Catechist Book Review Part II: My Life With the Saints

This life, the life of a saint, is accessible to all of us.  Will many lay people end up canonized as a saint?  Probably not.  Could more of us practice St Therese of Lisieux’s “Little Way,” of doing a small deed for someone else that is out of your way, smiling at your spouse at the end of a long day, or patiently waiting in inconvenience in lieu of rushing the person ahead of you in your perceived greater importance?  Definitely!  Now when I think of redemption and how God can possibly still love me and forgive me for my many sins, I think of Thomas Merton who has a sordid past, yet lived out his life as a Trappist monk, wholly devoted to God.  When I think of bravery and wonder how I am possibly supposed to spread the Gospel in the spiritual wilderness of Marin, I think of Joan of Arc, who led an army to victory as a young peasant girl because God told her to (via 3 saints).  In reading about the retreats in Fr Martin’s education and experience with the saints, it made me wish I could leave my life behind and sit on a mountain for a week, fasting and praying.  But there it is again: none of these saints (nor Fr Martin) sat on a mountain.  They lived in a real world with real people and real human kindness and their lives exemplify the beauty of loving, trusting and delighting in God.  In the words of Leon Bloy, “The only real sadness in life is not to be a saint.”

And here is the answer to my baffled question of why would someone pray to a saint when we can just go right to the source: for the same reason I ask my prayer partner and other believers to pray for me!  What a revelation!  Fr Martin kept me waiting until the last chapter of the book to answer this one.  In this chapter, Fr Martin describes a play about Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine.  In the play, she is depicted as a street-smart, wise-cracking mama and it reminded me of some women I know.  It helped me see, once again, the saints as they are: fully human and totally people you would want to pray for you.


Review by Lisa Murphy, 7th Grade Catechist