St John of God: Ask Him How He Got That Name

 Today in the book In Caelo et in Terra, we read about St John of God. That's a pretty cool and impressive name, right? So you'd think that there must be a great story behind so awesome a name. 

But there's not.

There IS an interesting and somewhat sad story about the man, though. He somehow left his home when he was just a child, and his mother died of grief and his father then joined the Franciscans. It's not clear how this happened. But John was then taken care of by another family (Why the father didn't take him back we don't know.) and was taught to be a shepherd. He then joined the army and lived a life of sinfulness, unconcerned about the things of God. So far this doesn't sound like a "St John of God" story, right?

But then he heard the preaching of St John of Avila. One John helped save another. After coming back to God, he decided to live a life of penance. He then lived in poverty and ran a shelter and hospital for the poor. The local Bishop one day said, "You should be called John of God." That's how he got his name. 

He died one day while praying in his room.

You can read more about him here.

The take home message is that much of his life made little sense. But God brought him back from wandering away, and now he's known as St John of God because of what God did for him.

God, thanks for saving this man from himself and giving him a life of meaning. St John of God, pray for us.