Lilies and Blood

St. Maria Goretti, virgin martyr (July 6)
The Gospel from today's Mass was St. Matthew's account of his own calling by our Blessed Lord (Mt 9:9-13). In the reading, while Jesus is at Matthew's house for dinner with all of Matthew's smarmy, not-our-type-of-people, tax collector and sinner friends. The Pharisees become disturbed and ask Jesus' disciples why their master eats with such people.

Maria Goretti, born to a hardworking and prosperous peasant family was neither a despicable sinner as St. Matthew had been, nor a self-righteous goody-goody. In fact, while her piety was noted by all the neighbors, she strove to keep it private as a gift just for Jesus. She was also noted for her modesty without being showy about it. And she was noticed by a young man at least as despicable as St. Matthew before his conversion. Her older, teenage neighbor Alessandro Serenelli had for some time exposed himself to pornography and lewd romances. As Maria matured, he took notice of her and began making advances upon her. She always politely and firmly rejected his overtures. On July 5, 1902, finding her alone sewing with only her baby sister nearby asleep, Alessandro propositioned her a final time. When she rejected him again, he tried to force himself upon her and choked her. When she told him that she would never comply, he became enraged and stabbed her 14 times. Her mother and Serenelli's father discovered her shortly later and took her to a nearby hospital. After undergoing unsuccessful surgery without anesthesia, she expressed her forgiveness of her murderer as she died, stated that she deeply hoped he would join her one day in heaven. She died on July 6, 1902.

After three years in prison, Alessandro was still unrepentant and refused to communicate with the world. Maria, however, took the initiative and appeared to him in his cell in a dream as Jesus visited Matthew's outcast friends on their own turf. In the dream, she gave him a white lily, symbol of purity, for each of the stab wounds he had inflicted upon her. He awoke a changed man, competely repentant. His conversion was as rapid and complete as St. Matthew's had been. Upon his release from prison some years later, Alessandro begged Maria's mother for forgiveness. She forgave him, and the next day they each confessed and then received Holy Communion at Mass, side by side. In 1950, he sat beside her at the canonization Mass for her daughter.

We must be very careful not to assign people permanently to some category or another in our mind: he's a thief, she's a tramp, he's good for nothing. Doing so implicitly denies the power of the Holy Spirit to move people's hearts and transform them according to God's good will. Such rigid judgment of persons also closes us off to Jesus' Sacred Heart. His Heart always reaches out to others in whatever way is possible. His Heart seeks only the good of others. His Heart even sheds its blood for those who harm it.

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!