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Saintly sufferings

Everyone suffers, even those who will eventually become saints. The life of a saint is often painted in broad brush stokes, and their struggles are often minimized. Yet if you dive deeply into their lives and ponder all the challenges they encountered, you realize their ability to be our mentors in the deepest of struggles.

Can a person become a saint if they have been excommunicated? Yes, and that was the case for Saint Mary MacKillop, the Australian nun. In 1871, the local church officials changed the constitution of her order and Sr. Mary did not comply with those changes. The bishop excommunicated her citing insubordination. Most of the schools she founded were closed and since she could not have any contact with the church, she lived with a Jewish family. About six months later, the bishop, on his deathbed, instructed the excommunication be lifted. She was later completely exonerated by a conference of local bishops. Sr. Mary went on to visit Rome and obtain approval for the order of nuns she founded and continued her work to found schools and teach the faith throughout Australia. 

For those six months that Sr. Mary was excommunicated from the church, she lived after losing everything: her mission, her fellow sisters, even the ability to worship God. We can look at that moment in history and say that it was only six months, but each day must have been mentally, emotionally, and spiritually excruciating. Did she doubt her calling during that time? Did she weep unceasingly over the rift that prevented her from receiving and being close to Jesus in the Eucharist? Did she think it was a ploy by Satan to prevent her ministry? Or did she put all her trust in God and let each day unfold? Perhaps it was a mixture of all of those thoughts and feelings. Yet for every bad day you have, you can be thankful that you are able to seek and receive Jesus in the sacraments.

I was shocked when I read the story about the apparitions at Fatima and learned the three children were arrested to prevent them from visiting the apparition site. The three children, Lucia and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, began seeing Our Lady in May 1917 and were to return monthly on the 13th to visit her. In August, the children were incarcerated by the local mayor because he opposed the apparitions. He threatened them but ultimately released them when they continued to refuse to admit they were lying about the visions. However, Our Lady still appeared to them several days later instead. 

The children of Fatima were poor shepherds who had great faith. They accepted the grace the visits brought them and even at their tender, young ages, sought a life of holiness. I cannot imagine how horrible it must have been for them to be in prison — the darkest, direst place that is a punishment for sin. How much anguish they must have felt at the missed visit with the beautiful Lady from heaven. Even though the imprisonment could barely be measured in days, in that moment of time, what must they have been thinking and feeling? Were they scared to have so much attention on them that wicked people would try to prevent their visits? Were they thankful they were together and could lean on each other? Did they pray together and leave the outcome up to God? While the children didn’t know that Our Lady would still visit them at the time, we can all learn a lesson that even when dark forces try to prevent us from encountering God, He will make a way for us and give us the strength we need as long as we remain faithful to Him and desire to seek Him. 

St. Pio of Pietrelcina, also known as Padre Pio, was asked not to perform public ministry by church officials. St. Pio received the stigmata while hearing confessions, and the wounds remained with him. The church hierarchy was concerned with the growing interest by the public, who were drawn to the miraculous gift Padre Pio had been given. I wonder if the church was concerned that people would try to worship Padre Pio rather than God because they could see the miracle on him. St. Pio suffered from the stigmata itself, as well as the various doctors and investigators who confirmed that it was not being faked. Eventually the church leadership did allow Padre Pio to return to public ministry and Pope Pius XI even encouraged people to visit him. 

While I understand the church has to protect people from those who would seek fame by any means necessary, it must have been spiritually and mentally painful for Padre Pio, a very humble man, to be censored in such a way. He was known for hearing a great many confessions, spending 15 hours at a time in the confessional. Perhaps the break from public ministry allowed St. Pio the time to reflect and prepare for his ministry, rather than trying to learn how to deal with both the miraculous gift as well as the public exposure at the same time. But to a man who willingly listened and provided guidance in confession, a pause in the ability to administer the sacraments must have felt as if it went against his mission. 

Saints are our mediators and mentors during times of suffering. We can ask for their assistance during our earthly trials, and ask for the strength and grace to allow God’s will to unfold, no matter how long it takes. They are no strangers to the secular powers that seem to prevent us from doing God’s will. We must remember that if we are truly doing His will, we only need to participate as much as we can and let God do the rest, especially when our way seems blocked. 

Something more than feelings

How are you feeling today? Happy, sad, angry, frustrated, holy, scared, lonely, peaceful, or mischievous? Perhaps it’s a mixture of several of those. Our culture today puts a lot of emphasis on feelings, but is there another perspective we should consider?

How many times have you heard someone say they “just want to be happy” either about themselves or someone they are close to? One can look at the term happy and say it’s impossible for anyone to just be happy. Life will always throw challenges our way. But what if you considered happiness and being happy as a state of being, rather than just an emotional response in the moment? Lasting happiness would then be possible. 

Perhaps happiness is an attitude that you cultivate. Instead of constantly chasing things that may make you happy, or give you happy feelings, maybe it’s having an appreciation for the world around you and finding delight in the details. If we appreciate the warmth of the sun and refreshment of rain, then no matter what the weather, you can be happy. If life throws the challenge of burned brownies your way, then maybe you appreciate that dessert is not a necessity after every meal, and that will make the next dessert more special when you do have it. 

If you are in a state of happiness, can you have other feelings? Of course! Your emotions are going to change from one minute to the next. Emotions are a response to the environment around you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pursue a state of being happy. You can cry and be happy at the same time. You can be angry and still be in a state of happiness. It’s what you do with your emotions that identify if you are pursuing happiness or some other state of being. Some may look at the world and only see the problems and they live in a troublesome state of being — anger, frustration, anxiety, etc. When you hyperfocus on the evils of the world, it makes it hard to see the light of Christ and the salvation that He brings to the world, even now. 

Being happy doesn’t mean that you don’t recognize the issues in your community, from local and national to global troubles. Happiness looks for a small way to ease the burdens of another, not to solve all the problems all at once. Just as you find joy in small ways, so too can issues be addressed a little at a time. Look at the work of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, she looked to make a difference as she helped one person at a time. Before social media was invented, the world knew who she was, even though she did not seek publicity in the care she was providing to the poorest of the poor. She saw the reflection of Jesus in each person she cared for, and in turn, cared for each person as if they were Jesus. 

You don’t need to feel happy to be happy. Actually, you are not called to be happy, you are called to be holy. When you pursue a life state of holiness, then joy, peace, and happiness flow through the grace of God into all aspects of life. God gifted you with feelings and emotions so that you can appreciate the blessings He provides and recognize when you fall short of His will and follow your own instead. While you can use your emotional responses as cautionary signals, you should not wallow in them, lest they become like quicksand and make you sink into one feeling that lasts a lifetime. Your feelings are just one part of the masterpiece that God has created you to be; reflect the Master’s work in all the abilities with which He has blessed you.   

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Beautiful bad day

Everyone suffers from a bad day occasionally, though the definition of such a day can vary greatly from person to person. While it may seem contradictory,  positive words can describe a bad day allowing us to find beauty in them much like we do a good day.

I often think days we would describe as being bad simply illustrate that we are not in control. Recently I had a day that I would at least describe as a challenging, if not completely a bad day. I had in mind how certain events would go and they didn’t happen that way at all. Some circumstances I was confident wouldn’t be an issue ended up surprising me by being problematic. When confronted with events unfolding other than what was expected, it really throws off your whole outlook and you begin to question everything. When you add onto that the normal difficulties any day can serve up — dropping items, cleaning up spills, and so on — you can feel the weight of uncertainty and trouble practically anchoring you in place. Yes, I did call out to God and the saints for help and I know they were there with me all day even though my prayers weren’t answered in the way I wanted them to be. I know God answers all prayers, and it’s difficult when the answer is either “No,” or “Not right now.”

I firmly believe in God’s plan for me, even if I can’t always discern it. While I strive to be open and do His will, challenging days leave me bewildered. I reflect on the lives of saints, a number of whom had a sickly constitution and were rejected by multiple religious orders until they found an order that would accept their situation. They are usually described as being gentle and demonstrating great patience. Yet anyone who’s ever been ill knows how difficult it is to be nice to people when you’re not feeling well. They go on to do so many great and wonderful things, it’s no wonder that they are named a saint! But part of me wonders if they ever had a bad day, despite their condition. Yet, when you distill the whole of a person’s life down to just a few paragraphs, you’re going to highlight the best in a person. The bad days the saints experienced did not define their life, even if those days did shape and adjust the trajectory of their lives. 

As I was going through my bad day, I started to wonder if I was allowing God to be God? What can I learn by letting things unfold, even if it seems to be more work for me? Is this an opportunity to practice humility? I have a list of chores that need to get done and I expect to do them a certain way, but when a bad day interrupts my plans, how gracious am I to allow it? If this bad day was a test, then I failed miserably. I don’t like using bad language, but a bad day seems to rewire my brain so that at every challenge some ugly word is spoken aloud. I feel totally frustrated and like I have absolutely no patience left. Yet I know, despite not feeling one sentiment of peace, God is with me through it all. 

Looking back at what happened and how I reacted, I do feel guilty for not handling it better and definitely felt unworthy to pray to God. But that is exactly what Satan wants us to believe. He possesses the remarkable ability to discern our difficult days, and he intensifies them with his own distinctive, unconventional perspective. Perhaps this is really the true test of a bad day, not so much how we handled the events themselves, but the perspective afterwards. Do we continue to turn to God? Do we allow the remorse of our actions and responses lead us to Jesus for mercy, forgiveness, and peace? Or do we cling to how bad of a day the events were and how miserable they make us feel? 

Bad days are an inevitable part of the human experience. They also provide valuable opportunities for self-reflection and strengthening one’s faith and reliance on God.

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Saint for our time

What’s the first saint that comes to your mind? Did that person live in this century? There are a plethora of named saints in the Catholic Church, but only two lived in this century, one of which has just been officially canonized.

As we’re only 25 years into this century, it’s not surprising that only two named saints were alive when not just a new century was ushered in, but a new millennium. Pope Saint John Paul II died in 2005 and was canonized in 2014, which is quite a short amount of time. Given his public devotion to the church, for he was well-known and well-loved all over the world, it can be understandable that so many people sought his intercession to provide many opportunities for God’s miracles to be attributed to him. However, newly canonized, as of September 7, 2025, Saint Carlo Acutis was a mere teenager of 15 when he passed away from leukemia in 2006. Carlo was not just a regular teen who loved playing video games and dressed in jeans and sneakers. He was on fire for Jesus and used his programming skills to create a website dedicated to Eucharist miracles. 

“What does it matter if you can win a thousand battles if you cannot win against your own corrupt passions? The real battle is with ourselves.”
St. Carlo Acutis

According to Carlo’s mother, Antonia, it was Carlo who asked to be taken to Mass as often as possible and preferred daily Mass. While Antonia was Catholic, her attendance was very minimal. Carlo’s witness brought about a conversion in her to attend Mass more frequently, and most importantly, to receive the Holy Eucharist. Carlo noticed the crowds and devotion that others had for sports and entertainment figures and wanted the same for Jesus Christ. He researched many Eucharistic miracles and wanted to share the information with others. As a child of the new millennium, the best way to do that was with a website. It takes time and dedication to create the website and its content. Carlo could have spent his time playing video games or creating his own games, but instead, he created a website for the Real Presence of Jesus: Eucharistic Miracles of the World. 

In our modern era, it’s very easy for us to think of saints being from another era and not having to deal with the advances in technology and the changes in the political and economic landscape. Many teens today are more concerned about what they are going to wear, how many likes they have on the most recent social media app, and how they are going to spend their time outside of the classroom. But Carlo’s focus was on becoming holy. His rule was, “You must want it with all your heart.” How many of us today, not just teens, but adults as well, want to be a saint, but put off the investment of time required to become holy until “later?” We see the minimum of what the church requests of us as sufficient for us to enter heaven. It may be enough to keep a relationship with God, but we shouldn’t expect to walk through the pearly gates upon our life’s last breath on earth. The minimum precepts are provided as guardrails for a Christian life, and are there to encourage us to go deeper, learn more, participate more, volunteer more. If we expect to win a marathon, wouldn’t we put the time into training? While it’s never too late on this side of heaven to pursue a relationship with God, there are many graces and blessings we forgo when we pursue our own desires and put off wanting to be holy until later.

I’ve presented information about saints to young adults and older children participating in OCIA over the last few years. There was definitely interest and surprise when I brought up then-Blessed Carlo Acutis. He was someone who looked like them, understood the same world they do, dressed like them, and shared interests in soccer and video games. A few of them even considered his name for their confirmation name. It made them think that choosing a patron saint was not just about the name but about the person and how that person brought Jesus into the world around them. Saints are role models for us all. 

God calls all people to holiness and a relationship with Him. When we respond to that call, we are allowing God to transform us into the best version of ourselves. The more we want God, the more we desire holiness above all else, we are walking in the path to sainthood. Maybe we will become a named saint, but that’s not the goal of a saint. The goal is to want to spend eternal life in the presence of God in heaven, and to seek the path now that will help us get there. 

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Built by God

Are you building a hut, a house, or a mansion for God in your soul? Scripture has often used the analogy of a building to correspond to our relationship with God; and the same holds true even today.

When we imagine what a hut would look like, we think of something made out of necessity. It’s to protect oneself from the elements and not meant for longevity. While it may last months, maybe even years, without constant upkeep and reinforcements, it’s not likely to see a full generation of living. Most huts are built directly on the ground, so there is little-to-no foundation for support. When we only seek God in times of trouble, not recognizing Him at any other time in our lives, then we are building a hut-type relationship with God. It’s meant to be assistance to us as we weather the storms in our lives, but not meant to be everlasting. 

When building a house, no matter how modest, one of the first things that is done is the foundation. This can be something deep, containing an underground basement, or can just be a slab of concrete — something flat, and supportive. As Catholics, we have a wonderful foundation in the sacraments. Baptism is the most basic of all the sacraments and welcomes us into the family of God. It is also the initial pouring out of grace and the Holy Spirit upon our souls. How we respond, not only to this initial introduction of grace but through the whole of our lives, determines what kind of house we build for God in our souls. Some try to balance belief in God with the demands of the world. While faith is still the base layer for that relationship, the house will be modest, due to secular competition. When we embrace all that Catholicism has to offer, fully receiving the sacraments with the intention of building a stronger relationship with God, we make more room in our souls for God to effect change in us. 

Making time for morning and evening prayer, whether it’s following the divine office, a variation of it, or a simple Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, we are inviting God into our lives and all our experiences. We are asking for God’s guidance to help us choose to do His will and to keep us from choosing the enticement of temptations. Yet if we seek to challenge ourselves to go beyond routine by making a retreat or adding additional pious practices into our lives, we continue to expand our relationship and make a larger home in our souls. When we seek to strengthen our relationship with God, we are asking Him to help us dig out all that keeps us from Him. It’s like seeking an experienced excavator who will look for the weaknesses in our foundation and repair them. This is not a simple bandage fix, but one that takes time, effort, and a whole lot of mess before the foundation is corrected and strengthened to add to the house. 

When we picture a mansion, we think of a huge house with more bedrooms and bathrooms than anyone could ever need in a single home. We would expect that, like a massive tree which has an even larger root system, a large mansion would have an extra deep and extra reinforced foundation.  When we think mansion, we think ultra wealthy and ultra luxury. Welcome to the homes of the saints! While they may have been poor on earth, they built a relationship with God that would outshine any grand architecture on this side of eternity. Not only did they embrace the sacraments and all the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church, but they made God their focus during their life on earth. Regardless of their vocation, they pursued bringing the light of Christ to the time and place they were at that moment. They allowed God’s will to be accomplished through them, being His hands, His feet, His eyes, and His smile. The fruits of their labors are reflected as the many rooms in the mansions of their souls. 

Perhaps it’s not so much of what type of dwelling are we building for God in our souls, but what kind of building are we allowing God to create within us. When we cooperate with God’s will, we are allowing God to help us change to become the best version of ourselves. A hut, a house, and a mansion are all dwelling places. Let us begin by welcoming God into our humble abode and asking Him to dwell within us.  

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Known and named

A name is more than just a label or an identifier. Not only is it necessary in the secular world, but also in the spiritual realm.

Awhile ago, I was watching an old episode of Cesar Millan’s The Dog Whisperer in which he made a comment to the person he was assisting something to the effect of: dogs do not have names in the pack, they use the energy they present to identify themself to the pack members. While I’m not sure if that’s true across all other species outside of humans, it is certainly true that humans do have some sort of naming mechanism, which differs by culture, region, and time period. We learn to respond to our name at a very young age and it is reinforced as people repeatedly address us using that name. A name is also how we catalog what we know about a particular person, as we associate the information we know either first hand or have gathered from other sources. If we don’t know someone, it’s because we’ve either never met them or have never learned about them. Our name serves as our label when others are using us as a reference point. While the name Jesus may be spelled or pronounced differently in other languages, using that name in English, especially if we use one of His titles with it, like Christ or Messiah, we all know about whom is being spoken.

Most children are given a name either at their birth or shortly thereafter which becomes their identity on earth. While we are all members of God’s family since He created us, it is through the sacrament of baptism that we are called, by name, to have a special relationship with God. We are claimed to be members that will participate as the body of Jesus on earth, seeking to do His will. Through baptism, the doors of grace are opened wider and are more accessible to us. Most times our legal name we are given at birth is also the name given at baptism. While it is no longer a requirement that a child/person being baptized have the name of a saint or virtue, naming a child after a saint is a way not only to honor the work God has done through that saint, but also to have that saint be an intercessor for that person throughout their life. The same holds true for those who take a different name for the sacrament of confirmation.

Just like in the first book of Samuel, the Lord calls out to us by name (1 Sam 3:10). It may not be audibly heard as in Samuel’s case, but He is always seeking a closer relationship with us. In the book of Revelations, it says that those faithful to God, will receive a new name known only between the person and God. (Rev 2:17) This practice of receiving a new name is found throughout the Bible: Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, and Simon became Peter. It continues for those in religious life who may take or augment their name to include a saint or a title or attribute of Mary or Jesus. The first thing upon being chosen as pope is the question of how they will be addressed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “To live in heaven is ‘to be with Christ.’ The elect live ‘in Christ,’ but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name.” (CCC 1025) This statement from the CCC has plenty to ponder. Our infinite God will name us and provide us a truly unique identity. For those of us who have met other people with our same name, the thought of God creating a name just for us for all eternity is a rather thrilling prospect. God is so creative, and my brain is so limited, I can’t really fathom what kind of a name God would use for me. He’s not limited to naming me for my physical characteristics like being short or having a loud voice. Since He can see my soul and my true intentions for every action I take, would He use a name to describe me from that perspective? Or are there other spiritual characteristics that I may not be tuned into, since I’m still living in a physical world? It’s yet another reason to seek a relationship with God now, in order to rejoice in the name He bestows upon our arrival in heaven.

Names matter. They are the way we interact within our world and with each other. They are also how we interact with God and those who have preceded us and how we will interact with those who come after us.   

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Saints and miracles

With the start of November, the Church focuses on the end of the liturgical year and the fulfillment of a life lived in a relationship with God. A hallmark of “making” a saint is two confirmed miracles. But what are miracles and why are they so important?

In a secular world the prevailing attitude is that Church and State (or even the everyday public life) must remain completely separate; a miracle crashes right through that thinking. Merriam-Webster’s first definition for the word miracle is “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.“ While there will always be people who scoff and disbelieve in a miraculous event, insisting that there must be a plausible explanation for it, the Catholic Church does thoroughly investigate any miraculous claims, especially when they are being attributed to a particular person whose cause for canonization is underway. The easiest way to prove a miracle, at least in this age, is that of a medical nature. For example, the first miracle attributed to Blessed Carlos Acutis is that of a Brazilian boy who was born with a defect of the pancreas that would not allow him to eat solid foods and kept him vomiting most days. After touching a relic provided by the mother of Carlos Acutis, the boy was healed and able to not only eat the food, but also not vomit. The boy’s healing is so incredible because even the physiology of the problematic organ changed, mystifying the physicians who examined the boy afterwards.

Another example is the miracle attributed to then Sr. Faustina that led to her beatification. According to The Divine Mercy website, a woman suffering from lymphedema as evidenced by a swollen leg, which was due to be amputated, had it return to its normal size after visiting Sr. Faustina’s resting place. The woman was examined by five independent doctors who came to the conclusion that she was completely healed. They had no medical explanation for the sudden healing of this incurable disease. This evidence was examined in consultation by five doctors appointed by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Having passed this test, it was examined by a team of theologians, and finally by a team of cardinals and bishops. The cure was accepted by all as a miracle brought about by Sr. Faustina’s intercession.

Do we need to pray through a saint in order to receive a miracle? No, we can pray directly to God Himself for a miracle, especially since He is the source of every miraculous event. For those uncomfortable or unsure if God hears our prayers, praying through the saints can feel like a much more realistic option, since they were people just like us. There may be aspects of their upbringing, their personality, or their livelihoods that we can find a connection— a common bond — that develops into a relationship. Having a relationship with a saint can feel like a person has an extended family member, who just so happens to be recognized as being in heaven.

Catholics (myself included!) can be rather sloppy in our language when we talk about the intercession of saints. We say that we are praying “to” a particular blessed or saint for “their” help. In reality, the prayer is asking that person to intercede for us with God and for God to grant the miracle. God is the creator of the universe and everything in it. If He wants to modify some small detail within it, He is the only one that has full ability to do so no matter how impossible it may seem. As the universe does not need to exist, one can look at all of creation, from the mightiest mountain to the smallest of insects, and from the power of the oceans to a singular heart beat, and see it is all a continuous miracle for us to enjoy. 

In a fallen world, our ability to appreciate all God gives us is often veiled by our short-sightedness. We turn away from God to see ourselves in control of our surroundings. Miracles, medical or otherwise, give us the opportunity to recognize God’s sovereignty and give us hope that we can turn away from being prideful in our work and seek to do God’s work.

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Unity of the Church

Prayer is a vital activity for the family of the Church. It unites us across all generations, vocations, cultures, and paths of life. 

With the celebration of All Saints’ Day last week, as usual, the topic of saints becomes popular. Reviewing the list of American saints, as well as those on their way to sainthood — the blesseds and the venerables — many are priests or religious. It can be easy to forget that these saintly people are from families just like yours and mine. When we hear about the life of a saint, their entire life is summed up into just a few highlights. What makes these people saints is their choice to say “yes” to God’s plan for them and to rely on Him. However, during their lifetime, many people prayed for them, and many people invoked the saints of previous generations for their intercession to help them. We don’t often think that when the future saints lived on earth, they needed spiritual support and intercession from those around them.

A similar perspective can be found towards those having a vocation to the Church, either priests or religious consecrated life; they are also from families like ours. Realistically, we don’t know who God is calling and we should encourage the children within our families to consider the possibility. There are countless stories of saints who had a checkered youth that eventually sought out the religious life; just because a child doesn’t show any inclination towards God doesn’t mean He’s not calling them. Even if one doesn’t have a child, sibling, or other family member in religious life, praying for those who are, benefits the Church. If we ask a priest or religious to pray for us, we must also do the same for them. We may think that person is closer to God because of their vocation, but they are in the same need of the sacraments as we are. 

Future priests, consecrated religious, and saints are all around us and need our prayers. But how do we pray for them? While the simple standards of the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be are perfectly adequate; we can go a bit extra with a rosary or even having a Mass said with their intention. As the faithful, we are called to pray without ceasing, so even in our daily activities, we can offer up our simple tasks as prayerful intercession. Speaking of future saints, how about all those in purgatory? They are in need of our prayers, just as we are in need of theirs. They truly are much closer to God than we are. 

The Church is one big family in faith and prayer is the communication that transcends time and space. We are all called to holiness, we are all called to pray. Let us join together to support each other on our journey to becoming saints, living onwards in the presence of God. 

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Preparing for the end

November is the time in the calendar year that is the end and the beginning for the Church. It’s the end of one liturgical year cycle and oftentimes is the beginning of the new liturgical year. There’s much that the Church feeds us during this month.

The month starts out, November 1st, with the most appropriate feast there is when considering the end: the Solemnity of All Saints. The goal for all Christians is to become a saint, that is to be face-to-face with God for all eternity. This celebration is for all those in heaven — both known and unknown. Some may be our ancestors! In 20 generations, which would be about 400 years, we each have approximately one million ancestors. Have you ever considered seeking intercessory prayer from one of your great grandparents or another ancestor? If you’re not comfortable reaching out to unknown family members, there are plenty of saints from which we can ask assistance. This month is a great time to pray a novena to our patron saint or a saint that we admire and would like to emulate. Even if there is no official novena prayer, praying an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be asking for their intercession over the course of 9 days during the month is a wonderful way to focus precious prayer time.

Hot on the heels of the saints, the Church celebrates All Souls day on November 2nd. This day is for all those in purgatory who are being cleansed of the stain of sin. This is our opportunity to pray for the ones who have come before us, both family and friends, and to offer charitable deeds on their behalf. While not obligatory on this day, Mass is the most perfect prayer we can offer and participate in, and a wonderful way to remember those we love. This opportunity is a reflection in two aspects: those that have gone before us, and ourselves who may one day also require the same purification process. If we take the time in prayer to focus on how we can improve our relationship with God, we can begin to make the necessary changes now. Even St. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians urged, “Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor. 6:2) 

Preparation for the end continues in the daily Mass readings and especially on Sundays. The Gospel themes include a discussion of the resurrection and the destruction of the Temple before the final feast of Christ the King, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The readings remind us that although we are living in a tangible world, our destiny is beyond what we can experience with our senses. They are not meant to scare us, but to prompt us to actively prepare ourselves for what’s next to come, no matter what stage of life we’re in, as we do not know the hour or the day when we will be called by Jesus to eternity. So how can we prepare for the unknown? The mystery of eternity seems daunting and it’s understandable if we want to ignore it and not dwell on it. Yet the best preparation is a relationship with God, and continuing to practice trusting in Him and His will for us. This is done many times a day in the choices we make. The celebrations of these feasts along with the scripture readings for these last weeks of the liturgical year give us the opportunity to reflect and focus on our relationship with God with a special emphasis on our eternal salvation rather than our day-to-day needs. 

The Church gives us the time to prepare ourselves for eternity, to take inventory and resolve to make necessary changes in our lives. The result will be a stronger relationship with God and allows us to “ring in” the new liturgical year with open hearts and minds.

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Entertaining saints

As I was reading a daily reflection recently, what jumped out at me was the notion of “entertaining saints and angels.” I started to question if I live as if I’m surrounded by saints?

A saint is someone whose soul is now in heaven. During the course of their life, they either had an exemplary faith-filled life or some conversion to the faith prior to death. Most people think of saints that have been named by the Church: St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Katherine, St. Dominic, and all those that are celebrated by the Church during weekday Masses each year. Enter “how many catholic saints are there?” in Google and the response returned is, “There are more than 10,000 saints recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, though the names and histories of some of these holy men and women have been lost to history.” We have no idea how many souls, or saints, are in heaven with God. All of them were human, just like you and me. None of them, with the exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was without sin. Despite their faults and weaknesses, they persevered in faith to the end and interacted with countless people during their lifetime. Some have identified previous saints as inspirations, while others may have been influenced by various people they encountered.  

I assist with teaching for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), and I alway wonder if anyone that I’m sharing my faith with will someday be a saint. I should correct my thought process, and hope that ALL of them will be saints! Yet the thought of journeying with someone in their relationship with Christ and to be recognized by the Church as a saint after their death somehow seems … cool. While the Church does not have celebrities, perhaps the saints fill our need to have a person that we admire. We look to St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her “little way” to encourage us on our journey. We look to St. Vincent de Paul and the organizations set up in his name to help those less fortunate than ourselves. We look to St. Thomas Aquanias to help us plumb the depths of the mysteries of God. Perhaps we wonder what it would have been like to meet them while they lived; or what will it be like to meet them in heaven? 

It will be wonderful to meet the saints, but what about all the individuals we meet today? Could we be walking right past future saints and not even notice them? It may be impossible, especially in a city setting, to see and acknowledge every single person that you come upon, it may be worth reflecting on our response to those with whom we interact. Whether they become a named saint or not, doesn’t matter as it most likely won’t be in our lifetime, but our response to them does matter. The people in our everyday life — family, friends, coworkers, service workers, etc. — could be saints in heaven someday. Do we encourage their faith in God, support them in their challenges, and pray for God’s blessing upon them? What would the world look like if we treated all people as if they are future saints? 

Living in a culture that is all about what’s in it for me, the thought of  living as if we’re among saints may sound unrealistic. Yet people of previous generations also entertained saints unbeknownst to them. To change one’s mindset, perhaps the next time we hear a saint’s name, pray for their intercession for all those on earth to become saints.