Category: Saints

High Jinx and Rule Breaking=The Making of a Saint

Post author By SheilaLaSalle
Post date August 15, 2015
1 Comment on High Jinx and Rule Breaking=The Making of a Saint

In 1926, when the churches were closed and priests went into hiding, Blessed Miguel Pro secretly served the Catholics in Mexico. He would arrive in the middle of the night dressed as a beggar to baptize an infant, bless a marriage, or celebrate Mass. He’d walk into the jail, dressed as a police officer and bring Holy Viaticum to condemned Catholics. When going to more wealthy neighborhoods to procure for the poor, he disguised himself as a successful business man with a flower in his lapel. In order to serve the spiritual and temporal needs of the people, he had to think outside the box.

Serving as a priest during this time required him to be both creative and daring. So it is not surprising to read that as a child his intense mischievousness and frequent practical jokes exasperated his family. A fearless sense of adventure was part of his nature and although he was very spiritual at a young age, this aspect of himself was not stifled.

On the day of his execution, he faced the firing squad without a blindfold, stretched his arms wide, forgave them, and proclaimed Viva Cristo Rey, “Long live Christ the King!”

Today, if Miguel were in an American classroom, he might be considered “naughty” or worse, slapped with a label: Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder. He might spend his recess time “on the wall” or in the principal’s office after causing trouble or a “distraction”.

Let us be careful not to label a child or assume their character is troublesome. For the qualities inherent in one prone to daring precociousness and high jinx are the same qualities it takes to be a servant of God, an ambassador for Christ, in the midst of persecution.

~~Sheila LaSalle

Tags communion, faithfulness

Christianity RCIA Saints Spirituality

Mary Magdalene Showed Up

July 22^nd, is the Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene. According to the Gospel of John, it was Mary Magdalene to whom Christ first appeared and spoke to after His resurrection.

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. … as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there… She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher…

Why Mary Magdalene and not Peter? I can’t even speculate the answer to that, but I believe we can find answers to other questions with which we grapple within the context of the original question: why her? Questions such as, how do I live, on a day to day basis, as a Christian within a secular society? How am I supposed to move forward in my life after tragedy and loss? How do I acquire that burning love or that burning faith that the disciples and saints shared?

Mary came to the tomb while it was still dark. Imagine what that alone must have been like. Consider the wilderness, the hungry, nocturnal wildlife roaming about the land. Her deep craving for Christ outweighed any fear, or struggle, or threat. Despite the darkness, despite her grief, she went to him. She showed up. Love knows no limits. When we struggle, encounter a tragedy or loss, those who truly love us show up. This is the love that Mary Magdalene displayed. And I believe this is the answer to the questions that we encounter from time to time.

How do I live, on a day to day basis, as a Christian within a secular society? Show up. Read scripture, pray. As Catholics, we have the privilege to engage in an encounter with Christ, in the highest form of prayer, on a daily basis: the Mass.

How am I supposed to move forward in my life after tragedy and loss? Show up. Even when our grief is blinding and every forward step feels daunting, we need to show up because that is the most surefooted path to a healing encounter with the risen Christ.

How do I acquire that burning love or that burning faith so many others have shared? Again, show up. We choose which relationships we do, or do not, nurture in life.

Reading on, although she spoke to him, Mary didn’t recognize Jesus until He said her name. Showing up, despite the unknown, despite our pain, despite our secular apathay is only the first half of the equation. Once we do show up, we must listen.

~~Sheila LaSalle

Tags communion, faithfulness, saints

Catholic Christianity Saints Spirituality

Vulnerable Uncertainty

Recently, a friend expressed a dryness in his faith and described feeling a vulnerable uncertainty of the future. I thought, How utterly blessed he is! Why? Because the reality is that all of life is uncertain and we truly are vulnerable, but the world and our own willful determination often convince us otherwise and we ignore the truth. Acknowledging this truth places us on the precipice, positioning us to take that perfect leap of faith, a free-fall into a holy detachment.

Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite monk during the 17th century. He worked in the kitchen and was said to have transformed drudgery into devotion. “…in the noise and clatter of my kitchen…I possess God in as great a tranquility as if I were on my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.” (The Practice of the Presence of God). His collected letters reveal that his awareness of God’s presence led to a silent, but continual, conversation with the divine. It also enabled him to become indifferent to what life might bring and abandon his sense of self as he focused on the love of God.

I am not certain what dry valley brought Brother Lawrence to his precipice, but I do know that at some point, most of us will encounter our own. Whether it be the cessation of a career, or relationship, the death of a loved one, or a parent’s “empty nest”, at some point we become stripped of how we once defined ourselves, our role in life, and what brought us meaning. It is here that we may enter into that dryness of faith, but it is also here where we have our greatest opportunity. This is when we have the opportunity to no longer concern ourselves with a defined role but to simply and wonderfully become a vessel for God’s love; to no longer worry about what life might bring, but to encounter every task and every person placed before us as God sent; to trust that His grace will be sufficient for every challenge we may encounter. It is also our opportunity to wait in peace until God reveals His will.

It isn’t always easy. For several weeks I have been torn about whether or not to apply for a new position at work. I’ve been an instructional coach for 3 years at a middle school, working with Language Arts teachers. I enjoy my work and find it fulfilling. However, another opportunity is on the horizon which excites me with the prospect of new challenges and opportunities for professional growth. I’ve told people that I’m praying about it. But I haven’t exactly been at peace while I’ve waited for God to reveal what He wants me to do. The peaceful wait and discernment requires us to listen, to remain in His presence regardless of where we are, what task is at hand. And although I have prayed about it, I truly haven’t abandoned “my wants” or “needs” in the process. I also haven’t abdicated the “decision” entirely to God. If I had, instead of saying, “I’m torn. I can’t decide,” my response would be, “I’m waiting to see what God wants me to do.” Sheesh! And this isn’t even a valley! Or perhaps it is…

Perhaps it is Christ inviting me to the precipice, encouraging me to free fall into holy detachment, to let go of my will and impression of who I think I am supposed to be, and relish the vulnerable uncertainty as I practice being in the presence of God.

~Sheila LaSalle

Tags faithfulness, saints

Catholic Christianity RCIA Saints

The Persistence of a Saint

Post author By SheilaLaSalle
Post date July 2, 2015
No Comments on The Persistence of a Saint

Growing up, celebrating All Saints Day involved much more than dressing up in a costume on the first of November. For weeks leading up to the celebration, each student chose a saint to research and write a report. The culminating activity: dressing up as that saint on All Saints Day.

Upon entering the school library, girls with names like Theresa and Monica rushed to the saint section to find the saint that shared their name. Not a strong reader yet, I waited for them to select their books before I searched the bottom stack of picture books for a saint named Sheila. “Looks like I’m off the hook,” I told a friend, “there’s no saint Sheila.” Within minutes, most of my classmates heard my declaration, as well as the librarian, and I was instructed to choose a saint from the collection anyway. Book after book, every cover captured a smiling saint in the image of perfection. Clean and tidy. They must have been born perfect, I thought and I found it difficult to look at them. I was a tom-boy. I played Little League baseball, and spit. Scuffed knees and dirt under my finger nails was a badge of honor. I looked nothing like these saints, and I was far from having the patience of a saint, a term I heard my mother use to describe my older sister, named after Saint Catherine. Then and there, I determined that I was not born a saint, would never be perfect, and my mother knew it when she named me Sheila.

Not until I was far into my adulthood did I get to know any of the saints. I learned that they really didn’t start out wholesome and perfect. But what made them a saint was that at some point in their life they turned toward God, embraced the Trinity, and lived their life dedicated to Christ. It was this dedication that resulted in a holy communion with God in heaven. Around this time, I heard a priest define a saint as a friend of God, which is when It all began to make sense. If someone were to be with God after passing from this life, it stood to reason they would be a friend of God during this life also.

It requires a certain dedication to develop and maintain a friendship. Consider the effort we put into our friendships, the hours spent being together, the countless conversations. Over time, as we gain new responsibilities and are pulled in other directions, it requires a certain persistence if we intend for our friendships to last.

As a friend of God, saints also engaged in this behavior. Their faithfulness was more than keeping the commandments and being a “good person”. Their faithfulness was evident in their persistence and dedication to their relationship with Christ.

To be a friend of God and come into union with Him, it is not the patience of a saint we need to adopt, but rather the persistence and dedication of a saint.

Sheila LaSalle