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