Mt. 10:1, 7-8
Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority to expel unclean spirits and to cure sickness and disease of every kind… As you go, make this announcement: ‘The reign of God is at hand!’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons. The gift you have received, give as a gift.
In October 1864, Jose Gregorio Hernandez was born in the small town of Trujillo, Venezuela. The eldest of seven children, he spent his entire childhood in that same small town. When Jose turned 14, he headed to Caracas to begin a more formal education. He finished a degree in philosophy and then enrolled in the University of Central Venezuela to begin his medical studies. During his six years at the university, his professors praised him for both his brilliance and his character. After becoming a doctor in 1888, the Venezuelan government awarded him a grant to study in Paris. There, Jose explored bacteriology, pathology, and physiology.
Between 1891 and 1916, Jose Gregorio taught medicine at the University of Caracas and began serious religious practices. He sought to enter the priesthood. Due to poor health, he could not pursue that dream. So, focusing on the gift he had been given, he paid for a lab with modern equipment and reached out to heal those he could. He became known as the “Doctor of the Poor.” Perhaps this was because Dr. Hernandez truly understood Jesus’ command to give as a gift what we have received as a gift. He treated the poor free of charge, paying for any medicines they needed. (It is interesting to note that when he was struck by a car in Caracas in 1919 and killed, he was crossing the street after picking up medicine for a poor woman who was ill.)
Though Jose Gregorio was an excellent physician, he also practiced the virtues and was known for charity, piety, abstinence, and chastity. Praying and fasting, he found strength in contemplation. He learned much from his deep union with the Lord. During a time when many saw religion and science at odds, Jose showed by his very life how scientific knowledge along with a love for the Christian faith were not only compatible but complementary.
While many miracles have been attributed to Dr. Hernandez, the one that led to his beatification occurred in 2017. A young girl, Yaxury, was shot in the head by a thief. The family rushed her to the nearest hospital, four hours from their home. They then had to wait two days for her surgery. In that time, critical brain mass was lost. The doctors did not expect the child, if she lived, to be able to lead a normal life. The injured child’s mother had entrusted Yaxury to Dr. Hernandez, whom the Venezuelan people have always revered. In a vision, the mother saw the good doctor’s hand come to rest her shoulder, assuring her that her child would be fine. Several weeks later, Yaxury walked out of the hospital in good condition. She and her mother attended Dr. Hernandez’s Beatification in April, 2021. At the ceremony, Pope Francis said that Dr. Hernandez “Is a model of holiness committed to the defense of life, to the challenge of history, and, in particular, as a paradigm of service to others, like a Good Samaritan, excluding no one.”
Bl. Jose Gregorio Hernandez is today’s Ornament of Grace.
OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS
- What is a particular gift you have been given that you can give as a gift to others?
- As one of the Lord’s disciples, you also can, in some way, cure sickness and disease. How?
