August 28--St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

      

Sinner, heretic, gambler, playboy, philosopher, teacher, penitent, monk, priest, bishop, saint.  All these describe the same person, St. Augustine.  St. Augustine was the most influential person in developing and explaining Church doctrine in the first millennia after the first century.  He helped make clear the doctrines of Original Sin, the Trinity, grace, free will, Baptism, and more.  He was one of the four original Doctors of the Latin Church along with St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, and St. Jerome.

However, before he converted he was an opponent of the Catholic Church, belonging to a heretical group that said we have two wills, one good and one evil.  He had a mistress and an illegitimate son.  He was ambitious for fame and glory.  But he was also a searcher for truth.  That commitment to the truth eventually led him back to the faith of his mother, St. Monica.  All this is recorded in his great autobiography, The Confessions, which tells of his sinful youth and eventual conversion.

One of his famous lines from The Confessions is, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God."  God plants in our hearts the desire for God.  If we are faithful to that desire; if we are honestly searching for truth, we will find God already in our hearts.

August 21--St. Pius X, Pope

The first pope to be declared a saint in the 20th century was also the first pope elected in the 20th century, Pope St. Pius X.  He came from peasant stock, which was unusual among papal candidates.  He accomplished many things as pope:  he lowered the age for first reception of Communion and Penance to the age of reason; began Catholic Action, an organization for the laity to be involved in service to the community; condemned the heresy of Modernism, which asserted that dogma could evolve over time; codified canon (Church) law; encouraged frequent reception of the sacraments; and led a holy life worthy of example.

What can we hope to follow from such a saint?  Undoubtedly, his humility.  He knew who he was and was respectful of his origins from poor peasant parents.  That did not limit his abilities or his responsibilities to respond to the opportunities that God set before him.  He led the People of God to live lives of greater holiness by the frequent reception of the sacraments.  He changed the practice of receiving Communion from about the age of 13 or 14 to about seven so we could receive Jesus earlier and more often.  Attendance at daily Mass became more common.  

Humility is knowing who we are.  We are children of God and the way we grow in our identity as children of God is by coming closer to God, especially in the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion.  So let us humbly follow the example of Pope St. Pius X by frequently going to Confession and receiving the Eucharist.

August 11--St. Clare of Assisi, Virgin

According to some, the Catholic Church oppresses women.  Their arguments are based on the principles of the world: power, autonomy, absolute equality, etc.  In their minds, if the Church does not support women's "reproductive rights" or women priests or the ability to choose which gender one wishes to be and so forth, the Church is thus against women.

However, that flies in the face of all the Church has done for women throughout the last two millennia and as embodied by today's saint, St. Clare of Assisi.  St. Clare was a follower of St. Francis of Assisi and founder of the Second Order, the Poor Clares.  She also completely accepted the gift of poverty as Francis had. She set up a convent in Assisi with a Rule that she wrote, allowing them to be free from property, surviving by means of the alms given to them by the Franciscan brothers.  This was completely different from every other women's religious order and it was due to her courage and perseverance.

Women have been at the heart of the Church going back to the Virgin Mary and continuing with the first person to whom the risen Jesus revealed himself, Mary Magdalene, to great martyrs like Sts. Perpetua and Felicity to great teachers of the Church like St. Macrina and St. Hildegard, to great leaders and founders of convents and religious orders like St. Bridget, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Clare, Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, to great doctors of the Church like St. Teresa of Avila and St. Therese of Liseux, to mothers like St. Gianna Beretta Molla, who gave her life instead of taking her baby's.  Mary is our mother and the Mother of the Church.  Women have influenced us throughout our lives.  Let us follow St. Clare's courageous example and leadership to help us live lives of holiness and virtue.

August 4--St. John Vianney, Priest

                                  

How does one become a priest?  First there needs to be a desire and ability to serve others.  Then there's the sense that God is calling that man to serve as a priest.  There also has to be discernment and evaluation by those who are responsible for the training and education of the candidate.  Finally the bishop, with help from the Vocations Director and the seminary rector, decides to accept and ordain the person to serve as a priest or to recommend a different path of service.  No man has a right to become a priest.

What about St. John Vianney?  Well, he had the desire and ability to serve and a strong sense of vocation, but he was not able to do well in his studies for the priesthood.  He had great difficulty listening to lectures in Latin.  But he persevered and was eventually ordained.  His zeal for the Lord also led him to become a great confessor, sitting in the confessional 11-16 hours a day reconciling God's people.  Thus, he was named patron saint of priests.

What does it mean to be a priest?  It means responding to God's call to serve in a special way; through ministering the sacraments, through preaching the Good News, and through leading God's people by a life of service.  We are called to love and serve the world in our daily lives, but priests are called to love and serve the People of God.  God has not stopped calling men to be priests; we just need to listen more carefully.  All of us are responsible for fostering priestly vocations through our prayers and our encouragement.

July 29--St. Martha, Friend of Jesus

   
Many times we think of St. Martha as a "busybody" saint, trying to get Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help her with the responsibilities of hospitality.  But we must not forget that she is also the woman who expressed complete faith in Jesus:  "I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world" (Jn. 11:27).  It was after this confession of faith that Jesus raised her brother Lazarus from the the dead.  She and her sister and brother were friends of Jesus.  When he came to Jerusalem, he stayed with them.  That can be taken as a sign of trust.

Maybe we have a "Martha" in our families.  Perhaps she is the grandmother or the aunt or mother or sister who goes around the house with an apron on and a washcloth in her hand, constantly finding things to clean and chores to do.  Maybe she is always making sure that guests, both invited and pop-ins, are welcomed and cared for.  Maybe she is also the person who strongly influences our faith by her constant prayer with the Morning Offering glued to the medicine cabinet mirror.  Maybe she has her rosary with her, praying at moments of rest.  Maybe she has a print of the crucifixion of Jesus above her bed a or a picture of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane in the living room or a picture of the Last Supper in the dining room.

Martha is the patron saint of housewives, waiters, and waitresses.  These are the people who serve us and make sure that the necessities and niceties of hospitality are observed.  She is also very much the patron saint of those who love us and care for our everyday physical and spiritual needs.  They may not have the name of Martha, but they embrace her legacy.  May we be "Marthas" to others.

July 25--St. James, Apostle

                            

Ambition is defined as strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.  It is a good thing to have, depending on what we are ambitious for.  St. James was ambitious, but not always for the Kingdom of God.  His mother, St. Salome, once asked for the seats of honor for him and his brother, St. John, on the right and left of Jesus in the kingdom.  This was an ambition for worldly glory that Jesus rejected for himself and his followers.  Jesus' response was to remind them that glory in the Kingdom of God meant drinking of the cup that he drank from.  The glory of God is about love and sacrifice and service.  

St. James was able to drink of the cup of love, sacrifice, and service.  He became the first apostle to be martyred, killed by King Herod.  He belonged to the inner circle of Jesus' followers with St. Peter and St. John, witnessing the Transfiguration and being called to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane.  As an apostle he was sent forth to preach.  According to legend, St. James traveled to Spain and proclaimed the Gospel.  The shrine at Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain is the site of relics thought to be his.  It has been the site of a pilgrimage for about 1,000 years.  Every year over a hundred thousand pilgrims travel there.

As we can see, ambition for God, for love, and its necessary elements of sacrifice and service, is worthy of our efforts.  We are called to be zealous in our faith, share the Good News of salvation by our lives, our deeds, and our words, as St. James did.

July 14--St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin

Is there a Native American saint?  Yes, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, also known as Lily of the Mohawks or Flower of the Algonquins, is the only Native American to be canonized.  She was born of a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother in 1656.  She was orphaned at the age of four and eventually converted to Christianity at 19 under the influence of the Jesuits who were missionaries in French Canada.  She also took a vow of virginity, which was extremely unusual.

She underwent other hardships as well.  Because she did not work on Sundays, she was not permitted to eat.  She was in danger in her village because she was Christian.  She left it and walked 200 miles to a Christian Native American village near Montreal.  She also survived smallpox, but with half her sight and severe disfigurement.  However, she accepted her crosses and spent long hours in prayer, charity, and penance.

Do we accept our crosses in our ordinary lives?  Let us listen to St. Kateri and follow her example:  "I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus.  He must be my only love.  The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me.  All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing.  With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I'll give to my relatives and to the poor.  If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross.  He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure."