Oct 20 - Maria Bertilla Boscardin

There is always room at the table. I think about the parable of the king who invited guests to a wedding but they all refused to go. There was plenty of room at the table, and in the end it was the poor and disenfranchised who came.
We can often lose sight of those who have a hard time coming to the table, the poor with no means of transportation, the disabled with little or no access into buildings or no accommodation when they can get in; the deaf, the blind, those with mental and physical disabilities. We can miss out on what they bring to the table because we do not take the time to include them; we decide that there is no room for them.
Maria was born into a family with a self-admitted violent and abusive alcoholic father. She herself was considered mentally deficient and yet her simple and sincere demeanor moved her from menial jobs, jobs others considered her best for, to head of nursing in a children's hospital.
All because of her love, which was fueled by Christ and transcended any opinions or prejudices against her. An earlier day's saint, John XXIII, canonized her. Her family, father included, and an untold number of her patients showed up for the ceremony.
There is plenty of room at the table, we may just need to scooch over to make more room.
Today is also Cornelius the Centurion (cf. Acts 10:1-49), who many may also have dismissed.

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Jesus said to His disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.”

-- Luke 12:35-38