I have been wanting to do this for a while and hopefully I have figured out how to do it properly (links and stuff are not my forte) So thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary (and apologies in advance if I made any boo-boos, I am still working on learning the whole "link" thing).
Today I would like to share seven of my best friends in heaven.
1) St. Therese of Liseux
2) St. Theresa of Avila
3) St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
4) Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa)
5) St. Gemma Galgani
6) St. Gianna Beretta Molla
7) St. Joseph
Now I love and admire many other Saints. St. Thomas More is the Patron Saint of lawyers (both hubby and I are attorneys) and our ds#3 was given the middle name Thomas. I have been learning more about St. Anthony the Abbott and cannot wait to read more of his writings. St. Catherine of Sienna was an awesome woman (a doctor of the Church for goodness sake!) and I hope to become more familiar with her spirituality in the coming years. I also encountered Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati recently - a 20-something Italian with the good looks of a movie star and an unshakeable devotion to the poor and the Eucharist!! What is there not to like!!!
But these Seven Saints above really mean something to me right now. They are like friends who live a bit a far away or who I only know through emails or blogs ;-)
I have never met them in the flesh, but their presence is REAL in my life and I love them and depend on them.
For the life of me, I just cannot understand what a good number of Protestants have against following the example and asking for the intercession of our elder brothers and sisters in Christ who have already "run the good race" and "fought the good fight" and who AT THIS VERY MOMENT are getting to see Jesus face-to-face for all eternity!!
Remember the old adage - "It is not WHAT you know, it is WHO you know!"
We "network" here to advance our careers...why not "network" to advance our holiness??
It takes nothing away from Jesus' divinity and his sovereign position as Lord of the Universe to have a devotion to a particular holy man or woman (or their special way of living) because Jesus loves them even more than we do! By becoming full human himself, Jesus also completely understands that in this "vale of tears" we NEED real-life, tangible examples of how to live the challenging life of a Christian.
I will spend a little time each coming Monday talking about a Saint and why he or she means so much to me and what they have to offer the whole Church. St. Therese of Liseux is up first, since I have a lot to make up to her for, as you will see next week!
I think I will call it...
Meet A Saint Monday
Until then, I will remember you at the altar at Sunday Mass (and at Adoration a few times if I can sneak out this weekend!) and I humbly ask you do the same for me and mine....
About to head to Mass. Will be praying for you and your husband regarding adoption. I am in the same boat, and am praying novenas to Sts. Rita and Jude for sweet Brigita on Reece's Rainbow to find a family. I would love to bring her home. Please pray for her and for my dh to open his mind to adoption.
ReplyDeleteAlso, did you pick a random Saint for the year from Jen's site? I got St. Jerome, and he is already helping me. Don't forget to pray to your dh's guardian angel. Best wishes.
Thank you Robin! Sounds like we are "spiritual sisters" this year!! I have an amazing marble statue of St. Rita in my dining room, I will say a quick prayer for you and DH whenever I pass it (about 10 times a day)!
ReplyDeleteI did go get a Saint from Conversion Diary on January 1, but he was one I had never heard of and I don't even remember his name...
but now that I am on this journey, maybe I should go try again, I will let you know!!
Thanks for the encouragement!!
What great fortune, then, that I came across your blog (through comments on another blog)! I can''t tell you how much your prayers mean to me. St. Rita keeps popping up everywhere, it seems. Maybe she is not forgetting about me.
ReplyDeleteI hope you do go pick another saint for the year (or season, or month, or week...). At first I thought St. Jerome was just so out of nowhere for me, but as I continue to develop a relationship with him, I am truly amazed and grateful to have his example and intercession.
One more thing. This is kind of a hard one, but, here goes. Notice how almost all (or maybe all...) the blogs on special needs adoption seem to be from Protestants? Well, Barbara Curtis is an exception. And I did get seriously hooked into RR through a link from Elizabeth Foss. But still. It seems to me if the prominent Catholic blogs would take up the cause, there would be potentially be a huge increase in donations, and maybe even adoptions. Certainly there would be a great portal opened to prayers of the faithful and intercession of the saints. Not sure what to do about that. What do you think? Any ideas?
YES, I have noticed that the Protestants take the scripture about ministering to the orphan more seriously than we Catholics do...
ReplyDeleteI think that adoption has just not become a part of the orthodox Catholic mind-set, in the same way that having a biologically large family has...
what to do about it?? hmmm...
pray.
bring up adoption on blogs and in other interactions with faithful Catholics.
share with our children our responsibility to "the least of our brethern"
thanks again for your comments! going down to the dining room right now to greet St. Rita for you!