Blessed Peter Gonzalez was born in the town of Frómista in the kingdom of Castile and Leon in Spain in the year 1190. I know of the town of Frómista from the Camino of Santiago, where I have stayed overnight several times. He could have had a very illustrious vocation as a priest under his uncle, the Bishop of Astorga, but in his humility, he joined the Dominican order, where he became renowned preacher, where he would preach to large crowds. He spent many years as the court preacher for King Ferdinand III of Castile. He worked for the human treatment of prisoners who were captured during war. After retiring from the king’s court, he traveled around northwest Spain where he preached. He was a popular preacher to Portuguese and Spanish seamen. He died in 1246 and is buried at the cathedral in Tui, Spain. Due to his reputation as a patron saint of seamen, a famous neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina is named after him, San Telmo, one of his nicknames.
Our first reading today from Acts tells us about the disciples of Christ in the early Church lived together in community. The believers who formed this community were of one mind and one heart and were united with each other. No one in the community claimed their belongings for themselves, but rather their possessions held in common. The members of the community witnessed their faith and their belief in the risen Christ through signs and miracles of healing. The community of believers in the Early Church gives us a great example of faith to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment