Monday, January 3, 2011

And the winner is....

No, I didn't enter the New Year's Eve lottery.  The winners are my patron saints for 2011!  As I began reading in the Christian and Catholic blog-o-sphere recently I have come across many individuals who choose an annual patron saint for themselves and/or their family.  As I continue along life's journey, and enter into 2011 with the goal of more actively discerning God's path for my life, I decided choosing a patron saint for the year was an excellent aim.  Having made the decision not to continue pursuing a classroom teaching, I am entering 2011 trying to decide what I should pursue.  I will admit there is marked frustration in me right now, as I wonder if my education - specifically the year of study aimed directly at becoming an educator - is going to waste.  It is not that I doubt my decision, but that I am frustrated with it.  I do not know what I want to do with my education.  I do, however, know what I want to do with my life.  I want to use my life to serve God by serving His people.  I want to work until Christ is formed in me and visible in me, as I serve others as He did.  I want to be like Mary who said yes to God.  I am not as worried about what I will do with my education, as I am about what I will do with my life.

The first saint who was "written on my heart," so to speak, was St. Teresa of Avila, who seems to keep popping up in my prayers and readings.  Then I encountered this lovely post at the blog Totus Tuus Family and decided to take the author up on her offer to prayerfully choose a patron saint for anyone who commented on her blog. I figured worst case scenario, I'd revert to my original plan of St. Teresa.
 The verdict? St. Simon of Cyrene.  I'll admit to some initial disappointment, I had a desire for some reason for a female saint.  But in further thinking, what better saint could there be for my 2011 journey.  I have finally verbalized my true desire - to serve Christ by serving others, particularly the marginalized.  Could I choose a better role model than the man who served the human Christ at the time he was most in need?  The man who served Christ when He himself was the marginalized.

2 comments:

  1. So beautiful!

    I too feared that it wouldn't be what you hoped for, that maybe I should pray and choose again. But after 7 years of doing this, I knew to trust. That somehow, God indeed had a plan and things to show you thru St. Simon and a peace came over me.

    I have always found him a compelling image in the passion...a saint like St. Joseph, who without many words makes a great impact. I especially like his character in Gibson's Passion.

    I also wonder if the message is also that so many saints provide us with reams of writing to cradle us, but here is a saint without books on him...a man whose actions forever changed him, thrust into a certain place and times, responding...

    Lauren, I look forward to following your courageous actions. They too inspire...

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  2. I've never heard of this! I'm totally doing it! I proclaim St. Anthony as the patron of our family for 2011 because I am so unorganized that everything in my house stays constantly lost. Lol! Great idea! :-)

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