Is there a saint for failures? No one who is a saint is a failure, but many
of the saints had numerous setbacks throughout their lives that challenged them
to grow in faith. St. André Bessette,
who died in 1937, went though numerous setbacks, or failures, in his life. He was a sickly child; his parents died when
he was 12; he attempted, and failed, numerous trades including shoemaking,
baking, and blacksmithing. He tried to
enter the Congregation for the Holy Cross, but was too sick to be
admitted. Eventually, he was admitted
and then given the “humble” occupations of doorkeeper, sacristan, laundry
worker, and messenger. However, he
served with piety and devotion to St. Joseph.
That devotion to St. Joseph prompted him to work toward having a chapel
built dedicated to St. Joseph. Many
years of prayer and dedication and setbacks were put in before he saw the
successful culmination of his efforts.
We all fail in our lives, whether it be due to lack of
ability, lack of effort, or illness or injury, or even due to “luck” and
circumstances beyond our control. We do
not get what we want and that can lead to feelings of feeling despised or put
upon, or unlucky. Nonetheless, the only
true failure is sin. Sin is the ultimate
failure to love. But we have a savior
who lifts us up from our failures.
Forgiveness from God is the ultimate success. As we have been loved and forgiven, we have
been called to love and forgive others.
This leads us to a life of spreading the Good News of salvation. True, we may still not get what we want here
on earth. However, God will always give
us what we need to get to heaven. We
just need to turn to him and understand how these setbacks may be calling us to
a greater success, as did St. André Bessette.
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