Steadfast in the Faith

Tomorrow will be the Fifth Sunday of Easter which takes precedence over the memorial of St. Peter Chanel, the first Marist Saint and the Protomartyr of Oceania, so we'll devote a word or two to the inspiration he provides for all Marists today.
He felt the call to the priesthood at an early age in the post Revolutionary period of the early 19th century.  He was ordained a diocesan priest and was very successful in his first parish, but wanted MORE.  The Marist Fathers were in the process of seeking approval from Rome when he joined the Society of Mary, and when approval was given under the condition that they take on Oceania as their apostolate, he was among the first to volunteer. After three difficult years of evangelization on the island of Fotuna, he was clubbed to death for the faith.  Five months after his death, the whole island embraced the faith.  He was canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII.
Our present day world or secularism, lack of respect for life, and declining church membership offers a challenge that St. Peter Chanel would welcome and approach with the same zeal and faith that brought him to Fotuna.  Little did he know that his apparent failure to convert the local people, and his untimely death, would, with God's grace produce the effect for which he longed and worked so hard.  May his example inspire us when we think the odds are too great or our efforts to live our faith will have no effect on others.  Not so, says the life of St. Peter Chanel.
Bro. Rene