During St. Josephine Bakhita’s years as doorkeeper, Italians were taken by her cheerful demeanor. But the horrors of slavery troubled her the rest of her life. Her final years were marred by sickness. In a fevered state, she once pleaded with a nurse to loosen the chains that bound her wrists. But she never lost her belief in God. When visitors asked how she was feeling, Josephine’s token response to them was, “As the Master desires.”
That total abandonment to God would be Josephine’s legacy—and it is one we can work toward as 21st-century Catholics. As we approach the season of Lent, in this month of recognizing our African American brothers and sisters, these words from Pope John Paul II, who beatified her, ring true: “God used Josephine to teach us all the meaning of Jesus’ words: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.’”
—from St. Anthony Messenger‘s “St. Josephine Bakhita—a Model of Faith“
by Christopher Heffron
