Models of grandparenting

Do you hold special memories of your days spent with your grandparents? I was not fortunate enough to know my grandfathers or my materal grandmother. However, I have heard some wonderful stories, so the image of their gentleness and love are etched on my heart. I look forward to meeting them someday. Although grandmothers and granddads are a cherished treasure in our unfolding, each has their own specialness. My trips to spend the day with Grandmammy, my dad's mother, fell on Sunday afternoon as we packed into the car and travel about 45 mintues to her home. It was always peaceful and elegant, and the routine was so predictable. Gathering apples, climbing in the apple tree when no one was looking. The visit concluded the same every time. Just before we said our good-byes, Grandmammy would gather the kids and pass out cookies or candy or both. What a treat!

Now, I am sure Saints Anne and Joachum had a family routine of interacting with Jesus as well. I can imagine it was also very memorable. Definitely, they were people who loved and nurtured the Christ Child in their role as grandparents. Today as the Church remembers these special saints, I encourage you to call to mind your own formative years and the role your grandparents played in your life. What do you cherish as you recall their marks of love and unique touch that cemented your family together?

MY KIND OF SAINT

I spent my retreat last week with some very wise people, while reading a book (Becoming Who You Are) by Father James Martin, SJ. Given the fact that sanctity is God's goal for each of us, Thomas Merton's advice is good: "The problem of sanctity is finding out who I am, and discovering my True Self." And "we cannot become ourselves unless we know ourselves..."

The call to be your True Self is the call to be a saint (Who, ME? -- thinking of apostles and martyrs.) God would not call us to something impossible, like being Saint Michael the Archangel, for example. There's a picture of him in case you have not been introduced. I'm not even called to be a saint like Angela Merici or Ursula or Mother Teresa or Pope John XXIII, but like myself--my BEST self. We don't have to be someone else to be holy. We are led to our own brand of holiness by our desires, by what attracts us, by what we like.

Mother Teresa was talking to an idealistic young man who had come to Calcutta to be like her. She told him, "Find your own Calcutta!"