Today, from the first letter of John, we hear about three ways that God gives testimony to us about Jesus. First, there is the Holy Spirit who comes into the hearts of believers since Jesus left the earth; the spirit testifies about who Jesus is and about what Jesus taught. Second is water, which points us to John the Baptism’s baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, a visible sign, or testimony of God’s endorsement of the work of Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world. The third testimony is blood, signifying the death of Jesus on the cross that brings us salvation. These three things constitute God’s testimony about who Jesus is for us.
As we continue to hear readings from the first letter of John, we celebrate a rather new saint who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010: St Andrew Bissette, a Holy Cross brother who was born in a small town outside of Montreal, Canada in 1845. One of 12 children who was orphaned at the age of 12, he did very poorly in school and worked as a laborer as a boy. His devout faith and holiness as a boy spurred his pastor to recommend him for the congregation of the Holy Cross, where he worked a porter as a religious brother of that congregation for many years at the College of Notre Dame in Quebec. After countless acts of holiness and mercy, he attracted quite a following, sort of like Padre Pio and John Vianney, where the people wrote many letters and visited him in huge crowds, wanting his blessing and wanting to be in his holy presence. A saint like Andre Bessette points to the way that in small acts of holiness and kindness, we can bring the love of God to others. Always in frail health, he ended up living until the age of 91, dying in 1937. Let us unite our prayers with the prayers of St Andre Bessette today.
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