Spiritual Board of Directors: Part I
In honor of All Saints Month, I thought I would introduce you to a group of Heavenly Helpers.
Over the years I’ve accumulated a sort of Spiritual Board of Directors – the Saints that I tend to turn to most often or who tend to show up most often based on my vocation, temperament, need, etc.
Some have been on the Board for a long time.
Others have joined for a season in my life and then move on and have been replaced by others. I’m eternally grateful for the Communion of Saints who remind us that death has no sting, that it is all about eternity, and that God never leaves us alone.
Here are the first six members on my Board:
Mama Mary
Chairperson of the Board
Naturally. My relationship with Mary is long and complicated. I never really had a relationship with her because I couldn’t relate to my wrong idea of her perfection. I thought she was more like a robot and never did anything wrong because she was “programmed” not to.
I did not realize that every yes she gave to God was from her own desire and free will.
And when I look back over my life, it is so evident that she had and has her handprints all over me – guiding, protecting, mothering, and loving.
Many times I have felt in my life, the words she spoke to Juan Diego – “do not let it disturb you…Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am 1 not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.”
St. Joseph
Terror of Demons…need I say more.
But there are two reasons why St. Joseph, another spiritual father to me, is the head of my household and so significant to me:
He’s the patron saint of Adoption (which is a big part of my little family) and I entrusted the finding of my husband to him.
When I was in my late twenties, I started to pray to St. Joseph every morning to choose my future spouse. I had been in and out of relationships that were not good for me and I had grown weary of my own ability to discern.
So I asked St. Joseph, every morning through his Novena prayer, to bring me the person who would be my future husband. But not just any husband, I desired a husband like St. Joseph – gentle, faithful, strong, loving, faith filled.
It took five years but if you knew my husband Michael, you would see those exact qualities in him.
At one point I grew tired of waiting so long and grumbled about why is was taking so long, that there must be quite a shortage of St. Joseph-like men. In retrospect, I realize that the length of time had nothing to do with the lack of men, but more to do with the preparation of my own heart.
St. Anthony of Padua
Finder of lost things…including me.
When I was younger, I learned to ask for St. Anthony’s help whenever something was lost. He’s been a part of my life ever since but only superficially. Many years ago I picked his name as my “saint of the year” (or I should say – he picked me). He was born Francisco but changed his name to Anthony after St. Anthony of the Desert (another Board member of mine). I got to know him better by reading about his life.
And I could not believe what I was reading.
He was amazing in his deep love and trust in God and he had crazy Holy Spirit gifts, even raising the dead and the ability to bilocate.
He’s pulled me out of more jams than I can recall.
One jam was when I lost my car and house keys after shoveling snow into a pile of over three feet high by four feet wide. I thought for sure I was never going to find the keys until after it all melted. I said a prayer to St. Anthony and started digging and sure enough, I got about a foot down and there were the keys.
But he’s more than a retriever of lost things.
When life gets too overwhelming, busy, hectic, confusing, and I wonder off , St. Anthony finds me and brings me back to first things – God.
Pope Saint John Paul II
There is so much that I could write about how this Saint has touched my life.
He’s my spiritual father and he was pope for much of my life.
I also share his initial (I’m JP too).
I have felt his presence while in prayer often, especially his fatherly love. But the one thing that has been a game changer for me is his meditative teaching on Theology of the Body.
It.Changed.My.Life.
When I returned to the faith, I became afraid of my own deep desires and passions. I had gotten myself into a bit of trouble acting on what I perceived to be desires and passions and I shoved them deep down in my heart.
TOB showed me how to get in touch with those deep desires – their goodness, their humanness – and properly direct them toward God.
JPII taught me how to be human, how to live this life in this body of flesh and bone, instead of denying my humanness, and it has changed how I see EVERYTHING.
St. Peter
Had to be on the Board, we share the name.
But let’s face it, He is the most relatable of all the apostles – one minute claiming his undying love for Jesus, the next minute denying him three times.
Been there, done that.
What I love is that Jesus still had a plan for Peter and didn’t take the plan away despite Peter’s impetuousness. Peter is humble, Peter seeks the Lord, Peter learns how to channel that desire to God.
And once Jesus sends the Spirit on Pentecost, Peter becomes unstoppable and filled with courage, love, and mission.
Our family isn’t the picture perfect Catholic family. We struggle – a lot. But, like St. Peter, I know that God put us together exactly as we are and will bring about our mission and purpose for His greater glory.
St. Therese of Lesieux
I didn’t have a particular fondness for the “little flower” when I was growing up. It seemed that everyone else did except me and maybe that’s why I kept away –
I was always a bit of a nonconformist.
She seemed too much in high demand.
And I never received flowers from her.
But then I read her story, her “little way,” her simplicity and total dependence on Jesus.
I especially loved that she felt like she could never be a great saint – the suffering soul type, the martyr.
I can so relate to that. I can barely fast before Mass.
Her little way of loving Jesus and consoling His heart in the little things of her everyday life, now that’s something I could imitate.
My favorite story was when her older sister presented her with a basket of yarn and told her to pick one. She couldn’t pick just one, she exclaimed “I choose all!”
That is my heart too, my desires are too big for a finite world. Lord, help me to “choose all” of you.
Stay tuned for Spiritual Board of Directors, Part II
Comments
Wow! This is such a great concept! Thank you Jeannine for sharing this wisdom! Monique van Berkel, Catholic Woman CEO
Thank you Monique! So glad you enjoyed reading it!
Thank you.
Thank YOU, Pete!
What a wonderful concept to use!
Yes there are so many Saints from all walks of life. Each with unique stories and backgrounds. How do we choose who to turn too?
I love the idea of a “ Board” that specifically fits our particular needs, deficiencies, failures and challenges.
Thank you, Rich! It’s so wonderful that we have this Communion of Saints to help us on our way!