By Father James King – June 17, 2022
Recently I saw an article on Catholic News Service that, in early April of this year, the Holy Father had approved miracles for two new saints. Stories like these fill my inbox every day so I had not thought much of it until I saw the picture that went with it: a man in a white coat, a stethoscope around his shoulders, and a mustache on his lip. I thought to myself, “But St. Gusieppe Moscati is already canonized!?” When I clicked on the article I discovered a new saint-to-be I had never heard of, Bl. Artemide Zatti. Bl. Zatti, a professed Lay Salesian, lived in 19th-20th century Argentina where he worked as a nurse, pharmacist, surgery assistant, and hospital administrator.
In many ways, Bl. Zatti’s story is like that of so many other saints: served the poor, was tireless in his work, devoted to Our Lady, did not take payment for what he did. However what struck me most was his clear identification with the poor that lead him to sacrifice. Bl. Zatti grew up in extreme poverty, and, after he began his medical career, soon contracted tuberculosis. This young man did not look upon his patients from the outside, rather, he knew what it meant to be one of them. The second “moment” in his life was his choice to become neither a priest nor a doctor. This renunciation of positions of power and authority enabled him to remain more faithful to the work that he knew Jesus had entrusted to him.
For our own reflection: How does our own experience of suffering enable us to identify with those we serve? What might God be asking us to renounce in order to carry out the mission entrusted to us?
As St. John Paul II said at his beatification homily: “May [Bl. Artemide Zatti’s] example help us to be conscious of the presence of the Lord and bring us to welcome him in all our needy brothers and sisters.”
