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SEPTEMBER 24
ST. PACIFICUS

A little Italian boy born in 1653 was named Charles Anthony. He was just five years old when his loving parents died. He was sent to live with his uncle. This uncle was a cross, mean man. He treated Charles worse than a servant. Yet the boy took this hard treatment quietly and patiently. When he was seventeen, Charles entered a monastery. He chose the name Pacificus, which means "peaceful." After he became a priest, he was made a teacher, but his great desire was to become a preacher. How happy he was when his superior sent him on a preaching mission to many little towns and villages.
St. Pacificus was very popular with people in the country because his talks were simple and gentle. Besides that, he had the marvelous gift of reading consciences. Once, he reminded a man in confession that he had been unkind to his mother. He had also kept impure thoughts in his mind. What Father Pacificus said was true. The man was very sorry for his sins. Everywhere the priest went to preach and hear confessions, he did much good.

But when he had been preaching only about six years, Pacificus had to give it up because of ill health. He became blind, deaf and crippled. He spent his time praying and doing penance in his monastery. He helped others in any way he could. God was always very close to him. He gave him the gift of prophecy. St. Pacificus foretold the great victory of the Christian armies over the Turks at Belgrade. He also said to a bishop, "Your Excellency-heaven! Heaven! And I will follow you soon!" About two weeks later, the bishop died. Not long after, just as he had said, St. Pacificus died, too. It was the year 1721. Many miracles took place at his grave. Father Pacificus was proclaimed a saint by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839.

St. Pacificus had a sad childhood. He could have let himself become an angry, frustrated adult. Instead, he prayed to Jesus for a forgiving, patient heart. His hard times were turned into moments of growing in his love for God and people. Because he had suffered, he could sympathize with the hurts of others and help them to find God in their lives.

Daily Reading & Meditation

Sunday (9/24): "They had discussed with one another who was the greatest"

Scripture: Mark 9:30-37

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Caper'na-um; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34 But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, "If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." 36 And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me."

Meditation: Whose glory do you seek? There can be no share in God's glory without the cross. When Jesus prophesied his own betrayal and crucifixion, it did not make any sense to his disciples because it did not fit their understanding of what the Messiah came to do. And they were afraid to ask further questions! Like a person who might receive a bad verdict from the doctor and then refuse to ask further questions, they, too, didn't want to know any more. How often do we reject what we do not wish to see? We have heard the good news of God's word and we know the consequences of accepting it or rejecting it. But do we give it our full allegiance and mold our lives according to it? Ask the Lord to fill you with his Holy Spirit and to inspire within you a reverence for his word and a readiness to obey it.

How ashamed the disciples must have been when Jesus overheard them arguing about who among them was the greatest! But aren’t we like the disciples? We compare ourselves with others and desire their praise. The appetite for glory and greatness seems to be inbred in us. Who doesn't cherish the ambition to be "somebody" whom others admire rather than a "nobody"? Even the psalms speak about the glory God has destined for us. You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5). Jesus made a dramatic gesture by embracing a child to show his disciples who really is the greatest in the kingdom of God. What can a little child possibly teach us about greatness? Children in the ancient world had no rights, position, or privileges of their own. They were socially at the "bottom of the rung" and at the service of their parents, much like the household staff and domestic servants. What is the significance of Jesus' gesture? Jesus elevated a little child in the presence of his disciples by placing the child in a privileged position of honor. It is customary, even today, to seat the guest of honor at the right side of the host. Who is the greatest in God's kingdom? The one who is humble and lowly of heart — who instead of asserting their rights willingly empty themselves of pride and self-seeking glory by taking the lowly position of a servant or child.

Jesus, himself, is our model. He came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). Paul the Apostle states that Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7). Jesus lowered himself (he whose place is at the right hand of God the Father) and took on our lowly nature that he might raise us up and clothe us in his divine nature. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). If we want to be filled with God's life and power, then we need to empty ourselves of everything which stands in the way — pride, self-seeking glory, vanity, etc. God wants empty vessels so he can fill them with his own glory, power, and love (2 Cor. 4:7).