Monday, October 12, 2009


Rejoice! 

Yes, I mean it.  The Pope Benedict XVI has canonized five new saints, including Father Damian of Molokai. 

Father Damian, the famous apostle to the lepers, left Flanders, Belgium at the age of 23 to go on a mission to modern day Hawaii. "Not without fear and loathing," Pope Benedict underlined, "Father Damian made the choice to go on the island of Molokai in the service of lepers who were there, abandoned by all. So he exposed himself to the disease of which they suffered. With them he felt at home. The servant of the Word became a suffering servant, leper with the lepers, during the last four years of his life."

He continued, "To follow Christ, Father Damian not only left his homeland, but has also staked his health so he, as the word of Jesus announced in today's Gospel tells us, received eternal life."

The figure of Father Damian, Benedict XVI added, "teaches us to choose the good fight not those that lead to division, but those that gather us together in unity."

A life most worthy. 

Want more info?  Read one of the most riveting books on the subject....The Colony : The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai by John Tayman.  It was on my reading list in 2006 so maybe you already perused it.  You will be humbled.

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