Today, we celebrate the feast day of Padre Pio, one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church. Padre Pio was born to a humble family of farmers in southern Italy in 1887. As a youth, he became a Capuchin Franciscan. His life at the monastery was interrupted by a stint in the Italian army in WWI and a bout with tuberculosis. He was very sickly during this time period, very close to the point of death. In 1918, after celebrating mass, he had a vision of Jesus and developed the stigmata on his hands, feet, and side. He became a celebrity, with busloads of people coming to him for confession each day. Many people have reported cures and healings after praying for the intercession of Padre Pio. He had the gift of the sacrament of confession where he could look into their souls and see their true sins. He also had the gift of bilocation where he could appear at two places at once. One time, while remaining in his monastery, he bilocated to a prison in Hungary to bring communion to a bishop who was imprisoned there. I love that; if I was able to bilocare, I would bring communion to the men and women who are a part of our prison ministry. Padre Pio saw Jesus in the sick and the suffering. Through money donated to him, he founded a renowned prison on the grounds of his monastery, even when his religious superiors wanted to use that money for the financial well-being of the monastery.
His canonization by Pope John Paul II in 2002 was one of the largest crowds to attend a canonization. The Pope stated this about Padre Pio: “The life and mission of Padre Pio testify that difficulties and sorrows, if accepted with love, transform themselves into a privileged journey of holiness, which opens the person toward a greater good, known only to the Lord.”
Deacon John had graciously asked me to preach the homily this morning because he knew how much Padre Pio means to me. In October 2022, Deacon John and his wife Kelly were a part of a group that went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and part of the pilgrimage went to San Giovanni Rotundo, where Padre Pio lived in his monastery. We celebrated mass at the altar where he regularly celebrated mass. We prayed the rosary at procession at night. We saw his incorrupt body there. The modern basilica there has beautiful mosaics everywhere. Seeing the mosaic of him bringing the eucharist to the bishop in prison really touched me. Seeing the place where he lived and hearing stories of his life was very inspiring.
Today’s Gospel talks about how we are part of Jesus’family when we hear the word of God and act upon it on our lives. That will be our challenge when we go back to our lives after pilgrimage. We are called to reflect upon how the pilgrimage experience is calling us to action and transformation. Praying with Mary to see where we are called to action will be very important. That reflection and prayer and action will be something God is calling us to do. That is the task of all pilgrims.
No comments:
Post a Comment