I shared a few stories of saints who have helped me in my journey to answer God's call. Here I will only mention three: St. Paul, St. Josemaria, and Blessed John XXIII.
St. Paul
My earliest recollection of admiring a saint involves St. Paul. When I was a freshman in high school ABC aired a two-part mini-series entitled Peter and Paul, starring Anthony Hopkins as St. Paul. Hopkins portrayed St. Paul as a remarkable preacher. This inspired me to read the epistles of St. Paul.
Later I would volunteer to be a lector at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Dallas. I would always try and get the second reading so I could read a letter from St. Paul. Now as an adult, I still find myself thinking of Anthony Hopkins' St. Paul when I read one of St. Paul's letters at mass.
St. Josemaria Escriva
About seven years ago I experienced a reconversion that led me through a significant formation process. I truly experienced the awareness, renewal and dialogue found in the teaching of Ecclesiam suam, Pope Paul VI's encyclical written during Vatican II. I had become conflicted about living my "Sunday life" separate from my every-other-day-life. I mistakenly thought I needed to leave my profession as a teacher to serve God in a greater capacity. I was also looking for a saint to help me find congruence in my work and spiritual life.
The entire time I was searching for this saint, I kept stumbling upon the writings of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. Ironically this coincided with the popularity of the Brown's DaVinci Code, which painted the Catholic Church and Opus Dei in a false negative light. Eventually I read The Way, St. Josemaria's most famous written work. In it, I found the precise message I was looking for: we are all God's children and we are ALL called to holiness, even in our ordinary work. I had found the saint I was looking for. Since then, I have become a Cooperator of Opus Dei and I begin each day of prayer reading a passage from St. Josemaria's writings.
Blessed John XXIII
For the last fifteen years, I have struggled with my weight. I went from being a fit cyclist to an obese couch potato (you are indeed what you eat). Recently, I had a series of events which inspired me to take a more spiritual approach to my weight loss. Like my search for a saint of the ordinary, I was looking for a patron saint for obese people or weight loss. I could not find one recognized by Church tradition. Other suitable candidates like St. Maximillian Kolbe (because the Nazi's tried to starve him to death) and St. Thomas Aquinas (because he may have been a large man) came to mind.
Instead, I decided Blessed John XXIII would be the patron I ask for intercessory help. I even took a picture of a statue of him we have in our sanctuary and use it as my iPhone wallpaper. I have lost over 50 pounds since I incorporated prayer into my weight loss plan (Weight Watchers has helped too). I must admit I have not read much about him, but what I do know, I have enjoyed. He was funny, friendly and, most importantly, he convoked the Council of Vatican II.
These are just a few of the saints who have helped me along the way. Some have inspired me by their writings. Others have been role models and still others I have asked for intercessory prayer.
Part 3 of this series will include a discussion of Fun Facts about the saints.
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