Expanding the View

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lives of the saints, Saint Charbel Makhlouf, saints, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As I was looking ahead at the liturgical calendar this morning, my eye fell on an unfamiliar name for the “Saint of the Day.” The name was Saint Charbel Makhlouf and he was a Maronite monk, a priest from Lebanon. I will leave you to look up his biography which gets quite intriguing after his death. Suffice it to say that Makhlouf was raised in a pious home and was drawn to the hermit life. He was born on May 8, 1828 and died on December 24, 1898 after living 23 years as a solitary hermit. The story gets interesting from there…Check it out!

Being a “cradle Catholic” and having lived in religious life for 55 years, one would think I have at least heard of all the saints, especially the ones whose biographies included some miraculous moments. Not so in this case, however! My knowledge of the saints does not stretch past the Middle Ages, it seems, except when it comes to very popular and/or extraordinary people from the Western world, like St. Theresa of Lisieux, (the Little Flower) or Pope St. John XXIII, remembered for the Second Vatican Council that renewed the Western Church in the 1960s.

I know now, after this morning’s foray into the lives of the saints, that I have much to learn. Have you heard of St. Andre Bessette, St. Josephine Bakhita, St. Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i, St. Charles Lwanga, St. Augustine Zhao Rong, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, St. Isaac Jogues, St. Andrew Dung-Lac or St. Sabas? They are all accessible on the internet and their biographies provide some interesting reading.

The world is large and needs to go beyond our own backyards. Why not take a trip today to some unknown “Holy Land” and treat yourself to a new acquaintance or two?

All Saints

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All Saints Day, blessed, compassion, fidelity, goodness, holy, kindness, love, saints, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today we join with people all over the world in solemn celebration of those we call “saint.” It is one of those days when each of the several lectionary readings begs for attention as they all echo the wondrous history of holy men and women, known and unknown, whose stories tell of the power and love of God. These are the “canonized” saints – the ones recognized by our Churches from the earliest days of Christianity. Should we choose, we could go all the way back in the Hebrew Scriptures to find names like Abraham and Moses, Ruth and Isaiah. Always there have been those who have served the God whose kindness and compassion have endured forever.

Today we understand as well the value of those heroes of love and fidelity whose names may be lost but whose service to God and humanity remains as a light in centuries of love and good works. Listen, if you will, to words that speak of such goodness and call us to emulate people we know on this universal day of celebration. Create your own litany of those you call “saint” and consider how you may sit in their company.

1. (RV 7:2-4, 9-14): Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”…”These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
2. (PS 24) Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? or who may stand in his holy place? One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. They shall receive a blessing from the Lord…
3. (1 JN 3:1-3) Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.
4. (MT 11:28) Alleluia! Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
5. (MT 5: 1-12A) Blessed are…Rejoice and be glad for your reward will be great in heaven.

Potential Saints

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compassion, decisions, potential, saint, Saint Francesco Antonio Fasani, saints, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Recognized (canonized) saints all used to be well-known by their heroic, holy lives. I’m happier now to hear about saints I’ve never encountered because it seems more possible to imitate them simply by living a good life. Today’s entry in the Franciscan Media’s litany is a good example and the reflection about Saint Francesco Antonio Fasani points up what I mean. Don’t get me wrong. I’m always happy to celebrate people like Pope St. John XXIII or St. Joseph, but it’s good to remember there’s potential in all of us as long as our goal is not recognition but rather sincerity and deep love. Here’s how the short biography of Francesco reads.

Eventually we become what we choose. If we choose stinginess, we become stingy. If we choose compassion, we become compassionate. The holiness of Francesco Antonio Fasani resulted from his many small decisions to cooperate with God’s grace.

Yes, there was a short listing of his life’s works and how he accomplished them but the above paragraph was, for me, a telling conclusion. It seems self-evident that becoming a saint – if only in an “unsung” category – is possible for all of us. That fact could change everything about our striving, don’t you think? It really could be just our attitude and motivation about “the little things in life.” And that, my friends, puts us all in the running for sainthood!

Everyday Saints

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All Saints Day, Matthew, Revelation, saints, survive, The Beatitudes, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

On this feast of All Saints, I look at the time at the top of my computer screen as I type and find that it is – ironically – 9:11 a.m. Last night the winds were howling (How fitting for Halloween) and rain was pelting on our windows late into the night. Thinking of California as I lay awake, how I wished that we could stop the wind and send the rain to put out the fires there! I have a feeling of devastation that is different from 9/11/2001 but still catastrophic as I pray for the safety of our Sisters of the Los Angeles province and all of the people on the news whose houses have been reduced to ashes.

With all of that in mind, I turn to Scripture readings for the day where I find “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress” from the Book of Revelation. That sounds a little like today so then I ask myself, “Who are the saints of today?” I am quick to answer: “First responders.” But I can’t stop there. The networks of people who step up at catastrophic moments are legion and then there are the everyday saints who respond to their neighbors as a matter of course, wherever there is a need. See today’s gospel for the Beatitudes as an explanation of that kind of sainthood. (MT 5: 1-12)

We have our favorite canonized saints, of course: Francis and Clare, Therese and Teresa…and even some named in our own lifetime now – Pope Saint John XXIII, etc. On this day, however, my prayer list is wide and long of good people that I celebrate and for whom I give praise and gratitude to God. Why not share their names if you know them and pray to or for them, as the case may be? Maybe you will hear your own name coming back at you from this “great cloud of witnesses.”

All Saints

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All Saints Day, canonized, sainthood, saints, St. Paul, Tenley Albright, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

With all the ghosts and goblins back in their hiding places and many candies and other treats already consumed, Christians turn today to the annual celebration of All Saints. When I was young I thought of today as sort of a “consolation prize” for all the people whose names were not listed as official (i.e. “canonized”) saints. I was happy enough to know that St. Ann(e) was the grandmother of Jesus, given to make me a legitimate baptized Christian as my middle name back when I was born. Some people wanted to attribute the sainthood of Lois to St. Louis IX, king of France, but I wasn’t really interested in that, although in a pinch it was rather prestigious.

Today I prefer the perspective of St. Paul who addressed all those who listened to his preaching as saints. Perhaps he was clear on the fact that no one still alive ought to add the title “Saint” as a prefix to their first name, but preferred to assume that we were all working toward that designation and that the possibility still existed until we had taken our last breath.

I was musing on that fact, happy that the seed of a blog post was already in me as I came awake this morning. Just at the same moment for no reason I can imagine, the name Tenley Albright came to mind. That was one of those names that seems as if it were made up by parents who wanted something unique for their child but perhaps it was a family last name that was unfairly thrust upon an innocent baby. Tenley Albright was famous when I was a child, especially known to me because she was born in Newton, Massachusetts as I was. Tragedy was turned into gift for Tenley when she was given skating as physical therapy after being struck with polio at age eleven. She became one of the most decorated skaters in American history and went on to become a surgeon and faculty member at Harvard Medical School.

Certainly Tenley Albright would be in the running for the honor of sainthood, but I’m with St. Paul and my vote is with all those skaters who get up every morning and do their best no matter how many times they fall in practice. That would include all the parents who drive their sons and daughters to practices and events and all the teachers who have those students in their classrooms and all the checkout clerks in the grocery stores who stand on their feet all day facilitating the distribution of the food that farmers (also saints) grow for us, and so on and on and on…to all people of good heart and good cheer who are making their way to eternity and on whom God smiles for their efforts.

 

 

 

 

 

Grumpy? No Worries!

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Christianity, grace, listen, poor, saints, spiritual needs, St. Vincent de Paul, temperament, tender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, touch the heart, willingness

There’s hope for all of us! I was just reading a synopsis of St. Vincent de Paul’s life (1580 – 1660), one of the most well known saints of Christianity for his care for the poor. Vincent, the account says, “had become a priest with little more ambition than to have a comfortable life,” but had been changed by the deathbed confession of a dying servant that “opened his eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry in France.” There’s lots of evidence of his good works, commonly known, but it was a small paragraph toward the end of the account that gave me pause – and actually made me smile.

Most remarkably, it notes, Vincent was by temperament a very irascible person – even his friends admitted it. He said that except for the grace of God he would have been “hard and repulsive, rough and cross.” But he became a tender and affectionate man, very sensitive to the needs of others. 

What is it that is able to touch the heart – or the will – to soften us in such a way: the plight of others? attention to our own blessings? However it happens, it seems we ought to believe it is possible for all of us to be touched by grace and to decide for God. Perhaps it all might start, as it did for Vincent, with a willingness to listen to someone in need – and maybe the offer of a smile to invite the conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen Up!

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Blessed Frederic Ozanam, experience, faith, listen, prove, question, response, saint of the day, saints, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Vincent de Paul Society, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Every once in awhile I am pleasantly surprised by what I find as I begin my routine of blogging. My first stop is always the US Catholic Bishops’ website (www.usccb.org) which provides me with the lectionary readings for the day. Next I check Fr. Don Miller’s information about the holy person whose designated feast the Roman Catholic Church celebrates on that particular day (www.franciscanmedia.org). I do check into the thoughts floating in my own mind as well but always like to have some backup in case of “brain freeze.” And as most of you know, my “backup” stretches to many other sources as well.

This morning I was interested to find a “saint of the day” – the second in a week – whose story I had never heard. This man on the way to canonization, Blessed Frederic Ozanam, is credited with the founding of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in 1833. Although he was a stranger to me, his organization is not. My sister has a very active “chapter” of this society in her parish and she herself has become very involved in the Thrift Store that is integral to the work of the society for the benefit of the poor. This  work can be found in many countries in the world and is extraordinary in its reach.

God speaks in many ways at different times and it is always important to be attentive to when a word might be meant specifically for you – or me. It happened for Frederic Ozanam during a session of his book club one day. The club was a very diverse group of people including agnostics and atheists in addition to Christians. As he was speaking about Christianity’s role in civilization, someone said to Ozanam, “Let us be frank, Mr. Ozanam; let us also be very particular. What do you do besides talk to prove the faith you claim is in you?” In this question lay the seed of response that became the Society dedicated to justice and aid to the underprivileged under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul, great champion of the poor.

What Ozanam’s life would have become if that question had not been asked or if he had not taken its meaning to heart will never be known. Was it the directness of the question? the readiness of Ozanam’s spirit? his experience of life up to that point? Who knows? What is important is that he responded in a way that has changed lives over the past two centuries. A good example for all of us.

 

 

 

 

 

Mary MacKillop

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Australia, Josephites, religious life, saints, St. Mary MacKillop, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Having lived what I sometimes call “a charmed life,” I am often amazed at the zeal and the difficulties of those that we Roman Catholics (and others) call saints. I wonder if I wouldn’t have given up by now if I had come up against betrayal and poor treatment (including excommunication for a time!) from colleagues and church officials encountered by St. Mary MacKillop – the first named saint of Australia and the “Saint of the Day” on the Franciscan Media website for today.

Mary’s desire was simply to teach children and care for the poor, especially in rural areas throughout her native Australia. She was drawn to religious life but unable to find a religious community that met her needs, so she founded – with her spiritual director, Fr. Julian Woods, – the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the Josephites). Born in 1842, she was steadfast in her vision and by the end of her life in 1909 saw her congregation thriving. Her path to sainthood is well-documented on http://www.franciscanmedia.org and is worth a read as a good example of the adage: Never give up!

 

 

 

 

 

Peter, Paul and Us

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Christianity, energy, saints, St. Paul, St. Peter, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vision

We all come to God in our own time and in our own way. Whether we are born into a religious tradition that nurtures our faith in an organic way for the duration of our life or have a moment of recognition brought on by an extraordinary event, our life journey is as unique as our thumbprint and just as special.

Today we celebrate the lives of Saints Peter and Paul, perhaps the two people most responsible for the spread of Christianity. Peter was with Jesus from the beginning of his public life. His commitment to Jesus was total even though his impulsive words and actions often got him into trouble. Paul came later, never having seen Jesus until a shocking vision changed his life forever.

As we contemplate the lives of these two giants of faith let us consider that everything about us is important to the God who created us. Our personality – whether steady or erratic, our natural inclinations and ways of working, our gifts for mathematics or poetry and more…all create an energy in the world that would not be released had we not come to birth.

So let us be grateful for the sainthood in each one of us – hidden for now or manifest – as we celebrate Paul and Peter, the man of means and the fisherman, who joined forces and changed the world. And let us not be self-effacing in the possibility that lies within us to do our part in what is evolving in our own day.

 

 

 

 

 

All Saints?

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canonization, darkness, God's children, heart of God, holy, John, Matthew, positive, psalm 24, Revelation, sainthood, saints, The Beatitudes, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I knew, of course, that yesterday was Halloween, i.e. “All Hallows’ Eve” but it’s still a bit of a shock this morning to wake up in November! Suddenly the trees are bare and the temperature outside is so low that one can hardly hold on any more to the season of autumn. It’s rather ironic that we celebrate many of our grandest holidays during the darkest time of the year. Perhaps it’s necessary that it be that way to keep us positive through the darkness. We begin today in Christianity with the feast of All Saints.

If we ask what constitutes “sainthood” we can expect many different answers. Dictionary definitions abound, some of which pose further questions like: Are Christians saints after they die or while they are still living? There is an answer to that for Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians whose Churches “require certain procedures before people can be officially named saints; this procedure is called canonization.” But there are two notes on the internet that make me happiest.

1. A statement: Saint is the French word for “holy.”
2. A question: How does the Bible define a saint?

If we look at today’s lectionary texts, each of the readings gives us an image that might move one to deeper pondering on the above question. The vision in the Book of Revelation has shining images of “a great multitude, wearing white robes and carrying palm branches in their hands…those who have survived the time of great distress…” (Ch. 7). Psalm 24 speaks of the people “who long to see God’s face, those whose hands are sinless and whose hearts are clean, who desire not what is vain.” John’s first letter tells us that “we are God’s children now” and that when all is revealed “we shall be like God…” (1 JN 2).

I thought the choice of gospel passage for this holy day was brilliant when I read the chosen text: Matthew 5:1-12, known to us as The Beatitudes. Coming to embody the qualities of those who are blessed listed in this passage must surely qualify us as “sainted” or “holy.” Just to read them quickly won’t get us there. We truly need to allow them to penetrate the deepest cave of our hearts and then to shine out of us in love that is humble, merciful, peacemaking…reflecting the love of God.

So perhaps as we move into this new month we can make a new (or renewed) determination to be those saints that may not yet be formally recognized but who are already held as such in the heart of God.