Saints Among Us.

I was visiting Sr. Julie's blog this a.m. She was sharing her reflections on her reading of the life of St. Teresa of Avila. It is interesting how their lives were no different than mine. There was a time when I was in third or fourth grade that I had these grand ideas about martyrdom, but that is all the were...ideas. I never quite took any step to seek out the reality. Here is an excerpt of Sr. Julie's entry.

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"In Chapter 1 Teresa writes of her childhood. She tells of a time when she was 7 and her brother was 11. After having read the lives of the saints, they decided that martyrdom was the quickest and easiest way to get to heaven.

We settled to go together to the country of the Moors, begging our way for the love of God, that we might be there beheaded; and our Lord, I believe, had given us courage enough, even at so tender an age, if we could have found the means to proceed; but our greatest difficulty seemed to be our father and mother.

The footnotes indicate that the two children set out on their journey but shortly after leaving they were met by one of their uncles who brought them back to their mother. Teresa herself says that she really wasn’t motivated by love of God but by the thought of quickly getting to heaven to enjoy the wonderful things she had read about!"

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I remember, and often reflect on, the lives of saints. In my family, when an example of strength, truth, or an example of obedience was called for my father always guided us through a brief history of the said example. St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Francis of Assisi were often guides to me. As a child, as now, I am in awe at the Spirit and how He could change the most turbulent, seemingly sinful life into one of grace and love. I fear that since Vatican II the examples of the saints as a treasure for growth in our lives and our children have been lost to Spiderman, Superman, et. al. Mom would read books to us before bed at night about the saints, with an occasional “Winnie the Pooh”. Then came television and things seemed to change in the things the family did together. I fear my children suffered as outside influences guided us and other families in other pursuits. A real tragedy. And that I truly regret.

What I do not regret is that family is still important to my children. And because we are family, I can be sure that theirs will, in many ways, reflect the work of God and our Savior in them. I see this everyday in every way!!!

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Thanks be to God!