Angels Not Among Us

In regard to the mystery priest not being a mystery or an angel:

Now, now. I know that you know that people are not angels; not even dead people are angels. Angels are angels, dead people in heaven are saints, and live people on Earth are the body of Christ, the children of God, His hands and feet.

I'm so glad you pointed this out! It's everything I can do sometimes, just to contain myself when some sweet little old lady or some sad young man shakes their head mournfully and says about the recently departed, "Well, now they're an angel in Heaven."  I have clamp my mouth shut so as not to pipe, "No, he isn't. If he made it to Heaven, let's hope, he's a saint. Angels are a separate entity created by God. People can never be angels."  If my mouth started to say this, my finger would also wag. It's directly connected to my mouth.


Worst case scenario, I would be escorted out, still eating some brie on a cracker. Best case scenario, I would be judged as appallingly inconsiderate.

I am not, as a rule, inconsiderate.  I am a stickler for details and facts, though.

So I just choke down some brie and nod sweetly. 

I was referring to the latter thought in your response, that we often function as angels and we don't even realize we've done it. Just like the mystery priest at the accident cite, from the perspective of a person in need, we appear out of nowhere and disappear again, with a comforting word, a dollar, a helping hand. Everyone thought for a while there that an angel had come from Heaven.

An "angel" did come from Heaven. Perhaps we need a new word for those times when people become momentary angels, because we all know it happens all the time. Pangels, maybe, for "people as angels". 

There is a need for this kind of thinking, because we call people saints only when they are good all the time (even thought they are not, technically, saints until they are dead and in Heaven...please pass the crackers....).  But most of us are not good all the time. We do, however, shine once in a while. Sometimes we never know the impact we've had at a critical moment in someone else's life, because we are not even aware that the situation was critical.

You've been on the receiving end of this phenomenon, I'm sure.  That moment when you've given up, sagging with the weight of it all, and the nurse is standing there with a cup of tea and a compassionate smile. Pangel. When you've decided you're unlovable and a friend calls out of the blue .Pangel.  When your car stalls in the left turn lane and you sit there helpless while everyone honks and honks and drives around you, when, suddenly, a group of migrant workers in the beat up truck behind you jumps out and pushes your car to the side of the road into a safe spot. Pangels.   Heaven sent? As far as you're concerned, yes.

And the only requirement to become a pangel is to stop. Just stop for a moment for someone else.

You don't even have to be human.  You know "dog" spelled backwards.....

A Welcoming Thanksgiving!

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought today's question might give us something for which to be thankful.  Not that that is a tall order.  If you woke up this morning, you've already got that covered.  But I thought a happy story might enhance our festivities.

Sister, I am sorry to ask a question in your comments spot,but I haven't figured out how to ask questions on this blog, so here goes.
I was born and raised Southern Baptist, but as a young woman I became interested in other religions.
Catholicism was an eye-opener. All of a sudden, the Bible stories I heard as a child lost the dry, dusty, not quite done feel. The Catholic version was more real, more full-bodied. As time has gone on, I have learned more and more about Catholicism.
Now, I am ready to go to the priest and ask to go to classes so I can be baptized a Catholic.
Is there a saint that intercedes for almost Catholics?

YAY!  Welcome!  Particularly timely and wonderful in lieu of the last couple of posts what with our discussion of the Bible and all. Delightful!

And OF COURSE, there are saints for converts.  The truth is, there are dozens and dozens and dozens of them, since so many saint spent their lives converting people.  You could go for the North American Martyrs, for example.  They'd be happy to help!

But perhaps you're looking for a convert who became a saint.  You could turn to the original convert saint, St. Paul.  He wasn't just any convert.  He was a persecutor of Christians before Jesus knocked him off his high horse.  He turned out to be quite the convert.  Like an ex-smoker in his zealotry.

God love those ex-smokers.  For one thing, they've stopped smoking.  Then they become really rapid anti-smokers.  Good for them! I think it's because they finally realized how terrible they smelled.  That is quite a revelation to them, it seems, once they can smell things again.

I remember when I was five, by little best friend who lived up the block had a stuffed monkey that she left at my house.  It smelled so...weird.  Bad.  I had never smelled anything like that, and this is back in the day when adults sat around smoking whenever they were and whoever they were with, infant or octogenarian.  My mother said, "That's because they smoke."  I thought that was very odd, because the monkey did not smell like cigarettes or smoke. It just smelled.  Poor monkey.

But I digress.

Here is a list of saints who were converts.  It's a bit overwhelming. Notice that it includes all of the apostles, who were all Jewish.

Which gives a wonderful idea for you!  St. John the Baptist!  He was Jewish, became a Christian before the word was invented, started Baptizing people and Baptized Jesus Himself!  And the word "Baptist" is right in there!

I think we have a winner!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We'll talk again over leftovers!

First in Line

Dear Sister Mary Martha - Is Saint Joanna patron saint for anything?

Actually, no, she isn't. That is to say, as far as I can tell, there is no specific designation of patronage for her.

That won't stop us!

Let's have a look at St. Joanna. You remember in the New Testament, there always seemed to be a group of very faithful women who were very near to Jesus a lot of the time. The loaves and the fishes was not an every day event. These women helped fund Jesus' ministry by feeding the disciples and putting them up in their travels, that sort of thing. There were at least 13 people to feed on a daily basis. Mary Magdelene and Susanna were the other two well to do ladies who chipped in.

And in the end, they were at the foot of the cross. They were rewarded by being the first people to discover that Jesus had risen from the dead.

St. Joanna has the cheery nickname "the myhrr-bearer", because that's what she was carrying on the big day when they went to embalm Jesus and found He didn't need embalming.

Or food anymore, or a place to stay.

The only other thing we know about her is that she was a married lady. Her husband was a steward for King Herod.

So let's see. She could be the patron saint for undertakers, innkeepers, Red Hat Ladies and society dames. She would make a great patron saint for Catholic women's groups, like the Ladies of Charity and those ladies who tirelessly organize fundraisers and card parties, bake sales and car washes.

She would also make a lovely patron saint for those types who are always first on the bandwagon with a good new idea, like solar panels and IPhones.

I'll be interested to hear what our readers think.

Sink Your Teeth Into It

It's Labor Day weekend, so besides the fact that today is the Lord's Day of Rest, we have the bonus of an easy breezy lemon squeezy Monday. Here are two questions that we can practically answer in our sleep.

Dear Sister,

My mother and I are hoping you can suggest a patron for my father. My parents, my siblings, and I were all raised in the Episcopal church. My mother, my sister, and I have converted to the Catholic Church. Our sons (Mom's grandsons) have been raised Catholic. The problem is with my father.

He does not attend church or mass. He says that he is convinced that the Catholic Church is the only real church but we can't get him to attend mass. My mother isn't after his entering the Church, yet. She'll work on that once we have him attending. (I'm all for praying for the whole ten yards...) Any suggestions for patron saints or novenas?

We appreciate any and all help.
Beth

First, let me refer you to the Stealth Catholicism of the Green Scapular.

And then let's think for just a moment about St. Paul, the greatest apostle next to St. Peter. You do remember that story? Paul, then Saul, was in the crowd holding the coats for those people who had set about making St. Stephen the first martyr.

Then he spent some time rounding up Christians and doing his best to see that they were persecuted. And then Jesus had something to say about Saul's activities. He knocked Saul off his horse, asked him what he thought he was doing, and gave him a new name.

St. Paul is a great patron saint for anyone seeking a 'come to Jesus' moment.

Hi, Sister, who is the patron Saint for teeth - I'm trying to grow mine back?

Are you seven years old? Because, if you are, then they will grow back all on their own with no help from heaven at all, save that which God, in his wisdom, put in your mouth in the first place.

If you're not seven years old, your teeth will not grow back. If your teeth were to grow back, it would be a miracle. I have two suggestions. The Miraculous Medal, for starters.

And then you could maybe pick a "Blessed" someone or another, a person waiting for canonization and the official title of "Saint" and pray for their intercession. Who knows? You could end up being the miracle they need for the finish line.

For more information on the canonization process, read the terrific and inspiring book, "My Cousin the Saint" by Justin Catanoso. You can pick it up just by clicking the little box on my sidebar.

The Matrix and the Matrix

One afternoon when I had the flu I sat through The Matrix movies. Two of them. There was a third, but at the end of the second I had had enough. Somewhere in the middle of the second film, the star of the movie finds himself in a room with a man with an overly trimmed beard who explains what's going on in the film and what, exactly, "The Matrix" is all about. I could not understand one word of it. The man with the overly attended to beard might just as well have said, "I am Santa Claus, ho, ho, ho." It would have made as much sense.


I also have a question: My mom is a huge catholic zealot, and I happened to notice a bag of random religious items like crucifixes, and something called the Matrix Medal. Do you have any idea what that is?

I am Santa Claus, ho, ho, ho.

That's about as good an answer as the actual answer.

On top of the answer being a little out there, we're actually not supposed to talk about the Matrix. Not the movie. You can talk about that all you like. You can even get yourself a big black leather coat for all we care, although your money would be better spent on the poor. You're not supposed to talk about the Matrix, like the Fight Club, only we're not supposed to spread it around clandestinely either.

The Matrix involves a woman in Ireland who talks to Mary. Mary sightings are a bit of a Catch 22, if I may throw out yet another movie reference. We have to pay attention, to see if Mary is trying to tell us something, but until we know it's really Mary trying to tell us something, we can't pay attention.

Remember the story of St. Catherine LaBoure? Go ahead and read it if you are not familiar with what went on there. I'll wait.

Notice that St. Catherine went to her confessor and made him deal with it and no one knew one thing about Catherine, or little angels in the night, or in which chair Mary sat.

So this woman in Ireland says the Mary described a new medal and made promises about a devotion to it. I believe Mary said something like, "put a picture of me kneeling before Jesus on the cross, pleading with him, and just write 'the Matrix' on there." I don't know who drew it up for the Irish woman. While there have been miracles ascribed to the devotion, the whole situation is very dubious.

For one thing, every time Mary really does come, she has something new to say. Not this time.

For another thing, like the situation in Medjugorje, which has now come into question, Mary comes again and again. What's wrong with her that she can't seem to get her point across? Again.

The woman also ran right out and started up some sort of Mary prayer center for the whole thing.

On top of that, some people don't believe the woman herself is on the up and up with the donations. And somewhere in there, Mary complains about the Euro. Or the European Union, I can't tell which, or to what she is objecting.

Mary might just as well be saying, "I am Santa Claus, ho, ho, ho."
I'll shut up about it now. Use the Google if you want to know more, but leave me out of it.

I do like that medal, though, I must admit. The back is a little cartoony, but the front is compelling. That's supposed to be Mary herself there in front of Jesus on the cross. That is supposed to be the hearts of Jesus and Mary there on the back.

Thankfully, I haven't been sick in quite some time and have better things to do with my time these days.

One more saint request, please! We are part of a Catholic Homeschool co-op. This year we will be teaching our elementary group about "Continents" and sharing a Saint from each one. Except we can't find one for Antartica? Or one for the oceans? Any suggestions? Thank you!

I'll admit that Antarctica was a poser.

The oceans, a no brainer. You didn't mean a patron saint for each ocean, did you? The would be much trickier. The oceans: Stella Maris. Mary Star of the Sea.

The jury is still out on Antarctica. For now, I'm going with St. Nick, (speaking of Santa Claus) because, at least he's dressed for it.