Make Me Little

Posted on March 18, 2013 by jennyjennygenesis

There are many Holy men and women that have come before me. Many crazy ones, too. I am hoping hard for the former. The Church has dubbed these folks “saints” and they are people we ask to pray or intercede for us, just like when you have a hardship you ask your friends and family to shout out a quick prayer to the Lord, we can also ask the Holy People up in heaven to pray. This is a somewhat forgotten biblical concept.

One charge made against it is that the saints in heaven cannot even hear our prayers, making it useless to ask for their intercession. However, this is not true. As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” But if the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God, then they must be aware of our prayers. They are aware of our petitions and present them to God by interceding for us. (Catholic Answers).

We all have our favorites, and Saints are no exception. We love Saint Joseph, cause (duh) he’s the patron of Carpenters! BTW- if you haven’t checked out my sweeties website, you totally should. http://www.thomasonbrotherscarpentry.com We also really love Saint Francis because of his passion and fervor, and Francis is my Honey’s middle name, and our second daughter’s middle name as well. I’m pretty much walking around the house mumbling “Make me an instrument of your peace,” these days as we are expecting kittens any minute! He is known for preaching to animals when there were no people around! And lest we not forget to pray for Him- our new Pope is Francis! We love Katherine Drexel because of her amazing generosity, she was a very wealthy woman who chose to use her wealth to open schools for Blacks and Native Americans because she saw there was a need. Not an easy business to go into, and I’m pretty sure we will never really understand the sacrifices she made to get those forgotten and ignored kids into school. Oh, and my middle name is Katherine, and so is Cana’s! Gosh, we like to recycle those middles don’t we!? On our list of favorites would be Padre Pio. He is our car hero! Every time we get in a fix with our car situation we offer a prayer, asking Pio, who as daughter Judah pointed out, “lived when there were cars!” to give us some help, we see immediate results! When our Suburban dropped its engine on the highway after a late basketball game, we asked Pio to go before the throne of God for an afordable car for us, and literally less than 5 seconds later my husband sent me a picture of the van we now proudly call our own, except when it dies, like the other day. We were officially “stuck at home.” Dad and Eva went to get the battery checked, it was fine, so they thought maybe we should try to replace the starter. Sounds like no big deal, unless you are me. I love cars, I’ve just never been quite the genius when it comes to fixing them or, shoot even basic upkeep. So, Honey went ahead and tried to install the thing himself to save money. Here’s me, saying to Padre Pio: “You can’t leave it like this! You helped get us this van, and now it’s just going to DIE?!” I kid you not, less than a minute later, Abel and Eva were yelling and shouting, they had successfully installed the starter, and it worked! A miracle!

Other Saints we love: Saint Jude, sounds like Judah, patron of impossible causes, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mira’s personal favorite, patron of the Americas and the unborn, Saint Dominic, Siah was born on his Feast, he is known for starting the rosary (which for those of you who don’t know is simply a prayer that guides you through the life of Christ, and no we don’t worship Mary! for more info:http://www.catholicity.com/prayer/rosary.html ), Saint Martin DePorres 8_8_st-dominic1[1] assisi8[1] , he was born of a Black mom and White dad, so I ask him to send some love and prayers Adams way! And now I bet you’re wondering about little Anya- who is her patron? I thought you’d never ask- her middle name is Therese, after the Little flower. I find Therese’s story very humbling, and I love her “Little Way,” the idea that we can do wonderful works for the people around us, without them even noticing, and it can bless them. It’s very inspirational for a loudmouth like myself to try to do small things with great love. It is a challenge I am putting before myself, one that I haven’t been successful at yet, but God can do a lot with a willing heart. I leave you with this sweet prayer from Saint Therese.

“May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.”
― Thérèse de Lisieux

Category: UncategorizedTags: Family, Little things with Great Love, Saints

8 Comments on “Make Me Little”

jil
March 18, 2013

LOVE IT!!! I have an affinity for Eva. I think its because she and able share a name, and she is always by his side helping (that Ive seen.) Thats how I as w my dad. Im his namesake, and his “XXchromo-son.” I miss him tremendously, and watching them work on your rv together was bitter sweet. And to have that bond extended through a Great Saint and with God is great. Thanks for writing this. BTW, let me know when your kittens come… they hide them sometimes if there are kids around. You may not see where she has them. How exciting!!! Ill trade cats for bunnies!!! No..JK… I do have a friend who will be looking for two cats in a month or so… ❤ God love you,
Jil

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jilily
March 18, 2013

I LOVE the prayer…its a nice and humble reminder of how to act in his image.

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- jennyjennygenesis
  March 18, 2013
  
  Thanks Jilly, you are so sweet- yes, it’s funny how that works, we almost named Eva something other than Francis, but it just sounded right, and it turns out her and her Dad do get on quite well. Super sweet seeing those two! I am so so sorry about your Dad. You can never ever replace that amazing bond- now that you will be receiving the Eucharist, you will be in ‘communion’ with your Dad in a whole new way! Praise Jesus!
  
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mo-nay
March 18, 2013

hey love,… beautifull yand simply put.. oh so true…. i was on a retreat last weekend and it was about the saints and our way of getting their ways into our lifes…. did yo get thelink about anna maria taigi….? always loved your way of writing and defeniatly your way of preaching – go sister go!!!! you are doing great . … cause you are a king, a priest and a prophet….
one love

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mo-nay
March 18, 2013

i dont know if i told you but katharina drexel is from dornbirn 20 km from our house and so her roots are austrian! neat huh?

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- jennyjennygenesis
  March 18, 2013
  
  So super cool Mone! Just one more reason to visit Austria! I have always loved Catherine of Sienna as well, and was sad my name was spelled with a ‘k’ but then I heard about Katherine Drexel and again I was aware of how much God loves us- everything works together for His Good plan for our life!
  
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Sara Savel
May 13, 2013

Really enjoy your blog, especially this piece on Saints and Names. I’m no longer Catholic but I still love the Saints! My oldest son is called Gabriel Judah and the baby jumping around my womb is John Edward Issac. Jack for short!

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- jennyjennygenesis
  May 15, 2013
  
  Such great names, Sara! I am curious why you are no longer Catholic! xo
  
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