ALL POSTS TAGGED: BLEST ARE WE

Matthew, the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel that appears first in the New Testament, was different from the other Apostles. He was not a popular man. Many people felt that he was unworthy to be a chosen as a follower of Jesus. Matthew worked for the Romans as a tax collector. The Romans ruled Palestine and the Jewish people in the time of Jesus. They forced the Jewish people to pay taxes to them. Many of the tax collectors cheated the people by charging more taxes than required and keeping the extra money for themselves. The Jews considered tax collectors to be traitors.

Francesco Forgione was born in Pietrelcina, Italy, in 1887. His family and the people of his town were very religious. They celebrated festivals to honor the saints. The church bells called people to prayer many times during the day. His family attended Mass every day and prayed the Rosary each night. When a Capuchin friar visited his town to ask for donations for the friars’ ministry, Francesco knew that he wanted to become a Capuchin.

Born in 1581 in France, Vincent de Paul became a priest at the early age of 19. He became famous for his kindness and generosity.

Jerome was born in the country we now call Croatia sometime between 340 and 347. He was tutored at home and developed a love for education. When he was about 12, his parents sent him to Rome to study both Greek and Latin.

In 1873, Thérèse was born in the small French town of Alencon and was raised in a loving family with her four sisters. Like any child, Thérèse enjoyed playing with her cousins and siblings. When Thérèse was four her mother died, and her father moved the family to Lisieux, a town about 50 miles away, so that he and his daughters could live with his brother. Thérese's older sister, Pauline, became like a second mother to her.

Two events changed Francis Bernardone. First, enemy soldiers captured him and put him in prison. Second, he met a leper.

From her very beginning, the Church has had leaders who have helped us in our search for God. Pope John XXIII was one of those leaders. Pope John XXIII was pope from 1958 until he died in 1963.

Teresa was born in 1515 in Ávila. She proved at an early age that she was an intelligent and thoughtful person. Teresa and her brother, Rodrigo, didn’t play the same games that the other children played. Instead, they preferred to go to the garden and read. They were most interested in reading the Bible and the stories of the lives of the saints.

Luke was an Evangelist, the writer of the third Gospel. He never met Christ in person, but in his Gospel he says that he came to know about Jesus by talking to eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection. Hearing those stories helped Luke to become a believer, and he wrote his Gospel so that others would come to know and love Jesus.

Peter was born in Spain in 1499. Faith and education were both important in Peter’s life from the time he was a young boy. He joined the Franciscans after he graduated from college at the age of 16. He was known for his acts of penance which he believed helped him grow closer to Christ and to understand the great suffering Jesus took on out of love for all people. For example, he would never eat large meals and would often fast from eating anything at all.