Today is the feast day of one of my favorite saints, St. John of God. John of God is patron saint of booksellers, printers, heart patients, hospitals, nurses, the sick, and firefighters and he is considered to be the founder of the Hospitaller Brothers. I don't know exactly what it was about John that originally drew me to him. Was it the way he rushed to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit? Was it the fearlessness he showed when facing difficult situations or the selfless way he constantly jumped at chances to help others? I think I was drawn to him for all of these things. I see in him so many things I see in my own personality--the impulsive nature, the desire to help anyone and everyone, the passionate darting from one project to the next--but he was so much more than that. He literally dropped EVERYTHING, gave up EVERYTHING to help others. Most people thought he was crazy, but I think he was wonderful. Think about what the world would be like if there were more people like St. John of God...People who would risk their very lives to dash into a burning hospital to save the patients, only to turn around and save the hospital equipment and even the building itself...or, on a smaller level, people who would stop their day just to feed a group of hungry children.
John's life, works, and words remind me so much of--my hero :o)--Mother Teresa (albeit a much more free-spirited version of Mother Teresa--hee hee!):
"I work here on borrowed money, a prisoner for the sake of Jesus Christ. And often my debts are so pressing that I dare not go out of the house for fear of being seized by my creditors. Whenever I see so many poor brothers and neighbors of mine suffering beyond their strength and overwhelmed with so many physical or mental ills which I cannot alleviate, then I become exceedingly sorrowful; but I trust in Christ, who knows my heart. And so I say, "Woe to the man who trusts in men rather than in Christ."
"If we look forward to receiving God's mercy, we can never fail to do good so long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor, out of love for God, whatever he has given to us, we shall receive according to his promise a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms he begs us to turn toward him, to weep for our sins, and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin."
"So many poor people come here that I very often wonder how we can care for them all, but Jesus Christ provides all things and nourishes everyone. Many of them come to the house of God, because the city of Granada is large and very cold, especially now in winter. More than a hundred and ten are now living here, sick and healthy, servants and pilgrims. Since this house is open to everyone, it receives the sick of every type and condition: the crippled, the disabled, lepers, mutes, the insane, paralytics, those suffering from scurvy and those bearing the afflictions of old age, many children, and above all countless pilgrims and travelers, who come here, and for whom we furnish the fire, water, and salt, as well as the utensils to cook their food. And for all of this no payment is requested, yet Christ provides."
What a powerful example of what we should all try to be...Meanwhile, my mind is spinning with thoughts of my next door neighbor with heart disease, my 87 year old neighbor with breast cancer who lives alone across the street from me and can barely walk, let alone run errands and fetch the mail...of the man across the street who just lost his mother...of the man next door to him who lost his job just over a month ago...all in one little cul-de-sac. How much more could I be doing? How much more should I be doing? Mother Teresa one said that people who are suffering are looking so much into their own affairs that they rarely see the suffering going on around them.
I do not want to be "that person", but you know what? Looking at my life lately, that is exactly the person I have been...I've got some work to do and don't really know where to start, but St. John of God was the perfect example that any small thing done for others is immense in the eyes of God. It's not important what we do...just how we do it. We have to start somewhere.
Mother Teresa sums it up perfectly for us:
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin"
