Today in the book In Caelo et in Terra, we read about a wonderful story of redemption from a life so horrible it's hard for us to imagine. She was stolen from her tribe in Sudan and sold into slavery. She was trafficked and tormented by her captors. The trauma was so severe that she forgot her early life and even her name, and only went by Bakhita which is the name her captors gave her, meaning "fortunate one." She was purchased by an Italian family and kept as a slave in Italy until she was finally given her freedom (over protests from the Italian family) and became a professed religious sister in the Canossians. She lived the last fifty years of her life serving the poor and needy in her community in a life of holiness and love. She took the name Josephine when she became a sister. You can read more about her here.
Can you imagine? God redeemed her from the horrific life that man had subjected her to. He reached down and saved her from a life of sexual slavery. He redeemed her and made her His own, and gave her a happy life of helping others for the last fifty years. That's amazing.
God, thank You for rescuing this wonderful saint and showing us that You can and will redeem us when we ask. St Josephine Bakhita, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment