We are in the middle of the Easter season, in the middle of the 4th week of Easter. The Easter season ends on a late date this year, June 4, with the celebration of Pentecost, which is a week after Memorial Day weekend. We have been hearing readings from the Acts of Apostles all during the Easter season, on Sundays and during our daily masses. Just last week we heard about the stoning of Stephen, in which a man named Saul was a participant, and then we heard about Saul’s persecution of the followers of Jesus. Then, Paul has a great conversion and he becomes Paul, one of the important leaders of the Early Church. Today, we hear how Saul and Barnabas were preaching in the church, being chosen by the Holy Spirit to go on a special mission to Cyprus.
The reading said that God’s Holy Word continued to spread and grow, but this happened because of the work and enthusiasm of men like Barnabas and Saul. Today, we celebrate the feast day of a saint whose great work and enthusiasm as a priest in the state of Hawaii is remembered more than 125 years after his death. The date of a saint’s entry into enteral life is usually used for his feast day, but in this saint’s case, the date of his feast day which chosen for a different reason. On May 10, 1873, Father Damien De Veuster, a Belgian priest with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, arrived on the island of Molokai in the Hawaiian islands to begin his ministry at the leper colony there. Damien had been poor to a very poor family in Belgium. He had little formal education, so it was thought that he was not suited at all for the priesthood. Yet, while in the formation period to become a priest, Damian offered to served as a missionary in Hawaii, taking his brother’s place, since he was unable to go because of an illness. Damien volunteer to serve the lepers in Molokai after he served in different mission churches in Hawaii. He served in Molokai from 1873 until his own death in 1889 at the age of 49, which came about after he himself contracted the disease from the lepers. Even in the midst of his illness, Damien was able to proclaim: “I consider myself the happiest missionary in the world.” Damien could have a combative and stubborn personality, which sometimes caused conflict with his companions and superiors, but his desire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to others, and his love for those who suffer at the margins of society, speak so loudly to many in our world, both in the religious and the humanitarian sense. The joy that Damien felt was a joy that came from his faith. Even Gandhi proclaimed: “The world can boast of very few heroes who can compare with Father Damien of Molokai.” Father Damien’s holy life inspired countless priests and many members of the faithful, leading to his canonization in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Both Damien and Paul served the Lord out of love and fidelity. They both died serving the Lord with great joy in their hearts. May their example inspire us on our own journeys of faith.
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