St Josephine Bahkita (8 February): I Would Kneel & Kiss Their Hands | Slavery, Suffering, & Sanctity

About this sermon

Blessed is the man who could do evil and has not done it. In today’s lesson for the Feast of St. John Matha, we reflect on the heroic virtue of saints who had every earthly reason to hate — yet chose forgiveness, mercy, and the conversion of their enemies. St. John Matha, founder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, dedicated his life to redeeming Christian captives taken by the Muhammadans, even offering himself in exchange for prisoners when ransom could not be paid. His life reminds us that true Christian charity knows no limits. We also hear the astonishing testimony of St. Josephine Bakhita, whose story Pope Benedict XVI recounts in Spe Salvi. Kidnapped as a child, beaten, sold into slavery, scarred by unimaginable cruelty — and yet transformed by Christ into a saint who could say: “If I were to meet the slave traders who kidnapped me, I would kneel and kiss their hands.” Her forgiveness was not weakness — it was the triumph of grace. Alongside St. Patrick, who forgave his captors and returned to convert them, these saints reveal the true power of Christianity: not vengeance, but redemption; not hatred, but conversion; not bondage, but freedom in Christ. This sermon challenges us to ask: Are we holding others in bondage through resentment? Do we demand conditions before we forgive? Are we willing to desire the conversion of those who have wronged us? May the witness of these saints move us to radical charity, deep humility, and total trust in God’s providence. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 00:00 – Blessed is the man who could do evil and has not 00:22 – Feast of St. John Matha 00:28 – Life of St. John Matha and redemption of captives 00:46 – Offering oneself in place of prisoners 01:02 – St. Patrick: forgiveness of his captors 01:37 – The power of Christianity 01:40 – St. Josephine Bakhita in Spe Salvi 01:58 – Her kidnapping and slavery in Sudan 02:45 – Testimony of brutal punishment 03:21 – The cruelty inflicted for another’s anger 03:59 – Tattooing wounds and salt poured into flesh 04:51 – “We have yet to suffer as the saints did” 05:15 – “I would kneel and kiss their hands” 05:40 – Loving everyone with compassion 06:08 – Saints who refused revenge 06:38 – St. Bakhita’s final agony 06:56 – Our Lady frees her from suffering 07:10 – Death of St. Josephine Bakhita (1947) For more please visit http://www.reginaprophetarum.org & remember to say 3 Hail Marys for the priest 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 #Catholic #SaintJosephineBakhita #StJohnMatha #ChristianForgiveness #CatholicSermon #LivesOfTheSaints #TraditionalCatholic #SpeSalvi #RedemptiveSuffering #PowerOfGrace

Topics

• Suffering & Trials