SAINT OF THE DAY -- April 26 - Saint Pedro de San José Betancur
April 26
St. Pedro de San José Betancur(1619 - 1667)
God lavished his kindness and his mercy on them, enriching them with his grace; he loved them with a fatherly, but demanding, love, which promised only hardships and suffering. He invited and called them to heroic holiness; he tore them away from their countries of origin and sent them to other lands to proclaim the message of the gospel, in the midst of inexpressible toil and difficulties.
- Pope John Paul II at Pedro's beatification ceremony
Central America can claim its first saint with the July 30 canonization
of Pedro de Betancur by Pope John Paul II in Guatemala City. Known as
the "St. Francis of the Americas," Pedro de Betancur is the first saint
to have worked and died in Guatemala.
Calling
the new saint an “outstanding example” of Christian mercy, the Holy
Father noted that St. Pedro practiced mercy “heroically with the
lowliest and the most deprived.” Speaking to the estimated 500,000
Guatemalans in attendance, the Holy Father spoke of the social ills
that plague the country today and of the need for change.
“Let us think of the children and young people who are homeless or
deprived of an education; of abandoned women with their many needs; of
the hordes of social outcasts who live in the cities; of the victims of
organized crime, of prostitution or of drugs; of the sick who are
neglected and the elderly who live in loneliness,” he said in his
homily during the three-hour liturgy.
Pedro
very much wanted to become a priest, but God had other plans for the
young man born into a poor family on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Pedro was a shepherd until age 24, when he began to make his way to
Guatemala, hoping to connect with a relative engaged in government
service there. By the time he reached Havana, he was out of money.
After working there to earn more, he got to Guatemala City the
following year. When he arrived he was so destitute that he joined the
bread line which the Franciscans had established.
Soon, Pedro
enrolled in the local Jesuit college in hopes of studying for the
priesthood. No matter how hard he tried, however, he could not master
the material; he withdrew from school. In 1655 he joined the Secular
Franciscan Order. Three years later he opened a hospital for the
convalescent poor; a shelter for the homeless and a school for the poor
soon followed. Not wanting to neglect the rich of Guatemala City, Pedro
began walking through their part of town ringing a bell and inviting
them to repent.
Other men came to share in Pedro's work. Soon
they became the Bethlehemite Congregation, which went on to earn
official papal approval after Pedro's death.
He is sometimes credited with originating the Christmas Eve posadas
procession in which people representing Mary and Joseph seek a night's
lodging from their neighbors. The custom soon spread to Mexico and
other Central American countries.
Pedro was beatified in 1980.
Comment:
As
humans, we often pride ourselves on our ability to reason. But, as
Pedro’s life shows, other skills may be an even more crucial element of
our humanity than a clever mind: compassion, imagination, love. Unable
to master studies for the priesthood despite his efforts, Pedro
responded to the needs of homeless and sick people; he provided
education to the poor and salvation to the rich. He became holy—as
fully human as any of us can ever be.
Quote:Speaking
of Pedro and the four others beatified with him, Pope John Paul II
said: "God lavished his kindness and his mercy on them, enriching them
with his grace; he loved them with a fatherly, but demanding, love,
which promised only hardships and suffering. He invited and called them
to heroic holiness; he tore them away from their countries of origin
and sent them to other lands to proclaim the message of the gospel, in
the midst of inexpressible toil and difficulties." (L'Osservatore Romano).
Source: American Catholic Organization
Many great miracles have been associated with
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Miracles continue to the present day.
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SIGNS OF AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
Do you:
feel afraid of your partner much of the time?
avoid certain topics fear of angering your partner?
feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?
believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated?
wonder if you’re the one who is crazy?
feel emotionally numb or helpless?
Does your partner:
- humiliate, criticize, or yell at you?
- treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see?
- ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments?
- blame you for his own abusive behavior?
- see you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?
Does your partner:
have a bad and unpredictable temper?
hurt you, or threaten to hurt or kill you?
threaten to take your children away or harm them?
threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
force you to have sex?
destroy your belongings?
Does your partner:
- act excessively jealous and possessive?
- control where you go or what you do?
- keep you from seeing your friends or family?
- limit your access to money, the phone, or the car?
- constantly check up on you?