Saint of the Day | Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us.

Padre Pio saw Jesus in all the sick and suffering. At his urging, a fine hospital was built on nearby Mount Gargano.
The idea arose in 1940; a committee began to collect money. Ground was broken in 1946.
Building the hospital was a technical wonder because of the difficulty of getting water there and of hauling up the building supplies.
This “House for the Alleviation of Suffering” has 350 beds.
One of Padre Pio’s sufferings was that unscrupulous people several times circulated prophecies that they claimed originated from him.
He never made prophecies about world events and never gave an opinion on matters that he felt belonged to Church authorities to decide.
He died on September 23, 1968, and was beatified in 1999.

Reflection

Referring to that day’s Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30) at Padre Pio’s canonization Mass in 2002,
Saint John Paul II said: “The Gospel image of ‘yoke’ evokes the many trials that the humble Capuchin of San Giovanni Rotondo endured.
Today we contemplate in him how sweet is the ‘yoke’ of Christ and indeed how light the burdens are whenever someone carries these with faithful love.
The life and mission of Padre Pio testify that difficulties and sorrows, if accepted with love, transform themselves into a privileged journey of holiness,
which opens the person toward a greater good, known only to the Lord.”