noise repeats itself a number of times. Finally, Don Bosco moves into a bigger house outside the city. By now, there are already a few hundred boys in his ministry. He teaches them the 3Rs and religion. He looks for work for them. He demands from employers to promise him not to beat the boys they take as workers.
Some of the boys steal from Don Bosco’s house, from his parishioners, or from their employers. Some start fights. Some are rude and demanding. Some priests portray Don Bosco to the bishop as a madman or as a heretic who takes kids out of churches. The bishop reprimands Don Bosco severely without bothering to investigate on site. Local politicians fear Communist revolution and suspect Don Bosco of political ambitions as a worker leader. There are a few assassination attempts on Don Bosco.
Which part of Don Bosco’s cuddly youth ministry would you consider as less nice?
If you lived in Turin at that time, would you support or oppose Don Bosco? Did you say: “Support”? Oh, come on. You are kidding yourself.
Finally, Don Bosco gets very sick. The stress takes its toll. He lands up in a hospital. The boys are very distressed but they are not allowed to come and see him. Hundreds of them stand on the street looking at his hospital window and wave. They organize themselves into orderly groups. They take turns in twos to come and visit him. The whole neighborhood – first terrified at the sight of hundreds of “hooligans” – comes to admire their discipline and love for Don Bosco. People discover how different these boys are from their countless unmannered and neglected peers around the city. Politicians who rack their brains how to address the teenage homelessness and vandalism in the city see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even anti-church decision-makers recognize value in Don Bosco’s work.
What does Jesus mean when he says: “By their fruit you will recognize them?” (Mt 7:16) What fruit did people in Turin notice?
What fruit can people notice in you? Do you know the fruits of the Spirit by heart? Google them.
How can we prevent burn-out in our ministries?
Don Bosco recovers. His mother moves from the countryside to his house in Turin. She cooks and cleans for him. Young adult men join him and become leaders of boys. Maria Mazzarello and a group of women start a ministry for girls. Married people support both ministries by becoming volunteers or even members of Don Bosco’s religious organization. Soon the groups develop into Salesian Fathers, Salesian Sisters, and Salesian Cooperators. The Queen of England hears of this successful way of addressing marauding teenagers in industrialized cities and sends her representatives to learn more. The king of Italy follows suit (and he should have been first to do it, right?). Soon Don Bosco receives wide support from people inside and outside the Church.
Today the Salesian Fathers is the biggest Catholic male religious order in the world. There are a number of female communities who serve young people following Don Bosco’s spirituality. Think of the millions of teenagers in many countries being helped by men and women who chose to give their lives for young people instead of pursuing their own careers, getting married, buying a nice house with a pool, etc.
What do you tell God after learning more about Don Bosco?
What do you think of Don Bosco’s advice to others:
“Be cheerful, do good, and let the sparrows chirp.”?
St. Martin de Porres
St. Martin de Porres (1579-1639) Lima, Peru
Love for others is more important than cleanliness.
St. Martin and his sister are children of a Spanish nobleman and an African slave. Spanish Catholics consider him less valuable as a person because of his color. Young Martin learns to be a barber and a medic (in Peru at that time it is one job). Instead of starting a family or pursuing a career, he wants to serve God with all his heart. He joins a community of Dominicans. As a mulatto, he can only be a humble servant there.
How can people claim to be Catholic and yet reject others based on their skin color? Could it be that you treat others unjustly for some reason?
Until about two hundred years ago, there were no medical facilities. There were no universities for doctors, nurses or paramedics. Sick people were taken care of in their homes by their families. Witch doctors or shamans were called to come and do their best. If their families would not do it, sick people stayed neglected in bed until they died. The Church was the first to organize care for the sick. In St. Martin’s times, it meant that religious men (monks) and women (nuns) devoted their lives to caring for the sick in special houses called “infirmaries”, usually built next to convents or monasteries – places where those monks or nuns lived.
Why has God put you on this planet in times when there is developed medical care, insurance, specialists, pharmacies, etc.? Millions of people for thousands of years could not have access to medical care as you have now. Does it mean that you are smarter or better than those people in the past?
St. Martin is a very skillful medic so the Dominicans ask him to take care of their infirmary. Over many years, countless sick people are helped thanks to St. Martin’s skills and thanks to his decision to devote his life to helping people instead of pursuing a career or making money. St. Martin often leaves the infirmary and looks for poor sick African slaves who are badly treated by everyone including by many people who go to church. Sometimes he brings in homeless people to the infirmary. But he is not allowed to. Such people cannot pay for their stay. Once St. Martin puts a dirty sick homeless man in his bed. His superior gets very angry at St. Martin. He replies: “I can wash my sheets. I would not be able to wash my heart from the pain if I left him there in the street. Love for others is more important than cleanliness.”
Love for others is more important than cleanliness. Where in my life may God be calling me to live according to this sentence?
Today, rather than taking homeless people home, we can help them better by volunteering in shelters. But we have a lot of hurting people around us who are not homeless and yet who are in need of our help. This can be a kid in our school whom no one talks to. Their bodies may be clean but their clumsiness and their being bad at sports make them unpleasant to hang around with. This can be our old aunt who has no children. She may have a lovely home but it is hard to patiently listen to her boring, repetitive stories. This can be our little brother who is clean but nags us to play with him his silly, childish games.
Ask St. Martin to pray for you so that you can be as loving to your “patients” as he was to his.
Love for others is more important than cleanliness.
St. Martin and his sister are children of a Spanish nobleman and an African slave. Spanish Catholics consider him less valuable as a person because of his color. Young Martin learns to be a barber and a medic (in Peru at that time it is one job). Instead of starting a family or pursuing a career, he wants to serve God with all his heart. He joins a community of Dominicans. As a mulatto, he can only be a humble servant there.
How can people claim to be Catholic and yet reject others based on their skin color? Could it be that you treat others unjustly for some reason?
Until about two hundred years ago, there were no medical facilities. There were no universities for doctors, nurses or paramedics. Sick people were taken care of in their homes by their families. Witch doctors or shamans were called to come and do their best. If their families would not do it, sick people stayed neglected in bed until they died. The Church was the first to organize care for the sick. In St. Martin’s times, it meant that religious men (monks) and women (nuns) devoted their lives to caring for the sick in special houses called “infirmaries”, usually built next to convents or monasteries – places where those monks or nuns lived.
Why has God put you on this planet in times when there is developed medical care, insurance, specialists, pharmacies, etc.? Millions of people for thousands of years could not have access to medical care as you have now. Does it mean that you are smarter or better than those people in the past?
St. Martin is a very skillful medic so the Dominicans ask him to take care of their infirmary. Over many years, countless sick people are helped thanks to St. Martin’s skills and thanks to his decision to devote his life to helping people instead of pursuing a career or making money. St. Martin often leaves the infirmary and looks for poor sick African slaves who are badly treated by everyone including by many people who go to church. Sometimes he brings in homeless people to the infirmary. But he is not allowed to. Such people cannot pay for their stay. Once St. Martin puts a dirty sick homeless man in his bed. His superior gets very angry at St. Martin. He replies: “I can wash my sheets. I would not be able to wash my heart from the pain if I left him there in the street. Love for others is more important than cleanliness.”
Love for others is more important than cleanliness. Where in my life may God be calling me to live according to this sentence?
Today, rather than taking homeless people home, we can help them better by volunteering in shelters. But we have a lot of hurting people around us who are not homeless and yet who are in need of our help. This can be a kid in our school whom no one talks to. Their bodies may be clean but their clumsiness and their being bad at sports make them unpleasant to hang around with. This can be our old aunt who has no children. She may have a lovely home but it is hard to patiently listen to her boring, repetitive stories. This can be our little brother who is clean but nags us to play with him his silly, childish games.
Ask St. Martin to pray for you so that you can be as loving to your “patients” as he was to his.
St. Juan Diego
San Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
He lived in the 15 century. He had to witness the Spanish conquest of his native Aztec Empire. As Catholic missionaries arrived, Cuauhtlatoatzin and his wife embraced Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They became Christians. Cuauhtlatoatzin took the name Juan Diego. Mary, Mother of Jesus appeared to him repeatedly. She was dressed in a typical dress of San Juan Diego’s people. Her face resembled Aztec faces. She spoke to him in Nahuatl – his native Aztec language.
Why did Mary speak Nahuatl and not Spanish or English? Why did she look like an Aztec woman?
Which of all the world’s languages is most Christian? Which language is God’s favorite?
What does it mean that God speaks to us in the most moving way in the language of our heart?
San Juan Diego spent the rest of his life serving in the Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Tepeyac (on the outskirts of what is today Mexico City). His life was very simple. He never founded any religious group or performed any amazing deeds. Our Lady of Guadalupe became the patron saint of all Americas.
Does God want us to live simple lives with every day acts of kindness or important lives with amazing deeds? Can God speak to me if I am a simple person?
Which is God’s favorite country in the Americas? If you are American, Our Lady of Guadalupe is your favorite saint? What will you tell her in prayer? What can you ask God for on behalf of all people living in the Americas?
He lived in the 15 century. He had to witness the Spanish conquest of his native Aztec Empire. As Catholic missionaries arrived, Cuauhtlatoatzin and his wife embraced Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They became Christians. Cuauhtlatoatzin took the name Juan Diego. Mary, Mother of Jesus appeared to him repeatedly. She was dressed in a typical dress of San Juan Diego’s people. Her face resembled Aztec faces. She spoke to him in Nahuatl – his native Aztec language.
Why did Mary speak Nahuatl and not Spanish or English? Why did she look like an Aztec woman?
Which of all the world’s languages is most Christian? Which language is God’s favorite?
What does it mean that God speaks to us in the most moving way in the language of our heart?
San Juan Diego spent the rest of his life serving in the Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Tepeyac (on the outskirts of what is today Mexico City). His life was very simple. He never founded any religious group or performed any amazing deeds. Our Lady of Guadalupe became the patron saint of all Americas.
Does God want us to live simple lives with every day acts of kindness or important lives with amazing deeds? Can God speak to me if I am a simple person?
Which is God’s favorite country in the Americas? If you are American, Our Lady of Guadalupe is your favorite saint? What will you tell her in prayer? What can you ask God for on behalf of all people living in the Americas?