This saint, the first United States citizen to be canonized, was born in Italy of parents who were farmers. She was the thirteenth child, born when her mother was fifty-two years old. The missionary spirit was awakened in her as a little girl when her father read stories of the missions to his children. She received a good education, and at eighteen was awarded the normal school certificate. 
Didacus (or Diego, Jacob) was born in the town of San Nicolas, Andalusia. From early youth he showed a love for solitude. At Arrizafa, near Cordova, he became a Franciscan brother and was outstanding in humility and obedience. He had little formal education, yet through divine enlightenment in no way lacked wisdom. As a missionary he visited the Canary Islands and was appointed first superior of the new foundation there. In 1450 Pope Nicholas V confided to his care the sick in the celebrated convent of Ara Caeli. With his tongue he often cleansed the wounds of the sick. He miraculously healed many with oil from the lamp which burned before a picture of the Blessed Virgin or with the sign of the Cross. 
The son of a Polish senator, St. Stanislaus was first privately educated at the family castle. He later attended the Jesuit college in Vienna, where he set a holy example for all. While at the college, Stanislaus suffered from a serious illness. St. Barbara and two angels appeared to him and he seemed to be given Holy Communion in the vision (either by St. Barbara or by the angels). Also, Our Lady visited him and told him that he would recover and become a Jesuit. The Jesuit provincial in Vienna was too afraid of making Stanislaus's father angry to admit Stanislaus to the Order, so the saint walked to Augsburg and then Dillingen, a total of 350 miles, and there appealed to St. Peter Canisius, the Jesuit provincial of Upper Germany. St. Peter Canisius took him in, and after three weeks, sent Stanislaus to Rome to see St. Francis Borgia, who was general of the Jesuits. In Rome, Stanislaus became a Jesuit at the age of 17, much to the dissatisfaction of his father. His devotion to the Eucharist was apparent to all, since he went into ecstasy after receiving Communion. St. Stanislaus became ill again and died only nine months into his novitiate. “We are unprofitable servants.” (Luke 17:10)
At first glance, Jesus’ words to his disciples may seem harsh. Essentially, he told them that it was not enough for them to just do what he commanded. Was he expecting them to slave even harder? Was he telling them that if they did more, they would be truly “profitable” servants who merited his pleasure? Not at all. We don’t earn God’s love anyway. It’s a gift he gives to us—one and all, profitable and unprofitable!
Jesus’ parable shines a light on the kind of discipleship that he is calling us to, not the amount of work he’s looking for. We can respond to him like slaves, or we can be his friends. And if we have any question about which is the best approach, Scripture gives us a clear answer: at the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that he called them friends, not slaves (John 15:15).
It is very possible for us to work for God and yet never really know him. With a little determination, we could undertake all sorts of projects for our parish or for the poor, either out of a sense of duty or out of a desire to ensure our place in heaven. But this isn’t what Jesus is looking for. He wants to have a relationship of love with us, not one of fear or obligation. If we think like duty-bound slaves, we are missing the entire reason why God created us in the first place: to be in union with him in love.
Of course, there are things we must do as his disciples. There are commands that we must obey and guidelines that we must follow. But undergirding all of these must be the things we do simply because we love Jesus—things like turning our hearts to him every day and sharing his love with everyone around us, especially his little ones.
So how can you become a profitable servant of the Lord today? Maybe a good way to start is by asking the Spirit to fill your heart with God’s love. Let that love awaken a deeper love for him in you—a love and a deeper desire to serve him.
“Jesus, thank you for giving me a share in your life. Now I freely give my life back to you.”
Titus 2:1-8, 11-14; Psalm 37:3-4, 18, 23, 27, 29