The Witness Of The Saints
And let the endless bliss begin, by weary saints foretold,
when right shall triumph over wrong, and truth shall be extolled.
I have always had a fondness for the saints. From the time that I could first remember saints’ stories being told by the Sisters at my grade school or by my parents, I was enthralled. I loved to hear about the lives of the martyrs (what kid isn’t fascinated by gory stories?) as well as about the miracles performed by saints while they were still alive. I loved to hear about saints persuading great numbers of people to transform their lives and about how the saints were transformed many times from a wretched sinner to a person of great valor.
The lives of the saints are great inspirations for all of God’s people and I wish they had a greater place in the hearts of the faithful. We could learn so much from studying the lives of the saints and could advance in our faith if we just try to emulate the saints.
During the Advent season, we have been given the lives of some saints to consider: St. Andrew, St. Francis Xavier, St. John Damascene, St. Ambrose, St. Mary, St. Juan Diego, and St. Nicholas, just to name a few. I’m sure that some of these names have evoked favorite stories in your heart about their virtuous lives.
They did what they did in order to prepare for the day that the Lord called them to Himself. We have the same task today: to be ready and to prepare a way for the Lord. Let us use their example to draw us closer to God this day.
FAITH ACTION: Call to mind a few of your favorite saints and try to put their witness into practice in your life today.
[There will be several confessors available in the church at 7:00 p.m. this evening
in case you wish to go to confession to prepare for the celebration of Christmas.]