Determined, Daring, Devout

As Election Day draws near, our minds turn to the various candidates who are putting themselves out there not merely as potential decision-makers, but as embodiments of the American Dream.  Our nation holds in great reverence the so-called “self-made man or woman,” the person from any walk of life who encounters the right circumstances, takes initiative, and achieves great things.

The saints have made the honor roll; they are our “Who’s Who Among the Children of God.”  But our respect for them far surpasses the celebration of opportunity-takers or rugged individuals; rather we are really worshipping the God who made them for Himself, supplied what they needed, and became their greatest fan.

We can reflect today upon a few faces in the Church’s family portrait.  Ready to mind comes Francis of Assisi, a deacon, a friend to the poor and to all God’s creatures; Teresa of Avila, a teacher of mysticism and reformer of consecrated life; Damien of Molokai, a caregiver to lepers who himself became afflicted; or the recently canonized Anna Schaeffer, who was injured in an accident and became an example of patience in suffering.

It should not surprise us that many of the saints maintained a kind of defiance to human preferences in favor of what they truly believed was the will of God for them.  Gianna Molla was a physician but more importantly a wife and mother who permitted her own death for the life of her unborn child.  Lucy refused an arranged marriage to a pagan man and suffered great torture for her decision because he exposed her as a Christian during a time of persecution.  Thomas of Aquinas, renowned philosopher and theologian of the Church, had been put on the fast track to become Abbot of a Benedictine monastery but desired instead to become a Dominican friar.  His dismayed family even had him kidnapped and imprisoned, but he escaped to pursue his heart’s desire.

Christ our Savior is our model of holiness.  He wills to conform us (with our consent) to His image, but His plan doesn’t destroy our individuality.  It seems to have the opposite effect, accenting everything worthy about each person, especially as we place this or that characteristic at the service of God and people.  That’s what saints do, and holiness results.  It doesn’t get much more complicated than that.  As for the miracles necessary for canonization, we can let people worry about that after we die.

Were I come o'er again it should be this

On the eleventh anniversary of terrorist attacks upon American soil, I join the throng in thanking God for all who have served, are serving, will or would serve our country as a member of the military, police, firefighting, or emergency medicine fields.

Such servants deserve our respect for their steadfastness.  To them I dedicate Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "The Soldier":

YES. Why do we áll, seeing of a soldier, bless him? bless
Our redcoats, our tars? Both these being, the greater part,
But frail clay, nay but foul clay. Here it is: the heart,
Since, proud, it calls the calling manly, gives a guess
That, hopes that, makesbelieve, the men must be no less;	5
It fancies, feigns, deems, dears the artist after his art;
And fain will find as sterling all as all is smart,
And scarlet wear the spirit of wár thére express.
Mark Christ our King. He knows war, served this soldiering through;
He of all can handle a rope best. There he bides in bliss	10
Now, and séeing somewhére some mán do all that man can do,
For love he leans forth, needs his neck must fall on, kiss,
And cry ‘O Christ-done deed! So God-made-flesh does too:
Were I come o’er again’ cries Christ ‘it should be this’.

The yearning for a hero is universal and profound.  When heroism takes flesh, ceasing to be a mere idea--when we witness heroism in a particular person--our hearts instinctively look upward, as if to make an act of faith in humanity and humanity's God.

Like Hopkins, my aptitude rested not in any of the above, but in service of an overtly religious sort.  As a member of St. Clair's Junior Ambulance Corps in 8th grade, I gained particular respect for the fields of emergency medicine and firefighting.  While many kids persevered in the Corps to the point of becoming an EMT, Paramedic, Nurse, and/or Firefighter, I left after gaining certification in Basic First Aid.  But I got to remain involved in the lives of many of those good people by assisting in or officiating at their weddings, baptizing some of their children, and, alas, burying the spouse of one.

Praise God for the work of our "first responders"--for whoever responds expertly, promptly, and thoughtfully to someone in need.  Such transactions are thoroughly incarnational, for God finds flesh in every player.  As Our Lord has told us, these servants will be blessed to hear His consoling reminder at the end of days: You did it to Me.