Patron

"Dwell in possibility..." ~ Emily Dickinson

I think I have mostly written in this blog of my faith in terms that most people can understand no matter what their religious belief might be. In Dreaming Miracles I talk of God, the Universe, Fate, of Angels and Spirit Guides, of being a watcher of "signs," of faith, but it has been in what I would call a "spiritual" way. I'm sure I have tried to do that consciously.

I say that I have consciously talked about my faith in "spiritual" terms rather than in more "religious" terms because I want this blog to be open to people from all walks of life. Religion to some people connotes "not good" whereas "spiritual" tends to be in the, "I'm okay with that" territory.*

Every one of us has opinions, sometimes very strong ones, about things we hold dear and value, and sometimes they might be the opposite of what someone else holds dear and values. We live in a society where people have common ground with one another in some areas, and absolutely none in others.

I want this blog to be a "common-ground" area. I have always hated to be put in a box; I think that translates into me not wanting to put other people in boxes either.

So, although I have said in the blog I was raised Catholic I have tried to keep my writing about faith free of religious dogmas, per se.

Now, I'm throwing some "religion" into the mix. I hope both "religious" and/or "spiritual" people can be open to what I have to say because I want to write about saints... one in particular.

Saints are a very Catholic "thing." Most people of other religious beliefs don't "get" the "saint thing." What I mean is, they don't understand how Catholics' honor saints, and really, why they even should, or would. To people of most religious beliefs, God is It and saints aren't God. End of story.

But Catholics don't pray to saints as if they are God. Catholics honor saints because they have lived on this earth just as we have, but unlike most of us, they have glorified God in some way, sometimes amazingly, sometimes simply, but all very powerfully, through their unflinching faith in His Word.

So, when someone prays with a saint in mind, they aren't praying to that saint, but rather asking the particular saint to intercede with God on their behalf.

One might ask, why would anyone need a "go between" to God when they can talk directly to God? And the best way I can think of to give someone an inkling of understanding in why Catholics sometimes pray for saints to intercede with God on their behalf is this:

Say you're a kid in a family, maybe you have a brother or sister, or two, and you have your mom and a dad. And say you want something that is really, really important to you, but you can't get it unless your dad gives the okay. Now, this thing you want, is so important that you want to get a "yes" from your dad, you really can't afford to get a, "no," and you're thinking to yourself, what's the best way possible of getting a "yes." 

You decide the best thing to do is just go straight to your dad. You know he loves you, wants the best for you, and you have a great relationship with him, so it's not like your afraid to ask anything of him, and that's what you do. You ask your dad for the thing you want and he says, "no." You're not feeling too happy about his answer so you ask him again and he still tells you, "no." Then you ask him why he's saying, "no," but, in your mind, he's not really giving you a good reason, he's just saying, "no."

Finally, after going off to think on things a little more, it dawns on you who it is that almost always gets a "yes" from your dad. So, with that light bulb going off you think, why don't I ask this person who has a special way of talking to dad even at those times, you remember, when he's concentrating and busy on other things. This person just seems to "soften" him up to the point that, viola, almost everything wanted is given! And that person that has the special relationship with your father is your mother.

So, you think, dad's already said, "no," but I'm not ready to give up on getting a, "yes" from him yet. What I think I'll do is ask mom if she'll go to dad and ask him if I can have what I want! You still know your dad might say, "no," but you think it can't hurt and most likely, as you've seen before, it could very well help. Because through the years you have come to know that your mom is really helpful on things when it comes to asking your dad for "stuff." And that's exactly what you do; you ask your mom to help you by having her ask your dad for what you want.

I know the above analogy may be too simplistic, but it's the best way I can think of to explain why Catholics pray that a particular saint will intercede with God on their behalf... the mom in my story obviously being the "saint." Hahaha! Writing that last bit made me smile because mom's usually are "saints."

Like I explained, the kid did go directly to his dad (obviously in this story the dad being God), but for whatever reason, his dad, said, "no." However, he knew that his mother has an even more special relationship with his father than he does - his mom and dad always just seem to be in "synch" with one another - and so asking his mom to help him just seemed like the next thing to do. And she was happy to intervene between her son and his dad in the matter because she could could easily relate to him, she'd been in his shoes before with her own father!

So, I don't know if every reader can relate to this story with any greater understanding of why Catholics' include saints in their prayers, but I've given it my best shot. And on that note, I want to let you know who my "go to guy" is; the saint that has an extraordinarily special meaning to me.

I would say that he and I (yes, it's a male saint) have had what I consider a really close relationship for many, many years. I kinda skipped over one saint to get better "acquainted" with him.

I had heard, growing up Catholic, that when you lost an item that you were in great need of finding you asked for an intercessory prayer from a saint called, Anthony, that seemed fine to me until I heard of a saint called, Jude. 

St. Jude is the patron saint of impossible things. You see, as a child, in my way of thinking, if you lost something it seemed like it was impossible to find so, that being the case, I thought, why bother asking St. Anthony to intercede when St. Jude seemed like he had more of the "bases covered."

So, from a young age St Jude has been my go to guy. I really rely on him in the seemingly most impossible of situations. It's like he is the friend that is always there for me, at least as much as is possible. As much as I talk to God - and I talk to Him a lot - I also talk to St. Jude. If a situation seems to call for a little bit of extra help I do ask St. Jude to help me in my cause. He very rarely ever fails me. And like any good friend you know you can count on, when you need them they are there. 

I've been wanting to write a blog post about my friend, St. Jude, for quite awhile now, but for one reason or another just never had. It's always my intent to tell you anything that has meaning to my Dreaming Miracles journey, and St. Jude has had meaning to it for a long time. I don't know if you would be comfortable having a "friend" to help you when people tell you things are impossible, but if you should ever like to have a very good one, I would recommend one of my best friends, St. Jude.

With St. Jude on your side, and by the grace of God, there is nothing that isn't possible. And do you know what? I've come to believe that the more impossible something seems to be, the more St. Jude seems to like the challenge of proving he can be counted on to show you that it isn't. 

Remember the word impossible has the same letters, in the same order, as the word's, I'm possible! : )


*Although if you come to this blog and your atheists all bets are off, I'm just happy you're reading it. But I must say, I think the blog's name, Dreaming Miracles, should alert all readers to a big sign that reads: Faith Ahead.