March 5 | Saint John Joseph of the Cross

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, we have a story that is going to sound completely backward to the way the world usually works.

Usually, when you think of someone in charge, a boss, a manager, a leader, you think of someone with a fancy degree, years of experience, and maybe a nice corner office. But today, we are traveling back to 17th century Italy to meet a teenager who was given a job that would terrify most adults. Picture this. You are 16 years old, and suddenly the people in charge look at you and say, hey. We need you to go build our new headquarters. That is exactly what happened to today's saint, Saint John Joseph of the Cross.

From the time he was a very young kid, he wasn't interested in living a comfortable, easy life. While other kids might have been looking for fun or comfort, he was looking for discipline and closeness to God. When he turned 16, he made a huge decision. He joined the Franciscans. Now, normally, when you join a group like that at 16, you are the student. You are the novice. You are there to learn, keep your head down, and listen. But John Joseph was different.

His superiors, the bosses of the order, saw something special in him immediately. They noted his holiness. They saw it so clearly that they did something drastic. They commissioned this teenager to establish a new friary before he was even ordained a priest.

This shows us that spiritual maturity has nothing to do with your age. You can be young and still be a powerhouse of faith. Eventually, John Joseph did become a priest, but here is another fascinating twist. He didn't really want the title. He was eventually ordained, despite his reluctance. He wasn't chasing power or status. Yet, because he was so capable, he kept getting promoted. He was appointed novice master, then guardian, and eventually provincial. Being provincial is a big deal. It means you are in charge of all the friars in a specific region.

John Joseph carried out his duties with charity and humility. And listen to this. Instead of bossing people around, he always preferred to perform the lowest and most difficult tasks himself. After he finished his term as provincial, he devoted the rest of his life to hearing confessions and the practice of interior and exterior mortifications.

Mortification is a fancy word for self-denial, giving up comforts to stay focused on God. And it wasn't just his humility that drew people to him. This humble friar possessed the gift of miracles. People who were sick came to him seeking healing, and he cured them. Can you imagine? The same guy scrubbing the floor one minute is performing miracles the next. He was also well known for his deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He didn't just keep this to himself. He encouraged his penitents, the people coming to him for confession, to cultivate a devotion to her as well.

St. John Joseph lived a long life of service. He died from illness at the age of 84. He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI. Today, he is honored as the patron saint of Ischia, Italy. Your mission today is to find the lowest task in your house or at school, the chore that nobody wants to do. Maybe it's taking out the smelly trash, scrubbing a dirty dish, or picking up something someone else dropped. Do it without being asked, and do it without complaining. Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.