+ St Peter Claver was born in 1581 at
Verdu in Catalonia, Spain. He was a
farmer’s son, but later studied at the University of Barcelona. He was
attracted to the Jesuit Order and joined them at the age of 20. He became a
priest, and influenced by fellow Jesuit St Alphonsus Rodrigues he wanted to
become a missionary in America. In the meanwhile, he ministered physically and
spiritually to slaves when they arrived in Cartegena, converting a reported
300,000 and working for humane treatment on the plantations for 40 years. He
organized charitable societies among the Spanish in American similar to those
organized in Europe by St. Vincent de Paul.
Peter’s apostolate extended
beyond his care for slaves. He became a moral force, indeed, the apostle of
Cartagena. He preached in the city square, gave missions to sailors and
traders, as well as to parishes in the countryside. After four years of
sickness which forced the saint to remain inactive and largely neglected, he
died on September 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at
his solicitude for the black outcasts, ordered that he should be buried at
public expense and with great pomp. He was canonized in 1888, and Pope Leo XIII
declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work among black slaves.
In the gospel passage today we
see Jesus doing good deeds for the poor, the sick and the needy when and where
it needed to be done, on any day of the week – this is very much a Jesuit
philosophy – and St. Peter Claver practiced it daily. Let us follow this
philosophy and this theological principle of life: the more we give to others,
the fuller our lives will be and we will both share in the joys of the Lord
forever!
My sheep
hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.
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