Though St. Margaret of Cortona (1247 – 1297) is today known as being an incredibly pious Catholic, she didn’t start out that way.

The resurrected Christ gives us the strength to do things we can never have imagined. Life will often give us mountains to climb, and we wonder how we will find the energy, ability, and determination to forge ahead.

“There’s something different about you.” Think about the times in your life when this has been said to you. Maybe it was after someone complimented you on a job well done, and you realized that you were walking through life with a little more confidence.

“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Many folks really work very hard to circumvent difficult situations. We prefer the easier way around something, rather than risk inconvenience, hurt or prolonged suffering. It’s no wonder euthanasia is rapidly becoming acceptable around the world.

People may be familiar with leprosy from Biblical times, but not so much in the 1800s. However, St. Damien de Veuster of Moloka’I’ (January 3, 1840 – April 15, 1889) would eventually shed a light on the effects of this devastating disease and allow people to see those afflicted with it with more compassion and love.  

Once we see the wisdom behind the commandments and teachings God places before us and are attentive to listening for His direction, we can begin to take the necessary steps and follow Him.

Reluctant Sheep Sheep get an awfully bad rap, linguistically. Some are quick to label people as “sheep” if we think they haven’t sufficiently questioned authority or if they’re too willing to go along with someone else’s plan.

“Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start.” (Pope Francis) We have a difficult time figuring out what is true and best for us. There are many voices talking and so many trying to get our attention.

The story of St. Rose of Venerini (February 9, 1656 – May 7, 1728) is one of having faith in God and his calling in your life. Born in Italy in 1656, she was the daughter of a doctor. Following the death of her fiancé, she entered a convent in the hopes of becoming a nun, but soon returned home to care for her mother after the death of her father. In an effort to keep up her spiritual side, St. Rose invited women of the neighborhood to recite the rosary in her home, and together they formed a sodality.

What prevents us from seeing the Lord? We are not used to seeing Jesus in the ordinary, everyday events of our lives. We expect some kind of startling, extraordinary revelation to occur that definitely and unmistakably sends a signal that God wants our attention.

Have you ever opened a gift and wondered what the giver was thinking?

Could it be that God’s image has become so soiled and distorted that it is hard for us to see it? Our self-serving agendas have done a great job twisting God’s image into what profits us. We want our agenda to be God’s agenda and use prayer as the convincing leverage we need. Worse still, our success and egocentric agenda often erases God’s image completely, replacing it with our own.

Central America’s first saint, St. Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667) was born a poor shepherd in the Canary Islands. His family lands were seized because of debt, and he worked as an indentured servant until his early adult life when Pedro left his home to travel to Guatemala. His money for the journey ran out long before he arrived. He was destitute when he did arrive and was forced to join the bread line the Franciscan Friars had for the poor.

Life is about to get very interesting for the disciples. Finding themselves questioning what happened to Jesus and whether he actually was raised from the dead, they are afraid and uncertain.

If you’re a parent, you know this to be true: the world is watching. All it takes is one slip-up — one bad word, one selfish action, one uncharitable commentary, and that’s the thing your child seems to notice.

Even Thomas struggles to remove his boulder! Being very pragmatic and determined, he wants to see the risen Christ for himself! Thomas’s boulder is heavy with mistrust. Many of ours are too. A certain amount of skepticism is good, as it can save us from being duped or misled. But we can become so skeptical of things that it erodes our ability to trust anything we see or hear.

At the age of 14 St. Bernadette (1844-1879) was living in abject poverty with her family in a one-room basement which had previously been used as a jail, in the town of Lourdes in southern France. She was a sickly child, having fallen victim to Cholera in 1854 and would battle asthma and tuberculosis for the rest of her short life.

Hailed one moment and rejected the next. This seems to be the pattern that repeats itself not only throughout history but in our own lives as well. Jesus wants to be triumphantly welcomed into our hearts with joy! And welcome him we do! Then come the times when we do exactly the opposite and we reject the teachings of the Gospel and turn our backs on God’s friendship.

A God who knows how it feels

Pope St. John Paul II rightly taught, “To believe in Jesus is to accept what he says, even when it runs contrary to what others are saying. It means rejecting the lure of sin, however attractive it may be, in order to set out on a difficult path of Gospel virtues.” Acceptance, rejection, suffering, betrayal, fear, reluctance, persecution, and painful, undeserved and unjust death are all played out in dramatic fashion today.