St. Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as simply Padre Pio, is probably the most popular saint in Italy after St. Francis of Assisi. His statues and pictures are everywhere...from pizza parlors to the dashboards of taxis. His appeal is his simple submission to whatever God asked of him, even to bearing the wounds of Jesus for 50 years. We often think these wounds are just symbolic, but the bleeding and the pain were real. People flocked to attend Mass when he was celebrating, so much so that his superiors forbad him to say Mass publicly for awhile. He accepted all and stands as a model for us who have our own crosses, large or small to bear. When we think we can't bear them, let us look to Padre Pio for strength, or as he would have it, to Jesus himself. Let us also ask for the grace to put our crosses in perspective, for compared to the cross Jesus carried, or the heavy crosses others are carrying, ours might seem very small and thus bearable. If we look upon our crosses as a gift, and thank God for them, we are following in the footsteps of this humble priest.
Bro. Rene
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