Self-denial is never an end in itself but is only a help toward greater charityas the life of SaintJohn Joseph shows.
John Joseph was very ascetic even as a young man. At 16, he joined the Franciscans in Naples; he was the first Italian to follow the reform movement of SaintPeter Alcantara. John Josephs reputation for holiness prompted his superiors to put him in charge of establishing a new friary even before he was ordained.
Obedience moved John Joseph to accept appointments as novice master, guardian and, finally, provincial. His years of mortification enabled him to offer these services to the friars with great charity. As guardian he was not above working in the kitchen or carrying the wood and water needed by the friars.
When his term as provincial expired, John Joseph dedicated himself to hearing confessions and practicing mortification, two concerns contrary to the spirit of the dawning Age of Enlightenment. John Joseph of the Cross was canonized in 1839.
John Josephs mortification allowed him to be the kind of forgiving superior intended by SaintFrancis. Self-denial should lead us to charitynot to bitterness; it should help us clarify our priorities and make us more loving. John Joseph is living proof of Chestertons observation: It is always easy to let the age have its head; the difficult thing is to keep ones own (G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, page 101).
