Homily: September 9 - St. Peter Claver - Slave of Slaves

Peter Claver was born in Spain in 1581.  Soon after entering the Jesuit order around the age of 20, he met a Saintly Jesuit lay brother St. Alfonso Rodriguez who urged him to volunteer as a missionary to South America and work amongst the slaves.  He left his homeland in his early 30s to be ordained a priest in Columbia in a time when the slave trade was well established in the Americas.  Ten thousand slaves poured into the port each year after crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul and inhuman that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit. Although the practice of slave-trading was condemned by the Popes of the time, it continued to flourish.

There in Columbia, Peter Claver devoted himself to care of the slaves.  As soon as a slave ship would arrive in Columbia, Peter would go to the ill-treated and exhausted passengers.  While the slaves were herded out of the ship like chained animals, Peter would be among them administering medicine and distributing food and drink.  With the help of interpreters he gave basic instructions and assured his brothers and sisters of their human dignity and God's saving love. During the 40 years of his ministry, Claver instructed and baptized an estimated 300,000 slaves.

When he was not engaged in his ministry to the slaves, Pater counseled and brought the sacraments to prisoners, prepared criminals for death, visited the city's hospitals and conducted annual missions for traders and sailors. He preached in the city square and tried to convince the merchants and slavers to turn away from the evil of slavery.

In 1650 Peter Claver fell victim to an epidemic that was raging through the city of Cartagena, and was literally abandoned to die in his sickness.

Peter Claver remarked more than once how it took everything in him at times to go down into the disgusting conditions of the slave-ships filled with filth and stench.  He reminds us that true loving service is about liking what we do, we might even be filled with resistance and revulsion, but loving service means being faithful despite our personal feelings.

Saints like Peter Claver remind us that holiness and joy can be found, not by turning away, but when we pour ourselves out in loving service to those in need.  Our Opening Prayer praised God for making St. Peter Claver "a slave to slaves", but the Lord continue to shape in loving service towards all, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.