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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Celebrating family life | Saint Andre Bessette | spiritual lessons
Caitlan Rangel shares lessons in humility learned from the example of St. André Bessette. I recently realized I had been listening to a lie: You can’t become a saint like this. You’re just a mom. As a woman who writes and reflects on how our vocation as parents leads us along the path of holiness, I was shocked that I could be so deceived. When I shared this with my confessor, he shepherded me back to the simple truth that my ego loves to forget. He said, “Caitlan, we are called to become little.” My ego is repulsed by humility—You can only become a saint if people know who you are. The hiddenness of your life isn’t doing real work for the Kingdom. You’re not doing enough.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Return to the Church | Saint Andre Bessette
Saint Joseph’s best friend and tireless disciple, Saint Andre, always said, "Go to Joseph. You have a powerful friend in heaven. He will never let you down." Brother Andre Bessette, born August 9, 1845, drew his last breath at 12:50 AM on January 6th, 1937. It was the feast of the Epiphany, but because of the holiday, no paper was published that day. The radio spread the news like the wind, and early that morning, all knew that the holy man who had founded Saint Joseph's Oratory had passed away. Before setting the date and time for the funeral, two rather unusual decisions were made earlier that morning. One was to preserve his heart; the other was not to embalm his body.
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Humility | Saint Andre Bessette | Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal | intercession of saints
“Let not the wise boast of his wisdom, nor the strong boast of his strength, nor the rich man boast of his riches; But rather, let those who boast, boast of this, that in their prudence they know me.” (Jer 9:22-23) The prophet Jeremiah speaks of the invaluable role of the virtue of humility in cultivating a life of faith. Jeremiah understands that humility is what guides us to know God. If one is so in love with their own wisdom, their own strength, their own wealth, they will never know the love of God. Humility is the strength to submit to the will of God, the strength to recognize that God is far greater than oneself. Our human nature often leads us to hold tightly to our own will and constantly seek control. We want to know how each day will go and want to dictate as much as we can. This so often gets in the way of recognizing God in our lives. Saint André's humble life of service and profound faith demonstrate that we, too, can boast, as Jeremiah spoke in the Scriptures.
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