It’s fall, y’all, here in the midwest. The leaves are turning to beautiful orange and red hues and yes, snow has made its first appearance. Carving pumpkins, celebrating All Saints and All Souls Days and creating costumes are all good things to celebrate in October/November. In our small Catholic school, the children will pick different saints to read about and dress up as in their classroom parties.
Wouldn’t it be fun to live the life of a saint? In this day and age, being saintly isn’t something the world is striving for, because being a saint could make us superhuman, or untouchable or a bunch of goody-two-shoes. But the lives of the saints of the Catholic faith were human and fallible. They made mistakes. Saints weren’t perfect. They struggled and overcame many difficulties or died trying. They lived lives that we can and should strive to emulate.
It Can Be Done
Wouldn’t you like to live a life that when others see you, they think, ‘Wow, she is so humble? She really loves like Jesus.” I’d like to be someone whom my children and grandchildren look up to. I’d like them to see the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life and want that for themselves, too.
Don’t think that you can’t do it, because, you can. Yes, it may take sacrifice and practice by giving up some sins and vices. But it can be done and it is totally worth the effort, I promise. It’s a life-long process that doesn’t happen overnight, but one day at a time and year by blessed year.
It’s one of the reasons I started writing about character and virtue. Virtues are important. They need to be practiced. Be intentional and put them in your life. Add them to your calendar and plan them in your day. What character traits are you known for? There’s over a hundred listed on my page, so begin with one or two, but just start and keep adding.
My hope is that maybe one person will stumble across this website and read an article that will help them incorporate one character trait or virtue in their life. Heck, if I can just get my husband and kids to read my blog, I will have accomplished a great fete!
Let’s Get Started
To get started, pick one or two saints and read about their lives. Many have written books or had books written about them. Here are a few popular ones:
- St. Francis of Assisi
- Mother Teresa (St. Teresa of Calcutta)
- Padre Pio (St. Pio of Petrelcina)
- St. Faustina
- Pope St. John Paul II
- St. Patrick
These are famous saints, to be sure and we aren’t all going to be famous, but we can make a difference in the lives of the people we know and love just by adopting some of their character traits.
Choose to be a Saint! Be THAT parent or grandparent or friend who always has a kind word or selfless action that makes others think, “I want to love like them, because they love like Jesus.”
God bless. –Barb
Thank you, Barb – I treasure your writings💝