Luke
21:1-4: And He looked up
and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and
He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So
He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow
has put in more than all; for
all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of
her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
Yesterday
was the feast day of St. Andre Bessete, one of my favorite saints. He was a
very humble man who was a member of the Holy Cross Fathers in Montreal, Canada.
He began his service to them in 1870, and because of his poor health was
assigned to be a door keeper and a barber. He had a vision, however, of
building a beautiful shrine to St. Joseph, to whom he was greatly devoted.
Although he received permission from the Archbishop and his order, he was told
he could only build what he could afford without going into debt. He had a few
hundred dollars which he accumulated from his haircutting and from a little pot
he placed next to an outdoor statue of St. Joseph, so he built a little wooded
structure for devotions to St. Joseph. He dreamed of more, however, and again
received approval but with the stipulation of not going into debt. Soon he was
able to earn the money to put a roof on his shrine, add heat and windows for
the many pilgrims who were coming. Long story short, if you visit Montreal
today, be sure to visit St. Joseph’s Oratory, one of the most beautiful Shrines
to St. Joseph you will ever see. And it exists today because St. Andre had a
dream, and wasn’t afraid to start small and trust in God.
One
of the most fascinating parts of the St. Andre story is that people came from
around the world to be healed at his little shrine. He would take oil from a
lamp and pray to St. Joseph to bless it, then apply it to the sick people or
give them bottles of it to take home. Miraculous and documented healings began
to occur, and today the Shrine is filled with crutches, braces, etc. testifying
to the miracles which occurred from St. Andre’s “St. Joseph Oil”.
When
I was in Montreal visiting St. Joseph’s Oracle, I purchased some of this oil.
Several months ago I developed a large walnut sized growth in my mouth between
my cheek and gum. It was painful, and the doctor thought that it was the
location of an abscess she had no luck in locating up to that point. I was very
sick and in great pain. Upon lancing the walnut, however, she discovered that
the abscess was not located there (she eventually found it and I am fine today)
but after repeated draining it did not go away. Those dreaded words, “You may
just have to learn to live with it” were uttered more than once. My husband
decided to take matters into his own hands and began applying the St. Joseph
Oil to the walnut every night before I fell asleep, asking for the intercession
of St. Andre and St. Joseph to heal me of this deformity. Sure enough, it
disappeared. I went back to the doctor to show her what had happened, and being
a Catholic, she was not afraid to simply state, “I think it is a miracle.” I
think so too.
My
point in telling you this is simple. Do not be afraid to pray for physical
healing, and do not ever become so cynical that you do not believe in miracles.
God honors our requests, and if they are beneficial to our salvation, will
answer them with a miracle such as mine. It also helps to have friends,
relatives and spouses whose faith is strong and can take over when we are weak.
Also, never be afraid to start small and dream big. St. Andre had nothing, yet
with God’s help, he made his dream come true. St. Andre, pray for us.
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