Taking the Time to Make a Difference

People say she was spoiled, pampered, and that her parents gave in to her every wish. She was the youngest one, and precocious, people said. Both parents had successful careers — he was a jeweler, she built a cottage industry in lace making — but sadness was a regular visitor to this industrious couple. Four of their nine children died while very young. And then, when the little girl, the youngest one, was just four years old, her mother died of breast cancer. People who knew the family said that the girl’s father continued to spoil her as she grew up, referring to her as “my little queen” and giving her anything she wanted to make her happy. Later in life, more sadness: her father had a series of strokes that affected his body and his mind, and he was institutionalized.

* * *

That little girl grew up to be St. Thérèse of Lisieux, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and just this year the Catholic Church is celebrating the beatification of her parents. A miracle has been attributed to this married couple, moving them another step closer to sainthood. It is interesting to note that another strong-willed person played a significant role in praying for that miracle, according to an account by the Rome-based news agency, Zenit. The miracle involved the healing of Pietro Schiliro of Monza, Italy, according to the Zenit report. The child had a fatal lung malformation, and a priest suggested that the child's parents pray a novena to Thérèse's parents “to receive the strength to endure their suffering.” Pietro’s mother did not follow that suggestion. She did not pray to be able to endure the suffering, but she decided to do the novena “to ask for her son's cure.” Pietro regained his health. She got her way. On July 3, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of decrees attributing miracles to five causes, including that of Louis and Marie- Zélie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse. The beatification announcement came just in time to be celebrated in Lisieux on July 12 — the wedding anniversary of Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie Guerin, who were married 150 years ago in 1858.

* * *

There are married saints officially declared by the Catholic Church, but attributing a miracle to a married couple is quite rare in Church action. But you and I know better about how common is the sanctity of our own parents – not declared by the Church, but certainly known within our families. Take the time to celebrate the miracles worked by your own parents or by others who cared for you, how they helped you to heal when you were broken, loved you when you were acting unlovable, gave you everything they could because they only wanted to see you happy. Read the stories about St. Thérèse and her parents – not perfect people, not always admirable, not always walking in the light of good and holy judgment, not always anything but truly human – and that is as it ought to be. Take the time to tell the stories of the holy people within your family. And of those whose holiness may not have been obvious.

* * *

There are many ways to make a difference in the daily living of the church of the home, the domestic church, the family where saints are real.

• If you are single, widowed or divorced, seek out the guidance of the saints who have lived in similar circumstances. We all have saints to inspire and guide us.
• If you are married, celebrate your own wedding anniversaries, or of your parents and of your friends.
• Help a foster child to experience family life.
• Help a couple divided by hospital or nursing home care to celebrate their anniversary.
• Organize a parish celebration to acknowledge the everyday holiness and the ordinary miracles of marriage in society and in the church.

You can make a difference.

Send your comments about "Taking Time to Make a Difference" to . Contact about subscribing for your newspaper.