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Life is tough. Nuns are tougher.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Mary is Under Mel

Don't get lost, little sheep. Today's essay is underneath Mel Gibson because I wrote it first. Then "the Patriot" went careening down PCH and I felt I had to address the latest news.

So go down under Mel and you'll find, "What's the Deal with Mary?" Which is today's post.

As always, questions are welcome.
Sister Mary Martha

4 comments:

Christine said...

Dearest Sister Mary Martha,

I hate housework!!! Can a patron saint help me?

Kathi said...

why does the church have so many saints anyway? so mary is a saint? isn't jesus enough without the saints?

Sister Mary Martha said...

Dairyland, there are any number of patron saints for housework. The person who springs to mind is St. Therese the Little Flower who dearly wished to be a missionary and die a martyr but was too sickly. She was just a little nun in the middle of no where in a cloister convent. So she offered up everything she did, all that hands and knees floor washing and pew dusting and in particular all the irritating things the other nuns did in a closed in environment.

and guess what? She is a best selling author (her book, "The Story of a Soul") and one of only three women who have the title "Doctor of the Church" (even though she was rather a dim bulb). Pretty good for a girl who died at age 24!

If you offer up your sufferings for the souls in Purgatory and use Therese example of drudgery with joy, imagine all the souls you'll spring. You can even rack up prayers and sufferings for yourself for when YOU are in Purgatory.

We'll have some St. Therese's back int he shop in a week or two!

Sister Mary Martha said...

Kathryn, Kathryn,

The church doesn't really go looking for saints. Saints are the work of the faithful. I explained that in the St. Christopher essay.

The church does embrace the faithful's love of saints, though, for many reasons, mainly as examples of people who managed to stay holy while living on this sin infested earth. If they did it, so can you.

As far as the church is concerned you can totally ignore the saints. No problem.

But before you dismiss the saints you should pick up the rule book and see what you're up against. The Cathechism of the Catholic Church is a big enough book, even in paperback, to stand on to get things down from the cupboard.

You can ignore their fine examples and refuse to ask them to pray for you and we'll just wonder what makes you think getting to heaven is so easy.

And remember, the saints are Jesus' friends. At least be polite to them.