Blessed Pierina Morosini and the Plus Sized Jeans

Blessed Pierina Morosini was an Italian seamstress who worked in a textile factory to support her nine siblings. At age 26 in 1957, a deranged man attempted to sexually assault her. When she fought back, he killed her by pelting her with heavy rocks. Her feast day is April 6.

The only time Pierina left her village was to attend the beautification ceremony of St. Maria Goretti. By all accounts, Pierina was a loving woman who lived her faith and lived to spread our faith. She joyfully went to work to earn a pittance of wages and then went back again and again.

It blows me away that I can be jealous of a woman who rarely left her hometown and cheerfully lived in poverty to better the lives of her brothers and sisters. I give often to charity. My school’s Relay for Life event is happening in a month and I am getting items for our team’s raffle. I managed to donate a new bread machine, a new sound system and other items. Before you canonize me, you should know that I give from my excess—and I have a lot of excess in my plus size jeans. In other words, I don’t give from wear it hurts.

When Pope Francis spoke about helping the poor, I knew God was speaking through him straight to me. I immediately remembered a well-known verse from the Gospel of Mark where Jesus commented on two people’s approach to giving. “A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then He called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’”

And maybe that’s what I’m doing wrong. I’m not a cheerful giver. I resent the heck out of sometimes. It galls me to know that my donation to a local charity may go to buy meth for a drug addict. I have yet to learn how to trust God and let go. If I can maybe one day I can live up to Pierina’s example.