St. Isidore was a holy man who worked as a day laborer. He did not own a farm, but worked on the farm of a wealthy land owner.
One of his habits that he would never budge on was his commitment to attend daily Mass.
Fr. Michael Mueller explains in his book The Blessed Eucharist Our Greatest Treasure how he “was accused by some of his fellow laborers to his master of staying too long in the church and of being always too late at work.”
St. Isidore believed that he had a duty to God, but that he also had a duty to his employer. Instead of neglecting either duty, St. Isidore prayed to God for help in fulfilling his obligations.
What happened next was most unexpected and is the most popular story told about St. Isidore’s life.
Mueller goes on to explain how the land owner wanted to see for himself whether or not St. Isidore was neglecting his duties to attend Mass:
His master, to convince himself of the truth of the accusation, went out early in the morning to see whether Isidore came in due time to the farm; but how great was his astonishment when he beheld two Angels, dressed in white, ploughing with two yoke of oxen and St. Isidore in their midst. From this time forward Isidore was held in great veneration by the wealthy farmer and by all who heard of the fact.
In this way, St. Isidore was able to fulfill his daily obligation on the farm, and attend daily Mass.
St. Isidore wanted to keep God front and center in his life, always praying the first thing in the morning.
He also knew the grace and strength he would receive from attending Mass and adoring God in the Eucharist and made daily Mass a priority.
In many ways his faith was similar to that of Mother Teresa, who insisted on a daily holy hour before Jesus in the Eucharist.
Mother Teresa gave a powerful speech to those assembled for the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976, and reiterated this simple fact:
To be able to live this life of vows, these four vows, we need our life to be woven with the Eucharist. That’s why we begin our day with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. With him, we go forward. And when we come back in the evening we have one hour of adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and at this you will be surprised, that we have not had to cut down our work for the poor.
While not everyone is able to attend Mass on a daily basis, we can all learn from these examples and seek to put God first in our lives.
And today we celebrate...