One of my heroes, Father Damien, was recently recognized. While I'm not thrilled with the idea of saint canonization, I do rejoice that the sacrificial life that Damien led is being celebrated.
Father Damien (Jozef De Veuster), was a priest who went to Hawaii in the late 1800s to minister to those who had been exiled to Molokai due to leprosy.
His example of how to minister sensitively cross culturally was an inspiration to me when I went to China. His attitude is displayed in a letter he wrote six months after arriving in the leper colony, "…I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ."
His worked and ministered with the lepers for 16 years before he contracted and died from the disease himself.
You can read more about him on wiki here.
Also this is a great book on his life.
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