The Communion Of Saints - A Young Catholic's Reflection

4) Find a friend

Another genius of the Catholic faith, and there are many, is the adamant belief that we are not alone. While of course there is no substitute for Christ or the power of God the Father active through the presence of the Spirit in our hearts, the communion of saints is made up our brothers and sisters who have allowed Christ to live His life in the world through their own actions, thoughts, and loves. The saints are those who have lived, like Paul, "no longer I, but Christ." This is mystical and mysterious, but it is above all human - to believe that holiness is only for a select few or that it somehow requires us to repress our humanity is to disbelieve the Incarnation. The Word became flesh so that we might become one with Him, and the saints are people who have allowed their lives to meld with His, to become words, speaking the Word.

With that in mind, the saints are very real role models for our lives of faith. This does not meant that we must become another Therese or another Augustine or another Julie Billiart or any of the others. We must become other Christs, not secondary versions of our brothers and sisters. Even so, the saints are our friends and guides, still present with us by virtue of the fact that they are united to Christ, who is with us "to the end of the age." 

So the directive is this: introduce yourself to the saints. There are certainly enough of them that you will find a very dear friend among them. Three of my favorites are St. Therese of Lisieux (as if you didn't know that already), Bl. Charles de Foucauld, and St. Thomas More. A Carmelite nun, an ex-Trappist hermit and missionary, and a British layman martyr, all living very different lives, all giving themsleves completely to Christ, and living God's life in the world. But the point is not to read up on the people that I've found helpful, the point is to find the saints who resonate with your own experiences, and to let them bring you to the love of their hearts, who is Christ.

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"The salvation of man does not mean that he must divest himself of all that is human: that he must discard his reason, his love of beauty, his desire for friendship, his need for human affection, his reliance on protection, order, and justice in society, his need to work and eat and sleep. A Christianity that despises these fundamental needs of man is not truly worthy of the name." Thomas Merton, Life and Holiness

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Alan: The above writing is item 4 in a post entitled "On Prayer" at http://inklingsofcleveland.blogspot.com/2012/07/on-prayer.html