November 26 + Saint John Berchmans

John was born in 1599, in the city of Diest situated in what is now the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. He was the oldest of five children and at baptism was named John in honor of St. John the Baptist. He grew up in an atmosphere of political turmoil caused by a religious war between the Catholic and Protestant parts of the Low Countries. When he was age nine, his mother was stricken with a very long and serious illness. John would pass several hours each day by her bedside. He studied at the grammar school at Diest and worked as a servant in the household of Canon John Froymont at Malines in order to continue his studies. John also made pilgrimages to the Marian shrine of Scherpenheuvel.

In 1615, the Jesuits opened a college at Malines (Mechelen) and John was one of the first to enroll. Immediately upon entering, he enrolled in the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin. When John wrote his parents that he wished to join the Society of Jesus, his father hurried to Malines to dissuade him and sent him to the Franciscan convent in Malines. At the convent, a friar who was related to John also attempted to change his mind.

Nevertheless, John entered the Jesuit novitiate. He was affable, kind, and endowed with an outgoing personality that endeared him to others. He requested that after ordination as a priest he could become a chaplain in the army, hoping to be martyred on the battlefield.

He made his first vows and went to Antwerp to begin studying philosophy. After only a few weeks he was sent to Rome, where he was to continue the same study. He set out on foot, with his belongings on his back, and on arrival was admitted to the Roman College to begin two years of study.

The prefect of studies selected John to participate in a discussion of philosophy at the Greek College, which at the time was administered by the Dominicans. John opened the discussion with great clarity and profoundness, but after returning to his own quarters, was seized with the Roman fever. His lungs became inflamed and his strength diminished rapidly. He succumbed to dysentery and fever at 22 years of age.

John is the Patron Saint of altar boys, Jesuit scholastics and students.

"Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us. What we really are consists in what God knows us to be." – Saint John Berchmans

This world will tell you that your worth is determined by material goods, what do you have. By decaying looks, how do you appear. By what you’ve accomplished based on the flawed standards of a fleeting and broken world … but remember this, all is rot. What you see around you will turn once again to ash and dust. There is only one thing that will remain and only one truth you must hold onto. You are a child of God. Brought into His family by baptism and promised an inheritance. You are an heir to the throne of the King. You are a prince or princess of the most royal family in the universe. That is the foundation of your worth. The truth that you belong to God, the truth that He made you for a special purpose, to fulfill a mission for Him and His kingdom in the sight of the holy ranks of angels. And on top of all of that, a price has been paid for your soul. You have been purchased for salvation. You are so worthy He paid for you with the cost of His son's life. Memento Mori. Give thanks for your blessings but detach your soul from this world and attach it to the cross, where your worth will truly be found.