Friday, June 5, 2009

The "Do-Gooder" Apostle to the Germans and Dutch

The name "Boniface" derives from the Latin words meaning "to do good".  Our saint today certainly did that over his long life of nearly 80 years.

Named Wynfrith when he was born in England c. 675, he spent nearly 40 years of his life doing missionary work in what is now Germany and The Netherlands. Although Boniface’s love for his native England never flagged, a serious cult of devotion to him never seemed to arise there, but he is deeply and sincerely revered in Germany and Holland as the founder of their churches. He has been called “The First European”.  After all those years of labor in spreading the Gospel, Boniface's life ended in martyrdom: the supreme witness to Jesus the Christ.

May he inspire us to "do good" in our own ministries!  

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