St. Joseph the Worker

Dear Parishioners:

 You can learn a lot from studying the Saints of the Catholic Church.  I would recommend buying a book about the Saints or going to Google and looking up the lives of various Saints in our Church’s history.

One of those interesting Saints is St. Peter Claver, whose Obligatory Memorial is this Monday, September 9^th.  He was born in Catalonia and was a Jesuit priest.  He was sent to the country of Colombia in South America, assigned to the region of Cartagena.  His main duty was to minister to the African slaves that were there.  He baptized over 300,000 of them, which earned him the title, which he gave himself—”the slave of the slaves forever.”  He is the patron Saint of Colombia and of all the missions to the black people.  He died on Sept. 8, 1654. 

Can you imagine having that many baptisms “under your belt” as a priest?  I know in my 41+ years that I don’t come close to that!    What a beautiful accomplishment for this Jesuit missionary.  To be able to bring that many wonderful disciples of the Lord into the Catholic Church was definitely St. Peter Claver’s purpose.

How do we attract people to come closer to the Lord?

 Do we answer God’s call to our special task in this world, whatever that may be?

 Do we see ourselves as “slaves of the Lord?”

 How is our stance to people of a different color, religion, or country?

 Is the Lord able to count on us to answer His call for whatever He wants us to do?

 Do we pray for missionaries of today?

I pray you have a very “SAINTLY” week.  May St. Peter Claver intercede for us and our country.

Your Pastor, Father Joe