Saturday, 31 August 2013

St. Michael's Grade 9's: Called to be Saints


This past Wednesday we had a full day retreat for the incoming Grade 9's at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School.  The retreat day ended with a Mass for the Students and their Parents / Families
In the Homily I asked the Students Questions like:
Do you like to wear Jeans?
Wear Tennis/Running Shoes?
Do you like to eat Pizza Hot Dogs or
drink Coke or other Pop?  
Listen to your iPod? Go to the Movies?
Do you like to Dance?  Like playing sports?
Then I used a quote that has been attributed to Pope Francis 
from World Youth Day - but in fact it seems to have been circulating around the Internet for a few years. Some think it might even have originated with Pope John Paul II.

We need saints without cassocks, without veils.
We need saints with jeans and tennis shoes. 
We need saints that go to the movies 
   that listen to music, 
     that hang out with their friends. 
We need saints that place God in first place 
   ahead of succeeding in any career. 
We need saints that look for time to pray every day 
   and who know how to be in love 
      with purity, chastity and all good things. 
We need saints - saints for the 21st century 
   with a spirituality appropriate to our new time. 
We need saints that have a commitment 
   to helping the poor and to make the needed social change.
We need saints to live in the world, 
   to sanctify the world and to not be afraid 
      of living in the world by their presence in it. 
We need saints that drink Coca-Cola, that eat hot dogs, 
   that surf the internet and that listen to their iPods. 
We need saints that love the Eucharist, 
   that are not afraid or embarrassed to eat a pizza 
   or [have a pop] with their friends. 
We need saints who love the movies, dance, sports, theater. 
We need saints that are open sociable normal happy companions. 
We need saints who are in this world 
   and who know how to enjoy the best in this world 
      without being callous or mundane. 


Regardless of who said it, we do indeed need saints for the 21st century – and we can be those saints!
Peace

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