“I am quite sure that without special help from heaven it would have been impossible for me to bear up under the tiring and prolonged work load I bore from 1840 to 1847, when I went to the Canary Islands…”

(Auto.305).

LED BY THE GRACE OF GOD

As per what this text reflects, Father Claret spent 7 years for the mission in the Catalonian lands. Paying attention on those investigators, his passionate missionary sons, to know and spread his life and work, they draw our attention that during this period he has visited 100 towns and villages spending in each one of them 10 to 15 days, going by foot from one place to another to incarnate better the way of life of Jesus. His work in those years was truly enormous if we calculate his popular missions, retreat preachings and starting to publish books. The total number of his travel days, preachings and pastoral activities ate up all his time.

He as well as his biographers attribute this resistance and capacity of full time commitment to a special assistance of the grace of God. That total commitment to the evangelizing tasks, service and solidarity continues awakening an admiration and even a strange feeling to question, “How was it possible?” We find throughout the history the persons whose boundless strength and commitment have been reason for our praise, admiration and also incomprehension and jealousy of the detractors. Claret did not miss this in his life.

There is a lamentation in our time over the lack of models for identification and exemplary persons, and “seducers” of the youth who search sometimes just to admire the sportsman or actors who perhaps have nothing to do with the noble causes of the humanity. We feel the absence of the persons full of humanity in a world that deeply suffers from the value crisis. In the religious context we lack today´s “modern” saints, who propagate a radicality of life that is calling and questioning very much.

When we meet persons like Claret, his life and realizations highly overwhelm and provoke in us the certainty of something in his activity that exceeds normal human capacities: it is the grace of God and without this power, such works would be unexplainable. We have to decide to commit our whole life to God who transforms and impels us amazingly.