FOLLOWING ON ALL SAINTS AND ALL SOULS DAYS, CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN CELEBRATE ST. MARTIN DE PORRES - A MODERN DAY, "MAN FOR ALL SEASONS..........

St. Martin de Porres, whose liturgical feast day we celebrate today, was born in the late 16th Century in Lima, Peru, of a Spanish father and a Black slave mother.  He grew up to become a lay brother of the Dominican Religious order, and was a humble servant of the Lord, ministering to the sick, most especially African slaves.  Martin de Porres was devoted to the Holy Eucharist and was a great advocate for the poor.  His sense of social justice has remained an outstanding example to Christians worldwide for the past four hundred years.  Thus he is the ideal saint to be celebrated as we reflect on our lives as Catholic-Christian Disciples in the light of Gospel values, as we ponder the outcome of the midterm election we have just experienced as Americans.  How is our commitment to the Gospel Values of Social Justice reflected in the votes we cast, the candidates we elected, the position on the issues we took ?  Are we truly, "ambassadors of Christ", in the way St. Martin de Porres was,  in the actions and attitudes we carry out in our daily interactions with others, especially the marginalized and most vulnerable ?  May we take an inventory of how well we are devoting our lives to the Eucharist and to Social Justice, as Disciples of Living Faith in Jesus the Christ ?..........Fr.  Troy