Saints to Intercede, Saints to Inspire
I am switching up my bulletin column this week from concept-heavy prose to offering some reflections on some modern era saints who can help give us needed perspective, inspiration, and intercession in preserving faith, hope, and love in challenging times. Drawing upon the tradition of patron saints, we realize that not every saint is going to be special to us. In fact, from the very beginning God raised up particular people for particular times and used them to become vessels of grace for very specific missions. The following saints each have particular historical circumstances, societal ills, personal hardships, and unique spiritualities. Truly among the communion of saints there is someone for everyone to call upon and to be inspired by.

Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang  Saint Mark was martyred in China on July 7, 1900 during a time of great violence as the country grappled with new economic, political, social, and cultural upheaval. He is one of the 120 Chinese martyrs canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope Saint John Paul II. I am struck at how the evils that befell Saint Mark are some of the same evils that are present in our community today. One would think that we would have learned a great deal about opioid dependency from the personal and social devastation it caused a little over a century ago. And yet, here we are again. He was a physician who became addicted not to chase the high, but to relieve severe physical pain. For thirty years he was denied absolution, and therefore the Eucharist, because his addiction was deemed a sign of an unrepentant heart. He remained addicted even to his death in captivity. And yet his faith was such that he never wavered in his love for Christ. His historical background gives great perspective to his life and death. He is the saint for anyone struggling with addictions for sure, but so many others can recognize parts of his story in theirs. Physicians and health care professionals who carry  the tremendous responsibility of care for those who are severely ill and all those who work with economically disadvantaged people can turn to him for help. I wonder what folks who serve in law enforcement or the justice system would think about the social circumstances that permitted or even encouraged the drug wars of that era. And for myself as a confessor, I think of the many folks who have found the Sacrament of Reconciliation less than an encounter of God’s mercy. It’s one of the reasons I added another time for confessions on Friday afternoon. 

Saint Katharine Drexel  Saint Katharine Drexel was a true child of America’s Gilded Age. It was a time when individuals could accumulate tremendous wealth in a short span of time through major technological developments and financial acumen and control, while tremendous numbers of immigrants came to the US from many poor areas of the globe to seek a better future. It was a time of riots and social unrest caused by the usual suspects:  religion, race, and fair access to resources. Social trust was compromised by conmen in business and corrupt civil officials. A national addiction was killing people and destroying families. Back then it was alcohol. Out of this world God chose Saint Katharine to use her family’s financial and social capital for the good of the least, especially setting up school systems for Native American and Black people. I have chosen Saint Katharine as the patroness of the stewardship efforts of our parish since it was through her constant prayer, especially devotion to the Eucharist, her dedication to education, especially faith formation, her person service of charity, and the sacrificial giving of her wealth to aid her brothers and sisters. Above all she offered the extraordinary social grace and basic hospitality that she grew up with and enjoyed to those who did not find easy access to all of society's benefits in their own country.

Blessed Concepción Cabrera de Armida  Blessed Conchita, as she is affectionately known, is the first Mexican laywoman to be beatified.  She lived during the revolutionary times of Mexico during which almost a million Mexican people died in the second decade of the 20^th Century. She lived through the times when Catholicism, while not completely illegal in the country, was restricted to such a degree that made it almost impossible to practice one’s faith in the open. It was a time that gave rise to many martyrs. She was a married woman who lost her beloved husband at a young age, with several young children in the family. In the midst of this turbulence, Blessed Conchita grew in holiness and devotion and love for Jesus Christ, especially in the Eucharist. With the spiritual discipline of the Third Order Franciscans, she was able to navigate the challenges of youth, remaining faithful to her love of the Church and to the love of a young man who would become her husband and the father of her children. She is known as the domestic mystic, which means she experienced a closeness to the Divine in prayer and worship that fortified her to meet the challenges of raising a family in difficult circumstances. Like many saints, there were some weird aspects of her life (and I think you’ll understand why this is an appropriate term.) In her 30s she decided to brand herself with JHS (she put Christ’s initials on her chest, having grown up in ranching life where the brand meant everything to the family). Sure. That’s weird to me. But no weirder than anyone in our current culture who is moved by some passion to get a tattoo to signal devotion to someone or something. And what about that “brand loyalty” that businesses are trying to get out of us? This aspect of Blessed Conchita has really made me recognize how suspicious and judgmental I am about “the younger generation.” Yeah. Religion can be a little weird. Blessed Conchita wrote over 60,000 spiritual diary pages exploring the mystery of God who revealed himself so powerfully in her heart. Selections from her writings have helped me to understand the role of desire in the spiritual life. Hers was a desire to be always in communion with God, but also a desire to help others experience that same communion. She felt the universal call to holiness from God and wanted to help others be holy too. During the most difficult days of the revolution, while still devout in personal prayer and worship, she managed to found several new organizations to help people remain holy, healthy, and in God’s grace.  

Servant of God Antoni Gaudi One of the great blessings in my life has been to meet some saints during their lifetimes. I saw Pope Saint John Paul II for the first time in 1979 in Des Moines, but actually met him 1983 when I served Midnight Mass in St. Peters. I saw Saint Teresa of Calcutta for the first time in 1984 and then went on to meet her several times after in my five years in Rome when I worked with the Missionary Sisters of Charity soup kitchen and then at the home for unwed mothers. Those are the official saints. I also have met people who I consider living saints. I’ve met God’s Plumber, a simple family man, father of eight, who ran a thriving business with many employees and still managed to attend daily Mass. I met God’s Lawyer, a man who dedicated his life to bringing Catholic social teaching to bear on public policy and the church-state relationship. There has been quite a competition for God’s Farmer. It would be hard to pick who gets the job because I have met some amazing men of faith who through prayer and work, have been model stewards of God’s blessings. I’ve met more of God’s Teachers than I could ever count. But, I never met God’s Architect. He was dead before I came around, but I sure would have loved to. That’s who Antoni Gaudi was. You may know him as the architect of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia. You may not appreciate the complexity of his life. Again, a man who lived during turbulent times when Spain was struggling to find peace and consensus in governance for the nation, Gaudi was a man of prayer and faith. He desired to create art and beauty that would direct the heart and mind to the original Artist and Architect of all things. He’s still on the first step towards official sainthood, but his cause has been recognized as a worthy effort. I think he is worth our further study. While it may be a bit easier to see a famous architect as being particularly blessed by God, I think it is just enough to realize that the honest occupation of anyone can become a means to encounter God’s grace. Gaudi, like the three previously named individuals, had great faith in their baptismal grace.  They knew themselves as children of God. No matter how trying the circumstances, how much they were surrounded by sin, evil, and corruption, they kept their light burning bright, nourished by prayer and the sacraments.