Well Traddy is off to have surgery Friday morning, so any prayers you have to offer would be grand! See you back here in a few days, God willing.Saint Camillus is the patron saint of the sick. He was born in 1550 in Chieti in the Abruzzi region of Italy. He was a soldier and many sources say that as a young man he struggled with gambling, which was a common activity of the soldiers as they were traveling or simply to pass the time. At certain point in his life he came to a crossroads and the Lord touched His heart and underwent a deep inner conversion.
In 1582, when he was only 32 years old, he founded a society that would care for the sick and the poor. This society established hospitals and they cared for the sick with greatest care. It was devotion of love, which he carried out until his death in Rome in 1614. He is the patron saint of nurses, of the sick and of hospitals.
Dear friends, each of us, like Saint Camillus, is in need of conversion. Perhaps we need a moment of grace, a moment of great conversion, and of turning back to the Lord. Perhaps we are simply in need of that daily conversion, that daily turning to Christ. Conversion is all about turning from the ways of the world, and turning toward Christ; it is about turning away from our will, and turning toward of the will of Christ; it is about turning away from darkness, and turning toward the light of Christ; it is about turning from sin and death, and turning toward life in Christ. Yes, we need this at all times. Perhaps God may grant us a big moment, and that is very good, but let us pray that, through the intercession of Saint Camillus, we may each and every day turn to Christ and be converted in our hearts. One small step every day, and God willing, we will arrive at the great goal, the kingdom of God, our place of rest. Saint Camillus, pray for us! Amen.
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