- Romans 8:5 -
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on
what
that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have
their
minds set on what the Spirit desires.
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"You are not what you think you are; but what you think, you are."
Take thou our minds,
dear Lord, we humbly pray,
Give us the mind of Christ
each passing day;
Teach us to know the truth
that sets us free;
Grant us in all our thoughts
to honor thee.
- William Foulkes, 1918
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March 8th - Saint John of God, Founder, Visionary
(1495-1550)
Nothing in the early life of John Ciudad, born of a poor couple in a town
of
****tugal, foreshadowed his future sanctity. Following a traveler whose
description of Madrid had captivated his imagination, this only son of his
parents ran away from his home. Soon regret and misery overtook him, but
he
was ashamed to return to his abandoned parents. In effect his mother,
struck
with a fever, but advised by an Angel that John would have to undergo long
trials which would strengthen his virtue, departed this life only a few
days
after his adventure began.
For several years the renegade was engaged in tending sheep and cattle in
Spain; his employer eventually offered him his only daughter in marriage
and
thereby a rich heritage, but John was interiorly advised that such was not
his vocation. He left in secret the next day, joined the army of Spain
against the French, later against the Turks. When he was about forty years
of age, feeling profound remorse for his life which lacked order and
purpose, he returned to his home village, only to learn of the death of
both
his parents. "I am not worthy to see the light of day!" exclaimed the
grief-stricken voyager. He visited the cemetery, suffocated by his sobs,
and
cried out, "Pardon, pardon! O mother! Eternal penance!"
He resolved to devote himself to the ransom of Christian slaves in Africa,
and on his way served the sick in a hospital. Meeting an aged nobleman at
Gibralter, unjustly exiled and on his way to Africa, John offered to go
there as his servant, to remain with him and his family and sup****t them
by
his labor. Count DaSilva fell ill in the new climate and soon died,
thanking
John for his unfailing aid, and predicting he would some day be one of
Spain's greatest apostles. His family received amnesty and returned to
Spain.
John, too, returned there by the advice of his confessor, and sought to do
good by selling holy pictures and books at low prices. Finally the hour of
grace struck. At Granada a sermon by the celebrated John of Avila shook
his
soul to its depths, and his expressions of self-abhorrence were so
extraordinary that he was taken to the asylum as one insane. For a time he
acted this role purposely, in order to be whipped daily as a remedial
measure. His confessor was John of Avila, who when he learned of this told
him to cease his pretense and do something useful. Thereafter he employed
himself in ministering to the sick.
He began to collect homeless poor, and to sup****t them by his work and by
begging. One night Saint John found in the streets a poor man who seemed
near death, and, as was his wont, he carried him to the hospital, laid him
on a bed, and went to fetch water to wash his feet. When he had washed
them,
he knelt to kiss them, but was awestruck: the feet were pierced, and the
print of the nails shone with an unearthly radiance. He raised his eyes,
and
heard the words, "John, it is to Me that you do all that you do for the
poor
in My name. It is I who reach forth My hand for the alms you give; you
clothe Me; Mine are the feet that you wash." And then the gracious vision
disappeared, leaving Saint John filled at once with confusion and
consolation.
The bishop became the Saint's patron and gave him the name of John of God.
When his hospital was on fire, John was seen ru****ng about uninjured amid
the flames until he had rescued all his poor. After ten years spent in the
service of the suffering, the Saint's life was fitly closed when he
plunged
into a river to save a drowning boy, and died in 1550 of an illness
brought
on by the attempt. He was fifty-five years old.
Reflection. God often rewards men for works that are pleasing in His
sight,
by giving them grace and op****tunity to do other works higher still. Saint
John of God often attributed his conversion, and the graces which enabled
him to do his works of love, to his self-denying charity in Africa.
Sources: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on
Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea
(Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des
Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 3.
Saint Quotes:
I tell you, that of every idle word men speak, they shall give account on
the day of judgment. St. Matthew 12:36
-Saint John of God
If we look forward to receiving God's mercy, we can never fail to do good
so
long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor, out of love
for
God, whatever he has given to us, we shall receive according to his
promise
a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed
reward! With outstretched arms he begs us to turn toward him, to weep for
our sins, and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then
for
our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.
So many poor people come here that I very often wonder how we can care for
them all, but Jesus Christ provides all things and nourishes everyone.
Many
of them come to the house of God, because the city of Granada is large and
very cold, especially now in winter. More than a hundred and ten are now
living here, sick and healthy, servants and pilgrims. Since this house is
open to everyone, it receives the sick of every type and condition: the
crippled, the disabled, lepers, mutes, the insane, paralytics, those
suffering from scurvy and those bearing the afflictions of old age, many
children, and above all countless pilgrims and travelers, who come here,
and
for whom we furnish the fire, water, and salt, as well as the utensils to
cook their food. And for all of this no payment is requested, yet Christ
provides.
I work here on borrowed money, a prisoner for the sake of Jesus Christ.
And
often my debts are so pressing that I dare not go out of the house for
fear
of being seized by my creditors. Whenever I see so many poor brothers and
neighbors of mine suffering beyond their strength and overwhelmed with so
many physical or mental ills which I cannot alleviate, then I become
exceedingly sorrowful; but I trust in Christ, who knows my heart. And so I
say, "Woe to the man who trusts in men rather than in Christ."
-from a letter written by Saint John of God
Bible Quote:
12. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved
you.
13. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for
his
friends. 14. You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.
(John 15:12-14)
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In this Lenten season, the following is one of the principal
prayers used in the Stations of the Cross, though it can be
offer by itself. It was authored by St. Francis of Assisi:
We adore Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all
Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless Thee;
because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
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