Saints: How Would They Live In Today's World?

[catharina]

Thank you Catharina,

There is something so special about personal witness that gives us a spur to ‘go and do likewise’ … I do appreciate these sharings from others. It blesses me to hear it, for we are sorely in need of your good example. We come to believe that it is possible in our ordinary walk of life to follow these saintly admonitions.

… and thank you too, joysong. Now let me clarify something. One of the other words given to St. Faustina could apply to me in a negative (failed) way. This one: “I understand how very displeased God is with an act, however commendable, that does not bear the stamp of a pure intenttion.” I can and do confess to a mixed intention in my simplicity of dress in service of the poor. It is not only to emulate St. Vincent de Paul’s advice that we are to love the poor so perfectly that they are able to forgive us the food that is ours to give to them. Rather I’ve also struggled for simplicity of dress in my lifetime as a silent lesson for the children in my care, so that the “way of worldy wealth” is not the sole value put before their eyes.

Or maybe my intention is mixed but still pure?

 

[Joysong]

Ah, Catharina, you may have missed this beautiful consolation Jesus sent to Faustina, and which may apply to your situation also:

#1566 When I was apologizing to the Lord Jesus for a certain action of mine which, a little later, turned out to be imperfect, Jesus put me at ease with these words:
**My daughter, I reward you for the purity of your intention which you had at the time when you acted. My heart rejoiced that you had My love under consideration at the time you acted, and that is so distinct a way; and even now, you still derive benefit from this; that is, from the humiliation. **

I would suspect, though, that being a role model for your children is a very noble deed with a high motive.

 

[catharina]

Ah, Catharina, you may have missed this beautiful consolation Jesus sent to Faustina, and which may apply to your situation also:

#1566 When I was apologizing to the Lord Jesus for a certain action of mine which, a little later, turned out to be imperfect, Jesus put me at ease with these words:
My daughter, I reward you for the purity of your intention which you had at the time when you acted. My heart rejoiced that you had My love under consideration at the time you acted, and that is so distinct a way; and even now, you still derive benefit from this; that is, from the humiliation.

I would suspect, though, that being a role model for your children is a very noble deed with a high motive.

Joysong, The quote is lovely and profound and again, I thank you.

 

[Jeanette_L]

 What disappoints me a little, is not seeing the response to the title of the thread.  While I truly love reading aboiut the saints' lives, I am deeply interested in learning how to integrate their virtues in our daily lives.  In other words, is the heroic practice of virtue that made them a saint applicable to us lay persons?

As Catharina said, we are just starting this thread, laying the groundwork as you will. We are hoping that you and others will continue to come and share any and all thoughts pertaining to how we should take their witness and apply them to our own lives in today’s world, with it’s own special challenges.

For instance, my lenten devotion was to read the Diary of St. Faustina, and I jotted at the back of the book all of her “hard sayings” so I could ponder them often during the year. A few toughies were:

1628 My pupil (Christ’s words to her), have great love for those who cause you suffering. Do good to those who hate you.

1695 [In response to her kind action to a difficult sister in 1694] I’m glad you behaved like my true daughter … Love everyone out of love for Me, even your greatest enemies, so that My mercy may be fully reflected in your heart.

1701 Never claim your rights. Bear with great calm and patience everything that befalls you. Do not defend yourself when you are put to shame, though innocent. Let others triumph. Do not stop being good when you notice that your goodness is being abused. I Myself will speak up for you when it is necessary.

[The avoidance of self-defense was mentioned also in 1727, 270, 504, 600, 786, and 792]

279 My daughter, do not seek sympathy from creatures.

532 Today, penetrate into the spirit of My poverty and arrange everything in such a way that the most destitute will have no reason to envy you.

484 I understand how very displeased God is with an act, however commendable, that does not bear the stamp of a pure intenttion. (also in 800, 822, 1566)

789 Always and in all circumstances, yield the first place to others.

Can anyone share having tried to live any of these and found them to be spiritually of great benefit? Or are these simply a “nice” practice only for saints? To be honest, I have seen much of these counsels offered in other saints’ writings, so they must all think alike, yes?

I have noticed that even before I had starting reading the insights of the Saints, God has been impressing upon me the notion of accepting humiliations for His sake. It has been a very difficult road, first even ‘getting’ what He was trying to show me, and then once understanding, actually putting it into practice as the situations present themselves.

We think we know ourselves, until conflict comes and we react. I have been slowly doing better with these things as they pop up in my daily life, and it has helped me tremendously having just gotten around to reading some of these great Saints and their insights speaking these same truths. It makes it easier to walk that path knowing it is what God wants from us and it is attainable, we just need to persevere and allow the Holy Spirit to help us do better each time.

 

[Jeanette_L]

we are all called to be saints.
and the fact that the saints “think alike” stems from the fact that God doesn’t contradict himself.

whether we read the bible or writings on or by the saints, we need to ponder those words and apply them to our lives.

This is what I have found to be so comforting, that these truths are timeless and tested. It’s difficult setting your mind to the task, but once you understand this is the only way to perfection and union with God, you can draw great strength from going back and reading how each Saint struggled through it and overcame their own weaknesses. It gives us great hope that with God, nothing is impossible!

Baby steps.

 

[JReducation]

i believe part of his learning disability was that the seminary that he went to was taught by german priests and solanus didn’t know german. or something similar to that. he may have had a learning disability on top of that tho, i’m not sure.

Solanus was a Capuchin Friar, today they prefer Brother.

He did have learning disabilities. He had difficulties with long-term memory. When he joined the Capuchin Brothers he went through the five years of formation that they required. Today it’s 11 years. At the end he made solemn vows for life.

Afterward, he asked the major superior for permission to become a priest. The permission was granted and he was ordained. However, because he had learning disabilities and had such horrible memory, the superior only gave him permission to celebrate mass within the community as long as he did not preach and he was rarely given permission to hear confessions. I believe that he could celebrate mass in the parish on weekdays, with no sermon. I’m not sure about that. The superior rarely gave him permission to perform any othe priestly functions.

However, this goes to show how God uses his holy ones. For Solanus the most important thing in his life was to be a Franciscan and follow Christ according the the example of St. Francis, in poverty, without a will of his own, and in chastity. He wanted nothing more than to pray and do penance, which is the vocation of the Frairs Minor. The priesthood in the Franciscan Order is considered a function, not a way of life. They consider it a ministry to the Church, but not essential to being a Franciscan. In other words, you can be a Franciscan without the priesthood. That’s why they have few priests.

But Solanus understood this going in. He knew that joining the Friars Minor Capuchin (Capuchin-Franciscans) meant that he might never become a priest, even if he had no learning problems. In the order, the superior decides who gets ordained and when. That decision is not made until you have made your solemn vows for life. Which means that if the superior denies you ordination, you are still bound to remain in the order until the day you die and if you leave you incur excommunication, unless you have the Pope’s permission to leave.

What we’re looking at here is a man who places his trust in God’s mercy and God’s glory. He knows all this going in. He also knows that he may not back out if he is denied ordination. When he is ordained, he is only allowed to celebrate the mass, but never allowed to preach and only allowed to hear confessions when there is a need. All of this was to be decided by a superior who is not a priest or a bishop, because their superiors do not have to be priests.

You have here is a living example of humility and true detachment. Solanus was the happiest man alive, because he was able to live the Gospel life in a community that he loved, following the steps that St. Francis had laid out. He knew that if he let go of his own desire to preach, hear confessions, do weddings, baptize, etc, he was more like Francis and thus more like Christ. As St. Paul says about Christ, “he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at . . . he became a servant”

Fr. Solanus found that his circumstances provided the perfect opportunity to be like Jesus Christ. This of course is the first setence of the rule of St. Francis.

“The rule and life of the Lesser Brothers is to live the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, in obedience to me and my successors, without property and in chastity until death.”

The key phrases here: to live the Gospel, not according to the Gospel, but to live the Gospel as if it were a rule; to live in obedience, accepting the will of a legitimate superior without murmurring and without questionins, practicing perfect submission as Christ practiced it.

How many in today’s Church can truly say that they practice the Gospel as a way of life, not just some good pointers here and there? How many in today’s Church can say that they obey legitimate authority without murmuring and without questions in perfect submission as Christ practiced it, always trusting in he Holy Spirit?

What Fr.Solanus teaches us is to become detached from our own wills and attached to the will of God in our lives, without questioning. This has nothing to do with intelligence. This has everything to do with surrendering our sense of entitlement.

So many of us have a sense of entitlement. We believe that because we are intelligent and can think, that we should question everything that the Church asks of us or teaches. Unless we give up this sense of entitlement we will never be like St. Francis or like Christ.

It is human to question and it is human to feel disappointment. It is saintly to trust that one’s legitimate religious superior speaks for Christ. And as Fr. Solanus and St. Francis believed, if legitimate superiors made a mistake and led us down the wrong path, it would be the superior who would have to answer to God, not the individual. As long as we do not follow sin, any other prudential decision that our superiors make is their responsibility to answer to God, not the individual who practices perfect obedience. In fact, that person will receive more grace and be more united to Christ, because of his obedience and humility.

This is what Solanus witnesses to us today. He is a witness of humility and obedience to prudential decisions that could have been different, but weren’t. However, since they were not sinful, the burden of facing God and taking the consequences for the prudent or not su prudent judgment falls on the person who made the judgement, not on Solanus. On Solanus and anyone who obeys as he did, fall graces from Heaven for being as St. Paul says, “the servant of all.” Thie obedient soul is transfigured into another crucified Christ.

JR

 

[Eilish_Maura]

Solanus Casey was the model for a local Catholic Charismatic healing ministry led by a OFM cap (who was in formation when Solanus was a priest). Solanus Casey spent some time at a friary near me.

 

[JReducation]

I have always admired Mother Theresa. She truly loved feeding and caring for poor people. She gave it her all.

She inspires me to feed the poor. I am out of town today and I went for a walk to the shopping mall. I saw a young man just sitting on the sidewalk. He didn’t look like a bum. He looked like he was all alone in the world with no money and no food.
I stood there looking at him and I thought to myself "God has been good to me and has provided a comfortable life.
I looked in my purse and found a package of snacks and a small bottle of coke soda. I gave it to him. Then I went shopping and bought him some more snacks and decided to give him some money. He wasn’t begging for money. I could tell he just needed a helping hand and I felt that other people in the city would help him out.
Later on in the evening… a friend and I went shopping and she found a dollar bill on the floor. I said to her that God is giving her a sign that there is money in the world. She said she felt she should give the dollar away to someone on the street. She was planning to give the dollar to some musicians playing music on the street corner but then a poor homeless man asked her for some change. She turned around and gave him the dollar.

The point I am trying to make is that some of us are not saints but we can do some of the things they did to help people. If we all did that it would be a better world.

What you did is the beginning of the journey. Mother Teresa did not begin with great things. She began as a social studies teacher in a convent for rich girls. Then she took a very courageous step. She left her convent and took to the streets. Her first act was to pick up a sick woman on the street and take her to a hospital.

Anyone looking at that from outside would say that it’s no big deal. Anyone who looks from the inside out would see Christ saying the the crippled man, “take up your bed and walk.”

You were Christ to that man. You gave him something to remember. The food will be eaten and he will be hungry again, but the memory of the love that you showed never goes away.

For this man, you were Christ and he was Christ to you. Christ said, “I thirst.” and you gave him a Coke and a snack. You touched our beautiful and crucified Lord with a simple gesture.

Today I went to see the musical play Wicked. There was a line that they repeated several times during the play and your witness here reminds me of that line.

“I have known you and I have changed for the good.” I think you and that young man have shared this experience.

You are on the way to sanctify with simple acts as these. Pray for the grace to do more of them.

JR

 

[catharina]

JR -

thanks for so many great reminders
from the personal history of Solanus Casey.

 

[chewchoo]

It is human to question and it is human to feel disappointment. It is saintly to trust that one’s legitimate religious superior speaks for Christ. And as Fr. Solanus and St. Francis believed, if legitimate superiors made a mistake and led us down the wrong path, it would be the superior who would have to answer to God, not the individual. As long as we do not follow sin, any other prudential decision that our superiors make is their responsibility to answer to God, not the individual who practices perfect obedience. In fact, that person will receive more grace and be more united to Christ, because of his obedience and humility.

so then we have the question for those of us today, we the lay people not affiliated with a religious order, who are our superiors? who are we obedient too? i’m talking day to day living, not matters of the church (yes, i know that the gospel needs to be applied in all matters of our lives). but we have so much corporate greed, etc. how does the average worker respond to corporate direction that goes against the gospel? is it obedient to go with the flow, or is it better to “fight” back for what’s right? am i making sense?

 

[JReducation]

JR I am happy to see you bring up the Cure of Ars - St. John Vianney. This is another saint that I have been studying in my spare time. James

James,

Thanks for coming. I’m glad to see that you’re studying St. Jean-Marie Vianney. The most important thing, especially for this thread that I would encourage you to reflect on is not only what he taught, but how he achieved sanctity.

Observe his holiness in everything, his charity, his self-mortification, he detachment, his trust in a forgiving and merciful God and his love for sinners. He never abandoned them. He was never hostile or disrespectful of sinners. He was available 24/7 with a smile and with a willingness to serve them.

The sermons that he preached were not rants, but reflections. He did not persecute the sinner. He included himself among them. This is a man who tortured his body to atone for his sins, then walked out of his room with a smile on his face toward all who sinned, because God’s love was so great that he is always willing to forgive and so was Jean-Marie.

Reflecting on this is quite helpful to our journey toward heaven, because it shows us HOW to do it.

JR

 

[JReducation]

so then we have the question for those of us today, we the lay people not affiliated with a religious order, who are our superiors? who are we obedient too? i’m talking day to day living, not matters of the church (yes, i know that the gospel needs to be applied in all matters of our lives). but we have so much corporate greed, etc. how does the average worker respond to corporate direction that goes against the gospel? is it obedient to go with the flow, or is it better to “fight” back for what’s right? am i making sense?

You are making perfect sense. I belong to the Lay Missionaries of Charity (LMC). The LMC is a society, just like the Sisters and Brothers, who follow Mother Teresa’s and St. Francis spirituality. Many people don’t know that Mother Teresa used the Rule of St. Francis and his Peace Prayer as her guide. But that’s another story for a later post.

We, the LMC, make vows for life. One of the vows that we make is obedience. Because we do not live in a convent or fraternity, we have no local superior. Our vow of obedience is obedience to the Will of God as he has expressed it through the Church and Church authority (Pope, local bishop, confessor, spiritual director). It is also obedience to the superiors of the LMC, Mother Teresa and St. Francis (which does not apply in your case). It is also obedience to legitimage authority in government and work.

Here is the key. Authority loses its legitimacy when he or she asks you to do something that is sinful. There is a difference between prudential orders and requests and sin.

Just because you believe that your boss’s way of doing something is not as good as your way, does not excuse you from obeying. He is a legitimate authority when it comes to your job. If your boss asks you to do something that is sinful, you have the obligation to obey moral law first and disobey the boss. This may compromise your position at your place of employment.

There is another important issue here. If what you boss asks you to do is going to cause harm to someone, you cannot obey. This is pretty obvious. If what your boss is asking you to do MAY CAUSE harm, you’re only speculating. You may be right, but you may also be wrong. In this case, you are not guilty of the evil, if it occurs, because you were not certain that it was going to happen. To be guilty of sin, something must be materially wrong, it’s not just that something may go wrong. Many things may go wrong in life.

The same applies to civil authority. They are legitimate authorities and are to be obeyed, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”. But Caesar does not have the authority to demand that you sin. Obeying he law is one thing, getting an abortion because the law says it’s OK is another. The law is not saying that you have to do it.

Serving in the armed forces is one thing. You have an obligation to be a good citizen. Killing an innocent person, even under the command of an officer in battle, is not a good thing. Let me make up an example. The Captain tells the marine to aim his tank at a group of unarmed civilians and fire on them. The marine sees that these people pose no threat to them. He has the moral right to disobey. If the Captain holds a gun to his head, his moral choices have been significantly limited. The marine also has a moral obligation to protect his life. He may choose to be a martyr and take the bullet or carry out the orders. The act is sinful, but to be guilty, one has to have the freedom, including psychological freedom to decline. The marine was pressured.

But the idea of your question is to whom to we lay people owe obedience?

Ans. To any legitimate authority who does not ask us to commit a sin.

This begins with the Church. There are many who feel they can disobey the Church. This is not what the saints taught us or what they would do today. They would obey and pray for those who are in the positions to make decisions that God will guide them. The may even do as St. Catherine of Siena did, they may tell Church authority why they disagree, but never disobey.

By the way, does everyone know that Catherine of Siena was a lay woman, not a sister or a nun? She is not only a lay woman, a saint and a Doctor of the Church. The only lay woman Doctor of the Church.

Here is a model for all the women on this thread. She guided others. She dialogued with Church authority. She adopted the spirituality of St. Dominic to preach to all who asked her for advice and counsel, that’s why we often see her dressed in a Dominican habit. But in reality she was a lay woman who lived in her home. She loved the Church and loved her neighbors. She spent her life teaching her neighbors about prayer, praying for the Church, writing memoirs about God’s activity in her life, and even arguing with the Pope, but always obeying.

It was this spirit of obedience to God through the Church that led her to experience what she later called the Spiritual Marriage between her soul and Christ’s soul. This took years of prayer, reflection, charity, and self-discipline.

JR

 

[chewchoo]

thanks, JR, very logical and reasonable.

 

[JReducation]

I had promised that I would write something about my favourite saint, Our Holy Father St. Francis and try to make it relevant to us today.

Allow me to begin with an historical fact. St. Francis was a lay man. He was not a priest. He is called Father, because he was the founder and the first Superior General of the Friars Minor. For those who don’t know, the Friars Minor became such a large and unmanageable community that the Pope Gregory and Pope Leo allowed them to break up into three communities under the same rule, but with independent government and independent Superiors General. The three Superiors General were to cooperate with each other to make sure that the three communities remained faithful TO THE SPIRIT of St. Francis, not the letter of the law. Today, these three communities are known as: Friars Minor Conventual (Conventual-Franciscans), Friars Minor Capuchin (Capuchin-Franciscans) and Friars Minor of the Leonine Union (Franciscans). The other groups of Franciscans were not part of the original Friars Minor that St. Francis founded. They follow the rule that St. Francis wrote for lay men and women, but they adapted it to be lived in community, such as the friars that we see on EWTN. St. Francis wrote three rules 1) The Rule of the Friars Minor, 2) The Rule of the Poor Ladies (Poor Clare Nuns) 3) The Admonition to the Faithful (Rule to the Secular Franciscans). This last rule is the rule that all other Franciscans follow and adapt to fit community life.

What does our Holy Father Francis leave for us today?

1. Above all he inspires us to love the Gospel. He wrote in his rule that the Gospel was to be the way of life for those who want to follow Christ. Although he wanted the Gospel to be lived “sine glosse” (without gloss), the Church later asked him to soften his rule, because the Pope felt that what Francis was demanding was too difficult and unreasonable. The Pope believed that the Gospel could not be lived literally and that it was not in the mind of the early Church that it should be lived literally. With great disappointment, Francis humbly obeyed and he rewrote his rule three times, until the Holy Father was finally pleased and put a Papal Bull (special seal) on it saying that it could only be changed by another pope. Not even the Brothers could change it. Francis leaves us with a special gift, love for the Gospel and love for the Church. His faith was placed in the authority of the Church to interpret the Gospel and to decide how it was to be lived, not interpreted by each individual who came along. Many today would like to tell the Church how to interpret the Gospel. Francis would disagree and insist that the Holy Father is the Vicar of Christ and despite his sinfulness and our disappointments, he is Peter and as Peter he is the shepherd of the Church. Francis shows his love for the Gospel by taking to heart what the Gospel says about Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my Church. Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. To you I give the keys of the Kingdom.” Love for Peter and the Gospel is the first inheritance that we receive from our Holy Father that must be lived today more than ever.
2. But there is more that our Holy Father leaves to us for today. Many people refer to all Franciscans as Franciscan Fathers or Franciscan Priests and Brothers. What most of us do not know is that the title Father was reserved only for the superior. Francis called all of them Brother. Even today, the Order is returning to the use of the title Brother. It is true that the priesthood is seen a ministry not a way of life, by St. Francis, so not all of the Brothers are priests. There was and is no need. Their life is to live the Gospel, not be priestly ministers. In Franciscan tradition this is only one way of serving the Church.

There is a reason for this. Francis had a sublime love for the Eucharist and the sacrament of Holy Orders, which we will see later. He also had a vision of God as Father. All things and all people that were created by the hand of God were brothers and sisters. The way of life that he proposed for the Church to imitate was the way of fraternity. The Friars were not to live in fraternity for their benefit alone; they were to be an example for all people of how one lives in brotherhood with other persons.

Brotherhood is not about status, priest vs. lay, rich vs. poor, male vs. female, gay vs. straight, black vs. white, Christian vs. pagan, etc Brotherhood is about the mystery of God. When we choose to live as brothers and sisters to others we proclaim our faith in the Fatherhood of God and the son-ship of Jesus Christ. We do so through inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Our spirit of brotherhood tells the world that we believe in community, beginning with the divine community, the Most Holy Trinity.

Today, we spend far more time than Francis would on the things that divide us. He found the common ground with people and nature. We all flow from the hand of the Father. Therefore, despite our differences, we are not totally excommunicated from each other, because we are all God’s sons and daughters. Just because someone does not know his father or mother does not mean that his has no parents. Francis knew that all human beings have one common parent, even those who do not know Him. This parent is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, all human beings have one common Brother, even if they don’t know Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. All human beings are united to this Father and Brother by the Holy Spirit that flows from their own divine intimacy. We must bear witness to the intimacy of the Trinity through our fraternal spirit toward others. We don’t have to like our siblings. But we can’t do them harm without offending OUR FATHER.

More on St. Francis on a later post

JR

 

[CradleCath]

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is someone who is near and dear to my heart. I have visited Emmetsburg at least five times, just to be near her burial place.

It’s quite a coincidence that you chose the patron saint of Catholic schools to write about. When I read your first post explaining the purpose of this thread, it took me about 3 seconds to choose my own favorite saint… It’s the fine lady who I quote in my signature line: St. Madeliene Sophie Barat. She was the founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, the nuns that taught me in high school.

Mother Sophie, as she was called, was what I’d term a true feminist…one who loved being a woman & used her feminine gifts to change the lives of so many Catholic women. She had no desire to become a priest as she knew that “the hand that rocks the cradle (or teaches the potential mothers) rules the earth”

She was a VERY hard working & humble woman, even though she was raised with some afluence & educated beyond the dreams of women of that time. Her brother, recognizing her fine mind taught her Latin, Greek, history, natural science, Spanish, and Italian. Her dream was to pass this type of education on to girls from all stations of life…from poor to well-to-do.

And there was that humility…a story was told about her: when it was decided by the local priest that the woman who had been in charge of a very small group of consecrated women (who later became the foundation of St. Madeliene Sophie Barat’s order) just wasn’t able to continue & Sophie was brought in…her first act was to kiss the feet of the handful of nuns assembled to meet her. It was this very humility, I think, that what made her impossible to resist. Who can say no to a woman who was humble enough to do the very work she asked others to perform, from scrubbing floors to teaching young women.

She passed her love of Christ & her love for her pupils onto every person in her order. (She was the Mother Superior, great friend & mentor of St. Phillipine Duschene. However, that’s another story.)

Here are some quotes that show her method of teaching:

“What is needed for winning parents and children is to be busy about them, at their service from morning to night; to forget oneself and enter into what concerns the children, body and soul; to listen to them with interest; to console and to encourage them; finally to sacrifice for them everything except one’s soul; and become for their sakes gentle, patient, indulgent, in one word, a mother.”
St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

“Give only good example to the children; never correct them when out of humor or impatient. We must win them by an appeal to their piety and to their hearts. Soften your reprimands with kind words; encourage and reward them. That is, in short, our way of educating”.
St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

“With the pupils keep an even tone, both gentle and firm. Show them by the care with which you help them to advance along every line for which you are responsible, that you care for their interests alone, and that you want to help them to acquire a solid and pious education, enhanced by learning, and thus make them happy”.

And all of this was to be done with a singular purpose: to bring glory & honor to God.

Don’t get the idea that the nuns of the Society of the Sacred Heart did not insist on self-discipline. They did. In fact, if one couldn’t discipline themselves, the Madames would do it for them by way of a private “visit” which explained what was expected of a “child of the Sacred Heart” They believed in me more than I believed in myself than & prayed & prodded me into going to the University. The love they had for the Sacred Heart of Jesus just permeated all of “their girls”. Their impact on my life was second only to that of my parents. I owe so much to St. Sophie.

 

[CradleCath]

.

The most interesting part is that she didn’t look for the glorified Christ. She looked for the suffering Christ. She looked for the crucified Christ. She was truly a daughter of our Holy Father St. Francis. When she saw a human she remembered two words that Christ said on the cross, “I thirst.”

She translated that into “I thirst for love, justice, mercy, hope, freedom, dignity, peace, life, home, family, health and Heaven.”

The more that she contemplated Christ in the people whom she met, the more that she understood his thirst. She came to understand his mind when he spoke those words. She knew that he thirsted not only for water, but for that which only selfless love can provide.
JR

AWESOME!! Thank you for this glimpse into the heart of a saint.

 

[JReducation]

It’s quite a coincidence that you chose the patron saint of Catholic schools to write about. When I read your first post explaining the purpose of this thread, it took me about 3 seconds to choose my own favorite saint… It’s the fine lady who I quote in my signature line: St. Madeliene Sophie Barat. She was the founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, the nuns that taught me in high school.

 

[JReducation]

REMINDERS

1. The reason why most of the canonized saints are women religious and nuns is due to the fact that their lives were more public. There are many lay saints, canonized and not identified.
2. Those saints who were religious or priests or both still have a great deal to teach us on how to live in today’s church. We must look at their beliefs and their relationship with God, the Church and others. Those are the lessons that we can apply in our own lives.
3. The style which the older saints used to achieve holiness may be different if they were around today, but their passion for specific truths from scripture or the teachings of the Church would be exactly the same. They may use different words if they were here today, but the same message.
4. Many saints also lived during troubled times within the Church and in society, but they focussed on finding interior silence, rather than conflict. They were cognizant of the fact that the Holy Spirit whispers, doesn’t shout. If everyone is shouting about this abuse or this problem or the other, you can’t hear the whisper of the Spirit One thing that the would do today is to get away from the shouting and arguing. The would find time and space where they could just sit and listen to God.
5. The saints have always loved the Church without intimidation. They have always made great contributions to the Church through great sacrifices of charity, mercy, prayer, and even pulling away from the crowd just to be alone with God, such as St. Clare, St. Benedict, St. Bruno, St. Terese. They changed the Church from within the cloister through prayer and silence. Monica changed Augustine through prayer and fasting. Vincent changed the Church through charity. St. John Neuman of Philadelphia changed the Church by walking. He died on the streets of Philadelphia. John XXIII changed the Church by calling her to think about herself and her place in the world. John Paul II changed the Church by reaching out to all people with patience and hope. You don’t have to be a militant to be a saint. Most saints are just the opposite. They are the quiet, obedient and sacrificial souls.

JR

 

[JReducation]

I thought that some of you would like to hear this. At mass this morning, the Brother who preached the sermon spoke about St. Faustina and how she would live out her ministry today. It was very beautiful. Actually, he even brought humour into it.

He explained that St. Faustina was given a very special mission, to remind the world about God’s infinite mercy. He tied it in with today’s Gospel where Jesus says tells the Apostles to forgive sins, etc.

What really impressed me is that he called St. Faustina the saint of the confessional, because there is not place where God’s mercy is so clearly visible than in absolution.

As he was saying this, one of the Easter plants that was by the podium fell and hit his head. He looked up and said, “Ok Faustina, which part did I get wrong?”

He continued to explain that this is the mission that she left to all Christians, to share with the world that God’s mercy is available and that people should walk around being anxious about their mistakes, but take advantage of the mercy that is available to us. He said that Faustina would probably be the kind of woman who would be there to console troubled souls by pointing them in the direction of God’s mercy. He reminded us that there are many such souls in the world and that we often walk past them, because we believe that we don’t have anything to offer. Faustina had one word to offer, “Mercy”.

I though this was so beautifully put and made so much sense.

JR

 

[catharina]

I thought that some of you would like to hear this. At mass this morning, the Brother who preached the sermon spoke about St. Faustina and how she would live out her ministry today. It was very beautiful. Actually, he even brought humour into it.

He explained that St. Faustina was given a very special mission, to remind the world about God’s infinite mercy. He tied it in with today’s Gospel where Jesus says tells the Apostles to forgive sins, etc.

What really impressed me is that he called St. Faustina the saint of the confessional, because there is not place where God’s mercy is so clearly visible than in absolution.

As he was saying this, one of the Easter plants that was by the podium fell and hit his head. He looked up and said, “Ok Faustina, which part did I get wrong?”

He continued to explain that this is the mission that she left to all Christians, to share with the world that God’s mercy is available and that people should walk around being anxious about their mistakes, but take advantage of the mercy that is available to us. He said that Faustina would probably be the kind of woman who would be there to console troubled souls by pointing them in the direction of God’s mercy. He reminded us that there are many such souls in the world and that we often walk past them, because we believe that we don’t have anything to offer. Faustina had one word to offer, “Mercy”.

I though this was so beautifully put and made so much sense.

JR

It’s very beautiful, JR. Thank you.