Light the Way

“Don’t let your life be sterile. Be useful. Blaze a trail. Shine forth with the light of your faith… and light up all the ways of the earth with the fire of Christ that you carry in your heart.” St Josemaria Escriva

There is always time to begin again. Life is never sterile or stagnant. Recently, I went to the name day of a nearby parish. I knew the priest and he offered a special mass and refreshments to mark the day. He is new to the parish, and I wanted to support him. The parish suffered from neglect for quite some time, and he was sent there to renew it. Who knows what might become of his efforts. Once the new year begins, the gym I go to is full of people. By the end of January, it returns to its forlorn state. We cannot give in or give up. We can only move forward in hope. 

“Do not lose heart, even if you should discover that you lack qualities necessary for the work to which you are called. He who called you will not desert you, but the moment you are in need he will stretch out his saving hand.” St Angela Merici

I was reading about St. Julian who was prophesied to kill his parents. A strange story but it seems God always does move in mysterious ways. He moved with his wife far away from his parents so the prediction might not come true. His parents sought him out and found his wife while he was hunting. Upon his return home, he misunderstood what he saw and killed his parents. He devoted his life with his wife to helping others. It is interesting that even murderers have a patron saint. Another saint that surprised many people was St. Jean Vianney. He was sent to a faraway parish that might seem like an exile to some. He arrived and through prayer, sacrifice and penance, he brought many people back to the faith. People came from all over France to seek him out. Of course, jealousy would rear its ugly head. But St. Jean was never deterred despite exhaustion, temptation and opposition at times. I have visited Ars, France and I was astounded. We need to imitate these people in word and deed. The RCIA group I am helping out with discussed St. Jean Vianney and even the neo-Catholics were amazed. 

It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. St John Paul II

It is easy for me to say what I want, and I often get attacked by this as a result. Being blunt has its positives and negatives as it would seem. I read often about these saints and listen to the experience of others, and it never disappoints. It makes me want what for me is sometimes impossible – a faith that endures. I see that so often. I was at morning weekday mass last week and the priest was a no-show. Instead of taking it in stride, I reacted. This is wrong thinking. We need to continue to look at what is possible – not what is impossible. The Lord makes everything possible. 

"Always we begin again."  St Benedict

"And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him. Then you will be able to rest in Him—really rest—and start the next day as a new life. " St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)