5 July 2022
Optional Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal
Today is the memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal. She became queen at a young age. What is remarkable about her life is how much she cultivated a heart of charity and compassion toward the poor and vulnerable in her kingdom. She had a heart for the poor and a heart for peace. Her heart exemplified the heart Christ had in today’s Gospel, when we hear that “his heart was moved with pity” at the sight of the crowds and their needs.
Elizabeth’s heart, like that of Christ, was moved by those around her, and she did what she could for those in her life and in her kingdom. Elizabeth’s concern for those in her kingdom was forged by her intense prayer life: Christ gave her a compassionate heart like his own, and this compassionate heart was drawn to help those that she could in her kingdom.
The harvest is truly plenty in our world, and the laborers our world needs are those with hearts like Christ: hearts moved with pity for those in our lives and who go out to share Christ with others. Let us pray to have hearts like Christ, in the model of St. Elizabeth, who let her heart be formed by Christ in prayer so that it could be moved to act with compassion and peace to those she encountered.