When he was 20 years old San Roque undertook a pilgrimage to Rome. And while in Italy he faced the harsh reality of a plague. There he took care of the infected and cured many of them until he himself caught the disease.
Then as today, pilgrimages were done as a sign of penitence, or asking for a particular favor from God. In other words with pilgrimages come blessings and graces. But in the case of San Roque, his pilgrimage to Rome brought him disease. In seeking for grace, San Roque found illness. What a disheartening journey it could have been for San Roque.
Yet in the mysterious ways of God, it was precisely in San Roque’s care for the sick that made him unwell, that he found his mission. It was in giving himself totally to the sick unmoved by the possibility of getting inflicted himself that Roque became San Roque. There he found holiness; he found sainthood.
It is an unfortunate fact that many people lost their faith because of illness. Being afflicted by disease, especially when sudden and/or terminal, has caused many people to get angry with God, to turn away from the church and to give up prayer altogether. San Roque is a witness to the contrary. We may not fully understand the mystery of sickness in our won lives and in the lives of our loved ones but its power can never be greater than the unconditional love of God. Mysterious too are the ways of the Lord.
We ask the intercession of San Roque, that as we face the finitude of our bodies brought about by illness and disease, we may continue to hold on to the infinite love of the Father; that as we struggle with the limitations of human life we may find consolation and strength in the limitless bounds of eternal life. Amen.
