They are like us

We hear about the Saints all the time.  They are a great source of inspiration but they are often far off.  They lived long ago, in far away places in very different times.  Most of them were priests or nuns.  It is easy to think that we don't really have much in common with the saints.  But there is one thing that we all have in common (and it's a big one).  

We are all children of the Lord.

I was reading the prayer on the back of a Saint Rita prayer card the other day and one word of one line stood out to me:

Our

"by following the will of our heavenly Father"

Even though Saint Rita lived hundreds of years ago she still prayed to the same Father in heaven that we pray to.  Even though she lived a very different life than I do we still are part of the same Catholic family in Christ.  This is what brings us together.  This is where our lives do intersect with the lives of the saints.

They are like us.

Dear St. Rita, during your entire life on earth you found your happiness by following the will of our heavenly Father. Help me to be as trusting of God in all his designs for me. Help me this day to give myself to him as you did, without limit, without fear, without counting the cost. Help me to be generous in serving the needs of others, patient in all difficulties, forgiving toward all who injure me. Help me to learn more deeply the great mystery of the cross of Jesus, so that by embracing it as you did, I may come to experience its power to heal and to save. Amen.

For more information on the life of Saint Rita look here.
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=205 

Our Brothers and Sisters

I really love when I have the opportunity to go to daily mass.  There is a simplicity about it that brings out the true beauty of the mass.  The simplicity allows me to hear lines of prayers that I say every week in a new light.  
The mass brings us together as a community.  We need that community.  As much as we want to be (and think we are) independent and self sufficient we need a community.  I am starting to build a little community but it is a slow process.  But even if we know no one in the church or if we are visiting a new parish we are still part of a community.  I was reminded of this today as we prayed the penitential act.

"And you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."

The people around us are our brothers and sisters.  We are asking them to pray for us as they are asking us to pray for them.  This brings us closer together as we draw closer to Christ.  We are not alone in the church, we are surrounded by our brothers and sisters who are praying for us. 

A Future of Hope

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.- Jeremiah 29:11

I have found this to be one of the most uplifting line in the bible.  I am a worrier.  I worry about everything.  I even worry about worrying (I am sure that I am doing it to much).  We are always told not to worry because God has a plan for us.  Great, don't worry He has a plan, but what if its a bad plan?  What if it is a plan that you will hate?  What if it is a plan that will make you miserable?  All plans are not created equal.  Well this gives me something else to worry about.

But we are reassured once again.  It is not a plan for woe is a plan for hope.  We don't need to worry, its a good plan.  A plan that will bring us to a future of hope.  Our creator knows what will make us happy and he has a plan to take us there.  His plan goes beyond our plans for dinner or even our life plan his plan is concerned with our eternal happiness and joy.  We can rest assured that he has our backs and will bring us to eternal joy with him if we allow him to.