Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest

 

Lectionary: 440

Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.

A lot of health care workers today might invoke Saint Peter Claver, a 17th century Spanish Jesuit. Arriving in Cartagena, he found a thriving slave trader with thousands of human chattel imported through that city to the sugarcane fields of Venezuela. He might have protested that abomination as we might protest the arms industry today. To no end. Slavery had been legal and morally accepted since time immemorial with no end in sight. 

So the young priest used his Jesuit habit and clerical status to go where he was certainly not welcome. He announced the Gospel to the unfortunate human beings even as they were hauled out of the cargo holds onto the docks and auction blocks. Baptized Christians would receive less inhumane treatment than the unbaptized, because they were promised salvation and a Judgement Day when they would be their owners' equals in the eyes of God. For some European slavers, it made a difference. 

As health care workers in the United States today, we find ourselves caring for people who would not care for themselves. Many would not even get a proven vaccine against a dangerous, highly contagious disease. Some have refused on religious/moral grounds without the support of any religious denomination; others simply refused to believe what recognized authorities told them. 

It's one thing to care for victims; it's more difficult to care for volunteers who refuse to practice ordinary caution. 

But they are victims also, of their misguided choices as they listened to evil shepherds. In many cases, they have been told by religious authorities that they can choose their own truths. They need not listen to legitimate authorities but can interpret the Bible as they see fit, and believe whatever they want to believe about religion, politics, economics, or science. Flattered and seduced by utter nonsense, they are herded like cattle into political coalitions and religious assemblies where they find like-minded support. Those assemblies are often superspreaders of disease. 

Health care workers, then, must care for those who, like 17th century slaves, collapse under the regime of unnecessary evil. 

Saint Peter Claver baptized tens of thousands of slaves, most of them would not survive ten years in the hot South American sun. They would never know freedom; they would never understand the economic, religious, and political forces that chained them. Their names known only to God, they had received a promise they could not understand from a kindly priest who believed in God's endless mercy. 

Four centuries later, we pray to the same God, invoking his mercy upon our patients.