Saints didn’t set out to have everyone follow them. Saints set out to follow Jesus, and others followed them in their pursuit of Him.
Mark Hart
Today is the Solemnity of All Saints where we lift our voices in prayer and thanksgiving to God for these examples of holiness which we are all called to aspire too in our lives. I have a great love for many saints and getting to know them through study, prayer and fun has helped me to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ. Saints come into your lives at very odd times and are often surprising in their entering and helping in a variety of situations in our lives. A few weeks ago I wrote about a newly canonized saint, St. Marguerite Bays, who captured my heart with her simple but powerful witness to her local parish and community.
There are the big saints, the famous saints and those everyone has heard about, and of course the Blessed Mother who is a category unto her own. Whether it is St. Jude for a desperate cause, St. Anthony when I can’t find my keys again, all saints are true friends. But let me share with you a few of my saintly friends.
My very first encounter with a saint came as a small boy when I was told St. Christopher was no longer an “official” saint. This broke my heart. My middle name is Christopher and how could I live without a saint in the middle…and besides when Mom or Dad got mad at me would they still give me the three name command…Mark Christopher Arnzen come here now! This went away quickly because in my boyish heart I guess I figured God would take care of this problem.
My second major blessing came at Confirmation when we were asked to take another saint name. I chose St. Nicholas because he exemplified the virtue of generosity. This was the first time my prayers with the saints were for a very specific purpose other than the routine “pray for us” that rolled mindlessly off my tongue. Asking and being with a saint in prayer seeking a certain virtue or need is one of the powerful parts of prayer of petition or intercessory prayer where our sister and brother saints pray with and for us in life.
When I was at Holy Names College I found another saint dropping into my life, St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) a Carmelite nun who was murdered in the Nazi death camps because of her Jewish heritage. Discovering the courage of conversion and the following and trusting in Jesus Christ opened my eyes to a deeper gift of saying “yes” to God’s call to follow him. Of course when you find one Carmelite you can’t miss St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. John of the Cross to name a few who trickled into my life.
When I began my time as a missionary in New Mexico I had the pleasure of learning the lives of St. Bonaventure (the name of the mission) and then Blessed and now Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (the name of the school) where she opened my eyes to the many young saints who dedicated their lives to Jesus at such a great cost and how I am, as we all are, challenged to follow Jesus in a like manner where sacrificial love extends deeply into the service and caring for others.
The last saint I will share is St. Arnold of Soissons, the patron saint of beer brewers. I don’t know how I missed him during most of my life because I do enjoy a good beer and I don’t know why I never thought of him but he visited me from facebook where “Buy your Priest a Beer Day” popped up a couple of years ago. St. Arnold and his patronage has given me great joy over the past few years as friends and parishioners have shared in his prayers for good beer and has allowed me to receive and share a many good beers.
Saints are wonderful companions to cry with, to laugh with and to walk with on our journey of faith. Getting to know the saints of our Catholic tradition helps us to know who Jesus is through their lives and service. I would challenge you to learn about the saints (I will have a link below) and share what you learn with your family. Perhaps make it a weekly activity where everyone shares a little biography about a saint from the week or just from the greater canon of these holy men and women.
God Bless
Fr. Mark.