On being a saint of ordinary life
During his visit to Scotland & England in September 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said:
“Perhaps some of you think being a saint is not for you. Let me explain what I mean. When we are young, we can usually think of people that we look up to, people we admire, people we want to be like. We live in a celebrity culture, and young people are often encouraged to model themselves on figures from the world of sport or entertainment.
My question for you is this:
- What are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves?
- What kind of person would you really like to be?”
Where will true friendship with God take you?
“You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they really are, destructive and dangerous tendencies that cause deep suffering and do great damage, and you want to avoid falling into that trap yourselves. You want to come to the aid of the poor and the hungry, you want to comfort the sorrowful, you want to be kind and generous…….and once these things begin to matter to you, you are well on the way to becoming saints”.
A copy of the full speech can be found at http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk and
On October 2nd 1928, the Feast of the Guardian Angels, Opus Dei (“The Work of God”) was founded.
Further details at https://www.crisismagazine.com/issues/standard-bearers
“Everyday life is the true setting for your lives as Christians. Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work and your affections are. There you have your daily encounter with Christ. It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind…. God is calling you to serve Him in and from the ordinary, material and secular activities of human life. He waits for us every day, in the laboratory, in the operating theatre, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home and in all the immense panorama of work. Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it”. St. Josemaría Escrivá
Thank you to the young people and staff of our school on this special feast for your daily work reflecting the values of the Gospel, selflessly sharing your gifts and talents with others and which we highlight each week on our website, on twitter and at assemblies.
