We hear a prayer today in our first
reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
Paul kneels before God the Father and prays for the Ephesians. He prays that Christ may dwell in their
hearts in their faith. Faith is indeed a
gift, and all of us can thank God for the faith that we have in my heart
through his grace. We seem to live in a
world where faith is suspect or mocked or questioned. But the faith that we have in Christ, a faith
that we have in our hearts, is indeed a faith to be cherished.
The saint we celebrate today is a man
of great faith just like St Paul: St John of Capistrano. You probably are more familiar with him by
his Spanish name, as mission San Juan Capistrano in California was named after
him by the Franciscan missionaries who brought God’s word to the native people of that reigion. St John of Capistrano
was born in the late 14th century. He
was imprisoned for a time during a war with a neighboring town in Italy, and he
entered the Franciscan community in Perugia after his release. After being ordained to the priesthood, he
brought his gifts of preaching to countries all over Europe – throughout Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary,
Poland, and Russia. Through his
preaching, John of Capistrano tried to unify the Christians throughout Europe. He died of the plague on
this day in the year 1456 in Italy. By the way, today, October 23, is the day
that the swallows leave Mission San Juan Capistrano in California as they make
their way down to Argentina.
How are we striving toward holiness in
our lives? How are we opening up our
hearts to Christ and proclaiming his kingdom?
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