I met a new friend last week. His name is Angelo and today is his feast day. He has everything to teach me about the grace of perseverance and a holy reliance on God alone. It is true, apart from Him God can do nothing.

Angelo was born into poverty, to parents he was incredibly proud of. His father died young so he had a profound devotion to his mother. He entered the Capuchin convent three times, leaving twice feeling uncertain of the rigor of the Capuchin lifestyle and lonesome for his family. During this 3rd attempt to become a friar, he resolved to give the devil a firm “no,” and called upon the strength of Jesus to overcome his many uncertainties. He asked the Lord for help and, as you can guess, the Lord provided. He was successfully ordained in 1690.

I tried to imagine the humility this would have required, the public opinions he would have faced, and the deep fear of failure that could have prevented him from entering the convent that third time. While reading about him, I loved this quote:

“Only when someone understands that it has been asked of him to make of a gift of his whole existence, of all that he has, even his own ideas and feelings—only then will the decision to embrace the call of the Lord be discovered as a source of profound joy and the realization of one’s proper existence.”

Overcoming this type of defeat requires a realization of what God is asking of your life and a devotion to doing only that.

His journey to reliance on God did not stop there. After being ordained, his first series of sermons resulted in complete “failure” according to the world’s measurements. For three nights, his memory completely failed him and he could not recall any of what he planned to preach. Feeling completely defeated, he turned to God in prayer. At that moment, he vowed to preach only what the Holy Spirit instructed him and abandoned his own personal agenda. He committed to a simple, understandable preaching style that was only for the benefit of others.

He worked tirelessly for the cause of Christ as a missionary preacher throughout Southern Italy. He was a gifted Confessor and social justice champion, pursuing various causes for the dignity of life.

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I have new endeavors all around me. People I love following God’s call into new business ventures, wiser health choices, and relationships, while, I have several new or developing things on the horizon personally and professionally. When I read about Saint Angelo d’Acri, I could not help but consider the reality that we all face failure and encounter obstacles. We will hear “NO,” lose our will to fight, and lose track of God’s voice. The waters will get muddy.

There is depth to abandoning your agenda, silencing the distraction of opposition, and clinging to the will of God. Getting out of your way is virtuous. Discarding the feigned apathy is important. As the article said, we must “make of a gift of our whole existence, of all that we have, even our own ideas and feelings.” Doing the work halfway to “play it safe,” giving only a partial commitment to something, is not obedience to God. I have that habit, not because I don’t desire to be obedient but because I want to make sure I’ll be “great” at it before abandoning myself to it. I doubt Angelo would advise that route. As my new friend teaches me, the Lord’s will in my life can only be done through the perseverance of giving it my whole existence. How humbling.

I have been working for the Church for over 20 years in some capacity. There have certainly been days when I wanted to quit or felt like it wasn’t working. Ministry is hard and the vineyard is complicated; opposition, setbacks, and hard moments abound.

I was reading several articles about him and I loved this excerpt written about the conclusion of his life:

“After laboring untiringly in the vineyard of the Lord for more than thirty-six years, Blessed Angelo of Acri died, worn out by work but rich in heavenly merits, on October 30, 1739.”

It is my prayer, with his intercession today, that I focus more on the heavenly merits of my work and not on those won by my humanity. I want to be worn out by the work rich in heavenly merits, whether that be in my own home or my office.

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To read more about St. Angelo D’Acri, visit: https://www.ofmcap.org/images/docs/lettere/angelo_d_acri/angelo_d_acri-en.pdf