Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest

Although these are the ordinary readings of the day, not readings proper to this saint, they fit remarkably well with the life of Saint Peter Claver, whom we celebrate today. He spent his life ministering to slaves. In fact, he called himself “the slave of slaves forever.” That was how he wanted to be known.

Peter Claver, who was canonized by Pope Leo XIII, used every resource available to him in that service. He had been born into a better life, but he laid those advantages aside and devoted himself to serving slaves. He was there on the shores as the boats arrived in the New World, ministering to them, tending their wounds, and offering them baptism. It is estimated that he may have baptized up to three hundred thousand people. He poured out his life offering them the Gospel. Cf. Society of Jesus, “In September, let us pray to St Peter Claver”; Leo XIII, In plurimis, §20 and n. 27.

He saw the injustice of their situation, but he knew that he did not have the power to overcome it by himself. He alone was not going to stop the slave trade. But he could offer them the Gospel. While he could never offer them a good life in this world, he could offer them the gift of eternal life. And that is what he spent his life doing.

In obedience to Christ’s teaching in the Sermon on the Plain, he took everything he had and offered it to them so that they could receive the faith and that wonderful gift of eternity. Though they had nothing in this life, they could have everything in the next.

That should inspire each of us. We may see many injustices in this world and know full well that we do not have the power to stop them. Individually, no one of us does. But each of us can play some role in offering the Gospel to others. While we cannot overcome the powers of this world, we do know someone who is greater than this world. And we can offer him to everyone. That is our responsibility as Christians.

Far too often, we look at the world’s challenges and say to ourselves, “I can’t do this. I can’t fix this. So I won’t do anything at all.” That is the wrong response. Our responsibility is to do something: to follow Christ to the extent that we can.

Notice that even in his own life, Christ did not overthrow every evil in the world. We do not see him bringing about systemic changes in his own time. That is not what he is calling us to do as our principal end. He preached the Gospel. He healed the people in front of him. He did wonders for them and offered them salvation. Then he sent his apostles to do the same: to minister to the people around them and slowly spread the Gospel in that way.

He gives us that same responsibility: to reach out to those around us, to do what we can, and to slowly build up God’s kingdom. It is not about electing new leaders, overthrowing political systems, or the other things that so distract the world. It is about our neighbors in need, the people right around us. They are the ones we are called to serve. However little we may be able to do for them, we should go out and do it. We should continue spreading the Gospel and offering the gift of eternal life, knowing that God can set right even those things we struggle to set right in this world.

So let us not fall into despair or apathy. Neither should we fall into the illusion that we can solve everything through political processes and systems. Let us recognize that we are called to serve the people around us, to lay our entire lives—all our resources, all our gifts and blessings—at the feet of the Lord, in service to one another.