(1880-1927) Giuseppe Mario Carolo Alphonse Moscati was the seventh of nine children born to a prominent Italian lawyer and magistrate. The family moved to Naples when he was four. He was friends of Saints Bartolo Longo and Caterina Volpicelli. Joseph received a doctorate from the University of Naples, was administrator of a hospital for the incurable, helped prepare and recover from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in April 1906, and worked to stop cholera. He received another doctorate in physiological chemistry, was the first to experiment with the use of insulin for diabetes, directed several other hospitals, helped wounded soldiers in World War I, supported the poor and outcast, and occasionally healed patients miraculously.
We apply every tool available to us to achieve the mission God gives us. Work, science, psychology, and prayer are all put in this service. In recovery, we put in the work, but we also turn over our will and our lives to God’s care. How do you find the balance between surrender and work?
“Pain is not to be treated as a tic or a muscular contraction, but as the cry of a soul to which another brother rushes with the fire of love and mercy” (Saint Joseph Moscati).
Reflection by Brad Farmer