We hear how the Lord’s anger rises up against the people of Israel for rejecting him in the middle of the Exodus in the desert, how they make a molten calf as an idol to worship instead. The Lord wants to punish the people and to save Moses, but Moses intercedes on the behalf of the people. I think of the saints as interceding on our behalf in a similar manner, in offering their prayers, compassion, and fidelity on our behalf to help us when we have strayed from the path. Many of us Catholics grow to see some of the saints as our friends and our advocates, as those who are helping us when we need that help the most.
I had a very interesting conversation with the prisoners about naming our community. At first they wanted to name the community about me - St Lincoln. I told them there was not a St Lincoln. When they told the head prison chaplain about their idea, she told them that she knew that I would never agree to it being named after me. We then talked about naming it after St Maximillian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest who died in a concentration camp in WWII who is the patron saint of prisoners. However, they said they wanted to be more than their identity as prisoners, something that transcended that identity. I certainly understood their perspective. Then, after a long discussion, we settled on St Michael the Archangel. I think that is a great patron saint for their community. And as the weeks have gone by, they have really grown to like that name for them.
Let us reach out to the saints in the midst of our reality. They will certainly intercede for us.
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