Who is Padre Pio and what can he tell us about how to use our time?

“I recommend you to have a firm and generous proposal to always serve God with all your heart.  Do not worry about tomorrow. Think about doing good today.  And when tomorrow comes, it will be today and then you can think about it.” -  Padre Pio, July 4, 1917. 

A few years ago, Karen and I went to Italy to visit. We visited Rome and did all the traditional sites. We saw the Vatican, the Pieta, the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum and many other famous sites that now elude me.  After a week of Rome, we left for the town of Quadrelle outside of Naples.  We love to spend time in both city and country, leaning more heavily to the time we can spend in the more rural areas. Quadrelle was a fabulous little town in the Campania region of Italy. It was close to the Amalfi Coast as well as many attractions such as Pompeii, the Isle of Capri and the Castle at Caserta. In addition, it was smaller and friendlier than Rome.

One of the things that struck me in this small town and the surrounding area was the love that the local people had for a monk named Padre Pio.  There was a statue of him in a little park in town.  Before coming to Italy, I had only passing acquaintance with him and no real knowledge of his life. To me, he was just another “Saint” or perhaps someone whom they were debating over sainthood.  To the locals, there was no question that he was a saint. One might think he became a saint because of great accomplishments, great deeds or great heroics. However, it was just the opposite. Padre Pio was a very simple man. He was not high up in any orders of the church hierarchy.  In fact, for many years, his own church persecuted him as a fraud and psycho.  Today he is loved because he was a very wise and kind man. The quote above is from one of his many letters explaining how to live more fully.

Many great spiritual traditions advise us to live in the present and not worry about things we cannot fix or times that we have no control over. Nevertheless, many of us spend our time needlessly worrying about the future and forget about living for today. What can you do today that would add some measure of good to the world? The Boy Scouts say: “Do a good deed daily.” That’s not such a bad idea. Doing a good deed each day is a great way to live in the present. What is one “good deed” you can do for someone today?