Our Saint of the Day is a rags-to-riches story told in reverse. 🙌
April 18, 2024
Hello John,
God offers examples through the lives of the saints like Blessed James Oldo that remind us that God’s time is not on our time. We can set out to do many things today and in our lives, but all that God asks from us is to say yes when we are invited.
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You’ve heard rags-to-riches stories. Today, we celebrate the reverse.
James of Oldo was born into a well-to-do family near Milan in 1364. He married a woman who like him, appreciated the comforts that came with wealth. But an outbreak of the plague drove James, his wife, and their three children out of their home and into the countryside. Despite those precautions, two of his daughters died from the plague. James determined to use whatever time he had left to build up treasures in heaven and to build God’s realm on earth.
He and his wife became Secular Franciscans. James gave up his old lifestyle and did penance for his sins. He cared for a sick priest, who taught him Latin. Upon the death of his wife, James himself became a priest. His house was transformed into a chapel where small groups of people, many of them fellow Secular Franciscans, came for prayer and support. James focused on caring for the sick and for prisoners of war. He died in 1404 after contracting a disease from one of his patients. James Oldo was beatified in 1933.
Reflection
The death of those we love brings a troubling awareness of our own mortality. James had that experience when he gazed into a friend’s grave, and it brought him to his senses. He determined to use whatever time he had left to build up treasures in heaven and to build God’s realm on earth. Our time is limited, too. We can use it well or foolishly: The choice is ours.
It is true that St. Francis, with his whole heart, wanted to imitate his Lord and Master. One can easily point to outward similarities, particularly in the way he lived poverty and practiced humility. Yet what is more important is to penetrate Francis’ spirit.
Above all he wished to conform his heart to Christ, something he realized most clearly in gazing upon the Crucified Savior. In this way Francis sought to take into his heart, into his inner spirit, the poverty, humility, and charity so evident in Christ. Conformity for Francis meant a lifelong process of interior transformation.
Conformity for Francis meant a heart that was humble. It meant poverty of spirit. It meant a compassion that reached everyone.
"The spiritual man in mythology, in literature, and in the great world religions has an excess of life. He knows he has it, makes no apology for it, and finally recognizes that he does not even need to protect or guard it. It is not for him. It is for others. His life is not his own. His life is not about him. It is about God."
The deadly sin of envy fixates on the ego’s obsession with self-concern. It entices me to look across the fence and dislike my neighbors because their grass is greener than mine. Envy suddenly turns an innocent circumstance into an intense competition as I run up and down the staircase of comparisons: “He’s smarter than me.” “I just have this, but she has all of that!” “They get more attention than me.” I feel degraded and covet what others have or are. This sin sometimes lies at the heart of resentment and the obsession to discredit or malign the reputation of others. Envy’s antidote is self-acceptance and the ability to celebrate the lives of my neighbors.
Pray
Spirit of the Living God, grant me the grace of self-acceptance and satisfaction with what you have given me. Give me gratitude for the different talents and gifts of others. And most of all, guide me with the gift to revel in the joys and successes of my neighbors. Amen.
Act
Compliment a neighbor or friend on a unique, God-given talent or gift. Instead of wishing that you had their gift, take a step back and think about what God has provided you.
Today’s Pause+Pray was written by Albert Haas, OFM. Learn more here!
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