On Savio and Namuncura

Namuncura and Savio have got some things in common.

One is that the church recognized their sanctity. The latter was canonized, while the former was beatified.

Aside from this, they were both bosconians.  

And your guess is as good as mine: They would have been splendid Salesians if God permitted them to live longer. But as we know it, they lived only a short life. Savio met the Creator when he was just barely 15 years old. Namuncura, however, smiled goodbye when he was about my age: 19 years old.

When he entered the Salesian school, it was not a walk in the park. He found it difficult to fall in line and to be obedient to the sound of the bell.

Picking up Savio as his model, Namuncura's companions could no longer distinguish the former from the latter. He became a wonderful copy of him.

When a companion slighted him with the question "how does a human flesh taste like" inferring that he was a cannibal since he was an Indian, he responded with just a big tear.

The life of Zefferino is a parable of scarcely 19 years, but it was a life filled with lessons.

Fr. Chavez said that "A saint is never like a meteorite that unexpectedly flashes across the sky of humanity, but is rather the fruit of a long and silent gestation in a family.”

Saints inspire others to be saints. Let us learn from their examples.