5/15/2013 – St Isidore the Farmer – Wednesday of 7th week of Easter – Psalm 68

       I recently read in my daily devotional Give Us This Day that St Isidore the Farmer was canonized in 1622 on the same day as such luminaries of our Church as St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis Xavier and St Teresa of Avila.  While those other three saints are great theologians, missionaries, and Church reformers, Isidore was a simple farmer who died in the early 12^th century.  Isidore spent his whole life working as a farm laborer for a wealthy landowner in central Spain.  Isidore lived out his faith in his daily life, attending mass daily and praying continuously as he worked.  While poor himself, he always had something to give to those who were poorer than he was, and his kindness to animals was legendary.  By having saints like Isidore, we know that anyone, no matter what his status in life, can live out a life that is holy in the eyes of the Lord.

         “Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.”  This refrain in today’s psalms calls us all to sing a song to the Lord in our daily lives.  We are to praise the Lord in whatever we do in life. We are to lift up our struggles and sorrows to the Lord.  We are to thank him for our blessings.  We are to experience God on every part of our journey.  This is not always easy, but by the example that Isidore the Farmer gives, we show that it can be done.