Lives of the Saints

With twelve years of Catholic schooling behind me, I’ve perused many Lives of the Saints books.  Each year in school, I would have to write a report on a Saint who I could somehow relate to.  I clearly remember having trouble finding a relatable saint.  To me, these were scary, brutal books telling either of horrible mutilations and murders or of young virgins who spent their entire lives alone and suffering in a convent.  These stories were meant to be inspiring, but to me they weren’t.  If that was what being a saint was all about, I wanted nothing to do with it!

 

Now, so many years later, I have an idea of what sainthood is really about.  

I will miss my brother Nick forever, but I will always carry with me his example of how to live.  Humility, generosity, an easy smile and laugh, a gentle soul.  He followed his heart, regardless of what the world expected of him.  And by following his heart, he touched so many lives.  If all who knew him could carry with us just a part of his spirit, this world will be a better place.  For inspiration of how to live, I don’t need to look in a book.  I only need to look to my memories of my brother.