January Drinking Companion
St. Andre Bessette gets the nod this month for several reasons. First off it’s the night before his feast day, he was French Canadian and I came across a seminarian on this journey who was associated with his order. This led to the visit of Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. In addition I was at his tomb in St. Joseph’s Oratory back in May, when I went to purchase my espresso machine in Albany, NY.
With that backdrop, I want to focus on a man, who was an orphan growing up, he was trusted to the Congregation of the Holy Cross as a teenager to be cared for, and he spent his entire life as a doorman, for this congregation. He was never more than a brother doing administration work, and no glory like that of the priest who serves the sacraments and gets to do all the great God work…..technically.
St Andre is however the model saint Jesus Christ loves to exult. It’s in these types of lives, Jesus’ promise is always fulfilled. The first shall be last and the last shall be the first, or the great will be humbled and the humble exulted. During St. Andre’s life he always trusted in St. Joseph the worker as he was taught to do out of obedience to his charism as a brother. He even had an oil that was dedicated to St. Joseph that he blessed people with as the poor door man he was. These people would come and talk to him, they would share their lives with Andre, and he would always encourage their trust and faith in St. Joseph as a providing father, in addition to trusting our Lord Jesus Christ.
This trust would eventually build a great church, were a small chapel once stood, in the heart of Montreal… Andre would not see finished due to his death. However nearly 1 million people showed up over the span of a week for his funeral. This was a shock to everyone that his frail, quiet and insignificant man would have such a huge impact on a city. At this point they realized they lived with a true saint. All he did was answer the door for anyone who knocked. Consider this in your life, how could you impact the world around you, if you just did the job you are called to do, with humility, and great joy. For me personally, this saint and others like him were life changing. It’s the only reason why I would have amazing experiences in whatever work I’ve done since my return to faith. If you do your best, you allow the fullness of life to manifest.
