"Today's festival (All Saints Day) reminds us that the communion of saints is not some elite club...Rather it is a gaggle of the gifted and the not so gifted who choose to practice holiness together."
Fr. Edward Foley, "Give Us This Day"
This and other things I read this morning remind me that Christianity isn't an exclusive club. It isn't elite, made up of perfect people, or even successful, really. Remember our leader was put to death! Jesus and the saints we celebrate today were rascals in their time. They didn't conform to their own cultures necessarily. They may have stood out because they were different. Jesus certainly did. Much of what he did ran against the grain of his Jewish society. I was thinking about the saints and had this idea for a little prayer exercise. What if we pick a few saints we would like to gather in a booth at Denny's or Dixie's or wherever we gather to sit, drink coffee and share. What saints would we choose? I'm thinking of St. Ann, my name patron who tradition believes is Jesus' grandmother. I imagine she has some stories! I'm thinking St. Jude who helped our kids get through school. I'd love to buy him a cup of coffee and thank him! I'm thinking St. Francis who inspires me to live a more simple life. I'm thinking of St. Teresa of Calcutta, too, wouldn't it be neat to sit and chat with her? The saints were real human beings who simply grew so close to God they began to look like Jesus in the world. What if we could do a faith sharing group with a handful of saints...who would you pick? What would you ask them? Love, heidi
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