Quelle: Facebook
Padre Pio and his American Friend: Joe Peluso:
As an American soldier, Joe Peluso was stationed in southern Italy during World War II. One day at the base, he received a letter from his mother who told him that there was a holy priest named Padre Pio living in Italy. She did not know what part of Italy he lived in but she wanted Joe to find out and to visit him.
Joe asked the military chaplain on the base if he knew anything about Padre Pio. The military chaplain started laughing and pointed to the mountain that was directly in front of them. “Padre Pio lives right on that mountain,” he said to Joe. One day, curiosity got the better of Joe and he decided to make the short trip to see Padre Pio. It was October 6, 1944.
Padre Pio loved the visits of the American soldiers and always greeted them cordially. His counsel to the soldiers was unique. He often used simple and childlike words when talking to them and giving them advice. Sometimes he would pat them on the head in a paternal way and simply say, “Be a good boy.”
Joe was able to visit Padre Pio many times and the two became very close. Often, he was invited to eat with the Capuchins at the monastery. While everyone else enjoyed their food, Joe noticed that Padre Pio simply pushed his food around on the plate. Padre Pio once said, “I need very little of this world’s goods. I need just a little bit of food, a little sleep and few possessions.”
It was Padre Pio’s habit to give a religious medal to the pilgrims who came to the monastery to see him. Because of the war, religious medals and rosaries became scarce and almost impossible to acquire. Padre Pio felt very bad that his supply of medals was exhausted and he had none to give his visitors.
During his frequent visits to the monastery, Joe had become acquainted with Mary Pyle. He and Mary tried to think of a way to replenish Padre Pio’s supply of medals. Joe decided to take the 220-mile trip from his military base to Rome to see if he could acquire the medals. Padre Pio and Padre Pio’s brother Michael both gave him letters to deliver to their sister, Sister Pia. She was a nun of the Order of St. Bridget and lived in the Brigittine Convent in Rome.
When Joe arrived in Rome, something prompted him to follow a road leading up a hill. As he drove up the hill, he saw a large sign which said, “Cloistered Motherhouse of the Benedictine Nuns.” Joe remembered that the St. Benedict medals were a favorite of Padre Pio. Joe knocked on the door and the nuns who greeted him were extremely happy to give him a large supply of medals for Padre Pio.
On one occasion, Padre Pio asked Joe to select a name for his guardian angel. “Pick a name for your guardian angel and call him by that name always,” Padre Pio said to Joe. “When you send him to me, he will come instantly.”
One day Joe asked Padre Pio if he would accept him as his spiritual child and Padre Pio readily agreed. Joe then asked Padre Pio if he would accept his wife as his spiritual child and he agreed as well. Realizing the wonderful opportunity that was at hand, he next asked Padre Pio if he would accept his daughter. Joe thought about his aunts and uncles and realized that they needed to be mentioned as well.
Somehow, the way the conversation was going struck Joe and Padre Pio as funny. They began to laugh. They laughed so hard that tears were rolling down their faces. Suddenly Padre Pio became very serious and said to Joe, “Joe, when the war is over and you return to the United States, tell the American people that for those who would like me to be their spiritual father, my answer is "yes." I accept all Americans as my spiritual children. I only have two requirements - that they lead very good Catholic lives and that they regularly receive the sacraments. And please, tell them never to embarrass me in front of Jesus and Mary. You must tell them, Joe.”
Joe felt that it was an impossible request. He lived in a very small town in Pennsylvania. He was not an important person. He did not know many people. How could he tell all of America what Padre Pio had asked him to? Nevertheless, when he returned to the U.S. he tried to do what was asked of him. He made a slide show presentation of Padre Pio’s life and over the years he showed it to thousands of people. Joe died in 1996, after having spent fifty years sharing the message of Padre Pio with more people than he could have ever imagined.
"It is in time that I am able to do good to my neighbor, that I am able to love and help him. . .It is only along the path of my passing days that I am able to meet the suffering soul and to give a word of comfort and hope. Time is valuable, because it offers me the possibility to do good. Certainly upright Christian sentiment, knowledge, love and praise of God will continue in eternity, but they will be proportional to our knowledge, love and praise in time. . .Time is valuable because it offers me the possibility to prepare myself for eternity."
- Father Gerardo di Flumeri
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