You have Friends in High Places - the Saints

You have friends in High Places

The Saints have been speaking to us, vulnerably sharing their stories, to help us walk our path to the Father.  We pray they have touched you, as they have us.  Some of the  Saints we have written about, we had to write about them.  We felt a persistent gnawing inside to share their stories, their lives.

We have spent almost a lifetime studying about the glories of our Church.  We have gone on Pilgrimage at least once a year since 1976, and sometimes three or four times a year.  And it has been a glorious journey of faith.  We always tell young couples planning to marry, "First you have to meet the family; because your love is part of a whole.  Her/his life began centuries ago, with their families who are here and have gone before."  And so it is with us Catholic Christians.  Our family dates back to the time of Jesus our Brother and Mary our Mother.  As one travels through our  history, they will surely find our cousins, the Saints who have gone before us, making our spiritual life what it is today.  They fought the good fight and we have a Church today!

We have had a love affair with Mother Church and all her children for the past thirty years, and it has grown to such a degree, we hunger to meet more and more of our ancestors, the Saints.  Over the past thirty years, we have lived from pilgrimage to pilgrimage, studying, preparing, journeying to lands across the seas to our heritage.  Once we began our journey, one journey grew into another and then another; and we were hooked.

At one point in our lives, Penny and I were driving down to San Diego, California, to call on some accounts, back when we were still in the world.  It was a long drive, over three hours, and we usually spent the time praying the Rosary.  However, on this one day, I was somewhat concerned.  All of our friends in Westlake Village were buying up real estate in Southern California.  It was a good investment.  We didn't have any money to do that, because we spent most of what we had, each year, going on pilgrimage.

I remember saying to Penny, "You know, honey, we're not putting anything away for a nest egg for ourselves, or for our grandson.  What are we leaving him?"  She didn't answer me.  But that night, after we had finished calling on our accounts, I turned to Penny, "I know what we're giving our grandson, as well as us and our Church.  We're giving him heritage.  These Saints, whose lives we study, they're our family.  They're our brothers and sisters in Faith.  These are Role Models, whom he can fall back on."

Super Saints

Going down memory lane, I recall how we came about coining the phrase "Super Saints."  It began with our teaching First Holy Communion Class at our parish in 1975.  One day I got the idea to tell the little ones a story each week on the Saint whose Feast Day it was.  We took the "S" of the Superman symbol, and added another big S to it, and wrote it on the blackboard.  Then we proceeded to tell the little people stories of the Saints.  We never thought they paid any attention to us or the stories.  They always seemed like they were not there with us.  But then at Parents Nights, their parents would tell us how the children had shared with them about St. Michael, or St. Francis or St. Anthony or one of the many Saints we had researched. 

The Super Saints had gone over big with the little people!  And now, almost thirty years later, that is the title and concept of our most popular television series on EWTN, Super Saints.

We want to end this book by sharing with you how important our family - the Saints, are to you and to me.  You are possibly just now beginning to realize how fortunate you and we are to be Catholic, to have these brothers and sisters, not only to fall back on as Role Models, but to tell your children about.  They want to be part of your life!  They want you to consider them as family, your family.  There is no situation in your lives that you may encounter, no problem, that you can't dig into this collection of relatives the Lord has given you, and find one to whom you can relate your problem, and nine times out of ten, help you to resolve the problem.  

Everyone needs a hero!  There are a whole series of Hero Saints for boys and girls.  There are Saints to help you with their studies, through a rough exam.  There are Saints who can help them with Chastity, with that rough time of growing up. 

We are all called to become Saints!  There are Saints for married couples, to model your relationship after.  There are even Saints to help you find the right husband or wife, or vocation.  We have Saints whom we can petition Jesus to intercede with the Father for conception and delivery of children.  There are even Saints to help us find lost objects and lost souls.

For us, the most exciting part of our lives is to be able to go to the places of the Saints, to relive their lives, to get inside of them, and feel their spirits.  The second most exciting part of our lives is to be able to bring the marvels of these beautiful brothers and sisters in Christ back to you, so that you too, can share a little of their lives in your life.  They are there for us; they are waiting for us.  We can ask for their help.  They know how to get to Jesus.  Remember, they are His very best friends.  You know how people ask for your intercessory prayer for any number of petitions they may have?  And you pray for them?  Just think about asking someone who is right up there with Jesus and Mary, in the in-club.  Make use of the power the Lord has given to the Saints.  Remember, you truly have friends in High Places.  God bless you.  We love you!