Can I Get a "What What"?

"Raisin' da roof" I always love All Saints Day - giving props to our awesome older brothers and sisters. Once upon a time I felt differently, worried that honoring the saints took something away from the honor I was supposed to be giving to God alone. I realize now, however, that nothing could be farther from the truth. Let me explain:

I could stare at my two kids all day; their mom and I see them as the two most beautiful creatures, both inside and out, on the face of the entire earth. And nothing makes us happier than when someone else notices that beauty and pays them a compliment. I think that every parent has the same experience - and we feel this way because we have been made in the "image and likeness" of our common parent, God (Genesis 1:26) ! God loves it when the beauty of His children is recognized and honored. First, because, as members of His Family, doing so means that we are loving our own brothers and sisters (what parent doesn't love that?); and second, because we recognize that everything we see in the saints has God for its source. (Just like when someone "oohs and ahs" over a famous painting; in truth, they're praising not the art, but the artist).

My own prayer last night focused on the second aspect, "Lord, I am amazed by the purity and strength you poured into the Blessed Mother; the love, humility, and responsibility you filled Joseph with; the humility and simplicity of your daughter Therese..."

Hey- as I was writing this I just received a call that my pregnant sister-in-law is in the hospital. Please stop and say a prayer for your sister Becky...AND why not go ahead and ask our older siblings in heaven to do the same? Word.