I am terrible with getting birthday greeting cards to their recipients on time!
Seriously.
It’s a terrible flaw of mine.
Admittedly, I never FORGET the special day.
I honestly lift them or their special occasion – such as an anniversary- up in prayer on the appointed day.
However, I do FORGET to send the greeting through snail-mail.
Weeks.
Sometimes even MONTHS Continue reading “mvp”
I woke up this morning
to see my most favorite hero
basking in a beautiful light!
Even Helen thought so too!
A quick stroll
through my yard
and you will meet more heroes
of mine.
Such as St. Rita
who is affectionately hung
below a rose tree.
St. Rita is known to leave behind roses
when prayer intentions have been answered
(through the grace of Our God)
&
I do so verily hope the prolific blooms this year
signal a pretty hefty prayer
being answered for our family!
Behind her is beloved St. Francis of Assisi…
lover of animals; which is why he stands appropriately near
our bird-feeders.
And St. Joseph, another favorite hero of mine and defender of the Holy Family,
hangs near a favorite sitting spot of Cuppycake’s & mine.
What is a Saint?
A saint is one who has been recognized for having an exceptional degree of holiness, sanctity, and virtue.
What is a Hero?
A person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. 2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.
And so it is for me that the two are synonymous as I have not met a Saint who has not qualified as Hero. And while Hero’s, on the other hand, aren’t always made a Saint…does that mean we all shouldn’t at least aspire to be one?
Our parish priest, Fr. Larry Richards, often reminds us we should all aspire to be Saints! That when we leave this earthly life our lives will have been so devoted to pointing always to Him, despite the trials we may face, that our parishes will be filled with statues of each one of us!
(I wrote in a previous post what I would envision my statue to denote.)
In our modern day vernacular we have made the term “SAINT” synonymous with perfection. If someone lives a life above reproach we say “He is a real saint,”
if one dedicates their life to solely doing good works, such as Mother Teresa, we say “She is a real saint,” if one lives a life exemplary of good morals and high standards we ascribe to them the “title” of saint.
We have set some pretty high standards for achieving sainthood!
(Rightfully so!)
And yet…
I do believe the Saints themselves would say quite differntly.
They would remind us that to attain Sainthood is a courageous battle to be fought daily, with great joy! That there is no perfection to be found in living the life of a Saint, only imperfect people (sinners) striving to love Him always…in ALL ways and doing so heroically!
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.
Michael 7:8
St. Paul himself, declares in Romans 7:15, this struggle to do good is difficult!
“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate,” Romans 7:15
However, we should never stop trying!
Will we tire?
Yes.
Should we quit?
Never.
And that is exactly why the Saints are my heroes.
Heroes never quit!
They fall down…
and then
get up.
In this past half-century I have met many Heroes!
All of whom I have drawn strength from at various moments of my life,
some more than others,
but each equally as important.
I hope you will find a hero (or more) to fall in love with!
Remember they are who we can draw strength from as we aspire to be
saints of our own…no matter how great the effort
& no matter how many times
we need to get back up
to try again!
My 50 Heroes:
hugs n’ blessings to all those heroes
who I will meet in my next half-century!
Will you be one of them?
Today is November 1st and not only is it the beginning of the NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) but it is also…
All Saints Day in our Catholic Faith!!
(All Saints’ Day is also commemorated by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as some protestant churches, such as Anglican, Lutheran and Anglican churches.)
Saints [N]: The word “saint” is derived from a Greek verb (hagiazo [aJgiavzw]) whose basic meaning is “to set apart, ” “sanctify, ” or “make holy.”
All Saints’ Day is a solemn holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1. The day is dedicated to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven. Holy day customs vary around the world.
In the United States, the day before is Halloween and is usually celebrated by dressing in costumes while children go door-to-door, “trick-or-treating”; which is soliciting candy from their neighbors.
Our pastor, Fr. Larry Richards, reminded us in our Weekly Parish Bulletin, “There is only one tragedy – not to be a Saint! Each of us are called to be Saints. This should be our number one goal in life… Being a saint is NOT just for the “spiritual super heroes” it is for all of us!
To be Saints means that we become people of love! People who love God above all things created. This means that we have a daily committed prayer life. That means that we build our day around God, not try to fit God into our day. We also must be people who love others as Jesus commanded us – by giving up our lives for them each day, by putting them first.”
In the Roman Catholic Church, the next day, All Souls’ Day, specifically commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached heaven. Catholics celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual communion between those in the state of grace who have died and are either being purified in purgatory or are in heaven (the ‘church penitent’ and the ‘church triumphant’, respectively), and the ‘church militant’ who are the living. Other Christian traditions define, remember and respond to the saints in different ways.
Different faces, different lives
Different ways, different interests
Their differences fit just right to the same God who loved them all.
May you have a solemn All Saints Day! And a Prayerful All Souls Day too!
hugs n’ blessings to all those we continue to pray for, both living and deceased!
hugsnblessings 