Born in Peru in 1579, the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman
and a freed black slave, Martin de Porres embodies quite literally the often
conflictual encounter between the cultures and races of very different
worlds. But as a
barber-surgeon and Dominican tertiary with the heart of Jesus his
Lord, Martin knew how to become an instrument of universal reconciliation
through active mercy, ardently loving and serving the poor and the sick. He truly "regarded others humbly as more
important than himself, putting their interests before his own,"(Phil 2:3-4) and so he emptied himself through works of outpoured love. Let us, too, welcome this same action of
transforming grace in our own lives.
Meditation by Father Simeon.
