The Church offers us saints not only for their intercession, but also, and importantly, for their example.
[The Church] proposes them to the faithful as examples who draw all men to the Father through Christ, and through their merits she begs for God’s favors.”
CCC 1173
The saints are men and women, boys and girls, just like us. But they’ve already won the victory that we are striving toward. Their holy lives are meant to encourage us and confirm for us that sanctity is possible.
But saint stories can often give us the opposite idea, making it seem like saints came out of the womb already experts at prayer, devoted to penance, and surrounded by heavenly visions.
Modern times, though, make saint stories something different. With pictures and videos, we can see that saints really were just regular people, with hearts given to God.
And perhaps no one is making this lesson clearer than our “millennial saint,” Blessed Carlo Acutis. From the Nikes adorning his physical remains, to the sweet pictures in the slideshow below, images are making it clear that we can be like him.
And today we celebrate...