In our gospel, Jesus gives us a stunning example of being a servant:
“Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.”
Not what we expect: Jesus, the Master, is now waiting on the servants. Once again, Jesus turns custom upside down. It would be like sitting down at your favorite restaurant, looking up and seeing Jesus handing you the menu and pouring your water! He’s teaching that we too should embrace that role of being servants, of doing things that need doing because people matter, of looking for chances to do those dull, thankless jobs that mark us as heroes in the Kingdom. It’s another reminder to put ourselves last and we will be first; lose our life, and we will find it.
As you may recall, Pope Francis canonized 7 new saints on October 14. The lives and stories of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero are somewhat familiar to us, but who were the other five? I got curious, did a little scouting for their stories, found them humbling, and thought you’d like to meet them. All of them were examples of incredible service to the universal church. Father Vincenzo Romano (1751-1831) spent almost his entire life as a parish priest around his native Naples, Italy. He was given the name “The Worker Priest” because of his inexhaustible labors on behalf of his flock, especially the poor. He famously helped rebuild the town of Torre del Greco after an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1794 destroyed most of it.
Sister Nazaria Ignacia de Santa Teresa de Jesús (1889-1943) was a native of Madrid, Spain. At 19, she joined the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly in Mexico. She was sent to Bolivia, where she spent 12 years caring for the elderly. She later founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters to proclaim the Gospel and promote human dignity. Her labors took her to Spain, Uruguay and Argentina, where she died.
Father Francesco Spinelli (1853-1913) was born in Milan, Italy, and ordained in 1875. Moved by his love of the Eucharist, he helped establish the Congregation of the Sacramentine Sisters of Bergamo, which was devoted to the Eucharist and Adoration. He later founded the Sisters Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in Cremona, Italy and today, are found in South America and Africa.
Maria Kasper (1820-1898), a native of Germany, felt a call to the religious life, but her family’s unfortunate economic circumstances prevented her answering that call for many years. Finally, in 1851, she was able to establish the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ to care for the poor, the sick and children. These Sisters arrived in the United States in 1868, settled in Indiana, and eventually opened houses in the United States, Europe, Mexico, India, Brazil, and Africa.
And the last new saint is a teenager:
Nunzio Sulprizio died at the age of 19 in 1836, but his life was filled with extraordinary suffering. After family tragedies, he was raised by a physically abusive uncle whose beatings left him with a crippled left leg. Eventually rescued by another uncle, he moved to Naples, where he was stricken by bone cancer and had to have his leg amputated. Called “our little lame saint,” he was a beloved figure in Naples for his joy and love for the poor and sick. He died after immense suffering and offered it all with patience and love for Christ. He is a patron of those with disabilities.
-National Catholic Register, Oct. 13, 2018
May these newly canonized saints continue to inspire us by their humble, prayerful lives.
