"The saints are the great revolutionaries in the area of loving God and neighbor. Through their total commitment to God, they are able to extend themselves past the boundaries of what their own society is willing to see as lovable....Saint Vincent de Paul discovered the lovableness of slaves and of abandoned babies. And different saints through the centuries overcame the lethargy of their fellow citizens by expending enormous energies in the founding of the first free hospitals and schools for the poor.... Saint John Bosco, relying solely on daily contributions, was able to feed, clothe, shelter, and train hundreds of street boys in Northern Italy.
...We should want to imitate them, not because of some vainglorious desire to be famous, but because we wish to give ourselves generously to those who need us. But we cannot do this unless we become holy (totally open to Christ); only then, through love, can we give them something of infinite and eternal value...."
- Ronda Chervin, from Magnificat, November 2025
Hello Lisa,
ReplyDeleteIt is most interesting to consider the saints as revolutionaries as indeed they were. Defying norms and taboos, they went where others feared to go. And, how one can relate this to the everyday today. It is easy to love our friends, more difficult at times to love all members of our family, but very difficult to love those outside this close circle, those who are often marginalised in society as a whole.
Hi, Jane/Lance,
DeleteGod is enabling the faithful to become saints every day, even in our day! Only with his help can we go beyond ourselves and do these things which seem so unappealing or scary to us.
I find that contemplating the lives of Saints is a wonderful way of discovering how to improve my relationship with God and my fellow human beings. The faith and courage they showed in their acts is amazing to me and I often wonder if I would ever have the courage to behave as they did. I used to think that saints were only to be found in ancient history but of course they live in the here and now. I have a fabulous book written by our former Archbishop Rowan Williams 'Luminaries - Twenty Lives That Illuminate the Christian Way' which includes accounts of recent saintly lives. I am reading the biography of Edith Cavell by Diana Souhami at the moment. Such a brave saint-like woman! the daughter of a priest she became a nurse and moved from England to Belgium and was working as a matron in a teaching hospital when the First World War started. She began by caring for wounded soldiers who were brought to her but then progressed to helping refugees, soldiers and Belgians escape across the border into the Netherlands with fake passes etc. She was arrested and after a trial where she was refused counsel was found guilty and was executed by firing squad on 12th October 1915. Her faith in God and His mercy never wavered.
ReplyDeleteClare, I have read Silence and Honey Cakes, and really liked it, so I will look that up! The Edith Cavell story also sounds good. Reminds me of Corrie Ten Boom's story and so many others during world wars who bravely hid people. The Assisi Underground is another good one. I often think it would so much harder today, since our society is full of independent filmmakers, always recording everything they see. A world of spectators, not actors.
DeleteI have been meaning to read Silence and Honey Cakes for a while. I also have his book about the Narnia novels by CS Lewis. Corrie Ten Boom! Yes! I had a friend who was a Minister in the local United Reformed Church who had met her or knew her - I can't remember -and would often preach about her.
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