He knew what God was asking of him

To all the Brothers and Co-workers, members of the Hospitaller Family of St John of God

On the occasion of the Solemnity of St John of God, our Founder, I send my congratulations and best wishes to the entire Hospitaller Family of St John of God trusting that everyone will be celebrating with joy on the feast of our Patron Saint.

On this occasion I would like to recall the scene of the fire at the Royal Hospital in Granada and the action of St John of God in an urgent situation which left the people of Granada first paralysed and then in admiration for the way in which our holy Founder intervened. Castro tells us about it in chapter XIII of his biography of St John of God.

We can imagine the scene. Without a doubt, for some important reason, a party had been organised in the Royal Hospital and the kitchens needed to work under greater pressure, or it may simply have been an accident. Whatever it was, the fire soon began to devour the enclosure built using a lot of wood which helped to fuel the fire. Inside, many people quickly managed to escape from the Hospital when they realised that the flames were getting higher and higher and its impossible to think of dousing the flames using buckets of water. But it was a Hospital, with a large unit of mentally ill people, who were paralysed with fear. What would become of them, who would care for them, who would rush in to save them from the fire?

Many people from all walks of life in Granada had flocked to the fire and everyone knew that there were still many sick people in there who needed to get out to save themselves from being burnt alive. They, too, were worried, but could not move, paralysed by fear: how could anyone go inside under such conditions, placing their own lives in jeopardy.

When John of God heard the news, all he could think of was the sick people who were inside, and he rushed to the site. As soon as he arrived and despite seeing the vast extent of the fire, he knew what God was asking of him. There was no time to think too much, there were many sick people inside, a few of them his own companions all in need of help and someone who would bring them safely out of this hell-fire. Driven on by Our Lord, he dashed into the burning Hospital without looking or thinking about the threat to his own life, and little by little he pulled out every one of the sick people. Castro says that he even saved furniture, bedding, clothes and other belongings. With all that fire and smoke no-one there expected him to survive, but he left the Hospital unharmed, apart from his "scorched eyebrows", to the astonishment and joy of the vast crowd of onlookers who had gathered by that time.

This is how John of God attracted ever greater admiration from those who knew him. Indeed, Castro says at the end of his account of this episode: "And there are many more such deeds in his life that might be mentioned here, but for the sake of brevity have been left out". Faced with the needs of those who were suffering, John knew what God was asking of him: to forget about himself and give everything for his brother, even putting his life at risk, as happened in the fire at the Royal Hospital, but also at other times in his life, as we well know. It was the Spirit of Our Lord who impelled him to do so, and such was his charismatic power, which, like the Good Samaritan, following Jesus Christ, he put the needs of others before his own life, in a total offering of himself. He was not afraid, because it was God who was urging him on and guiding him, caring for him and accompanying him, and who would provide him with support and who never failed him..

For all of us, his testimony throws down challenges and encourages us to constantly renew our vocation and our hospitaller mission. The needs are still many, sometimes not as serious as the fire at the Royal Hospital, but at other times even more so, and they are always urgent for the suffering people in our world and in the places where we all live. Sometimes we are in danger of becoming paralysed, worried for a moment, but immobile, hardly doing anything. Often we are in that group of the non-active worriers. Perhaps we are losing the sensitivity which first ignited our hearts when we decided to follow the path of John of God, and perhaps we do not always ask ourselves what God is asking of us in the face of the states of suffering which we encounter..

As you all know, we have begun preparing for the next General Chapter, which is planned to be celebrated in Częstochowa (Poland) in October next year. The witness which our Founder gives us has to be the best approach that all the members of the St John of God Family can adopt to prepare for the Chapter and to confront the issue of the Order’s future. Like John of God, all of us must know what God is asking of us: to do and give everything for the sick, the poor and the needy, even at the risk of our own lives, whenever there is a state of suffering and need. This is the most radical side of hospitality, which we must always be ready to experience, as St John of God did in the case of the fire at the Royal Hospital in Granada and in many others. The Church, the world and the Order need clear and radical witnesses of hospitality, people who do not think of themselves, but place their lives at the service of others. John of God knew what God was asking of him and he obeyed. We know it too:  let us give everything, even our own lives, to follow Our Lord. This is how John of God began his work, which lasts until this day. In this way, the Order will have a future, because that is what God is asking of us.     

I would now like to announce the results of the 2022 campaign for the project "Building Hope in Cuba", to build a Palliative Care Unit in the San Rafael Home for the elderly in Havana and to restructure the Santa Ana Unit of the St John of God Sanatorium in Havana for the mentally ill.  We managed to raise a total of 422,984.75 euros, thanks to everyone’s sense of solidarity, for which once again I offer you my most heartfelt thanks.

At the same time I would like to announce that the campaign for the current year 2023 will be for the project "East Timor (Portuguese Province)". This is a centre caring for homeless and excluded people. I thank you in advance for your generosity and urge you to support this cause, which serves the poor and excluded people of East Timor. More reports will be sent out soon. 

I wish you all a Happy Feast of St John of God. May his example teach us to discern what God is asking of us in the situations which we are all experiencing, in order to respond, with tenderness and hospitality in the face of the any figurative firer we encounter every day.  

United in Our Lord and in St John of God, I send you all my fraternal best wishes,

Hno. Jesús Etayo