One of the saints we celebrate this week in our Church’s calendar of saints is John Ogilvie. He was born in 1579 in Scotland, several decades after the Protestant reformation in that country. His noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to continental Europe to be educated. Through the debates he witnessed between Protestants and Catholics, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17. During his studies, he decided to join the Jesuits, being ordained a priest in 1610 in France. At that time, Catholic priests were being arrested and imprisoned in Scotland. Yet, John felt that God was calling him to be a missionary in his native land. He was sent there, posing as a soldier returning from the wars in Europe so that the authorities would not identify him as a priest. With very few Catholics left in Scotland and with Catholicism outlawed there, John’s missionary work was very difficult. Yet, someone betrayed him and revealed his identity as a priest. He was arrested and brought before the court. Even in the midst of torture, he refused to renounce his Catholic faith and refused to reveal the name of other Catholics. He was condemned to death as a traitor by the court. His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was a great example of faith for Catholics in Scotland.
In our Daily Masses during the first full week of Lent, we have been hearing from different Old Testament books such as Isaiah, Jonah, and Esther. Today we hear from the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel gives us a message of the importance of repentance and conversion, telling us that the Lord does not delight when a wicked man stays in his wickedness and earns punishment; rather, the Lord delights when the wicked man turns his back on his evil ways and has a change of heart. The Lord delights in the conversion of the sinner. I think of the conversion of St John Ogilvie that brought him to the Catholic faith, of his great courage and fidelity. St John Ogilvie is a great example for us during our Lenten journey of faith.
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