The Saints Among Us

Dear Friend,

In a public address some years ago Archbishop Gomez observed that many people today have turned politics into a substitute for religion in terms of looking to it for an overall sense of purpose and meaning. Elaborating on the implications of this insight, others have observed that for many Americans the political has completely swallowed up the religious in the quest for an overarching loyalty to some notion of the good.  

Earlier this week we celebrated St. Thomas Aquinas, the great Dominican saint, who knew well that people need to be aware of the lens they’re using when looking out at the world and drawing conclusions about what they see. St. Thomas used his abundant intellectual gifts to assist all those refining what we’d call today a faith-based outlook on life. In his regular bulletin columns, Roger Bergman has drawn from the thinking of Aquinas to help us all understand important notions like the common good and the dignity of the human person.  

As we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation this weekend, we’ll see the prophets Simeon and Anna in the Temple, the public square of their day. They boldly announce the presence of Christ, a new light and lens who will reveal challenges. In her book “Let’s Talk About Truth” Dominican Ann Garrido addresses the challenge of humility: “Reality is like a bazillion volts of electricity and most of us are only dealing with 60-watt bulbs.” She adds that for disciples of Jesus Christ, the truth is more a verb than a noun, that Jesus wants us to give witness in a whole way of life.  

Who are your witnesses to the truth, compassion and mercy of Jesus Christ? In our centennial year, let’s make it a point to put the spotlight on the saints among us!

Gratefully,

Father Dan