“I am your source” (Inner Word).
We can turn to this source at any time, from which the water of divine life always flows to enlighten and heal our lives, to quench our thirst for love and truth. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (Jn 4:14)
The life of today’s saint shows how many obstacles are sometimes placed in the way of those destined for a great mission by God. In the story we will hear today, it was not so much external enemies — although these also joined in later — but rather his own family who resisted. Such resistance can be even more challenging to confront, given that these are people with whom one has grown up and is bound by blood or friendship, yet who oppose God’s plans due to their lack of comprehension. This was the case with Saint Joseph of Leonisa in the 16th century.
His family had high expectations for the brilliant career the young man could achieve in the world. His marriage to a noble lady of extraordinary beauty and great fortune had already been arranged. However, Joseph fled his father’s house and requested admission to the Capuchins in Assisi, the birthplace of St Francis. But even in the convent, where the young man had begun his novitiate, his relatives did not give him any respite.
