Saintly Business

I read an interesting online article at Daily Finance titled, "A Question for the Holiday Season:Which Saint has the Best Cash Flow?" by Bruce Watson. I have a great admiration, interest and love for the Saints, which is why I have so many books about the lives of saints and their writings. The writer of the article started thinking about "top-earning saints" after Forbes magazine released a list of top earning dead celebrities ( Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Rogers and Hammerstein). 

So, in his opinion and from what he's gathered from research, he wrote the following. "With All Saint's Day 2009 finally here, we decided to take a peek at the Christian saints who continue to inspire devotion--and yes, cash flow-long after their passage into the great beyond." The most popular Saint according to the writer must be Mary, the Mother of God. "In addition to direct veneration of the Virgin Mary, which inspires sales of numerous medals, statues, candles, scapulars and other items, her visitations in Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje and Guadalupe continue to draw devoted pilgrims from around the world. She has been the subject of thousands of books and pamphlets and her likeness adorns an almost infinite array of items. " That is certainly true. On the desk where my computer is, I have a paperweight with an image of Mary surrounded by angels. It was gift for a donation I made years ago. I never gave it much thought until now, but Mary is "close to me" as I write this blog entry and all the others too.  I also have numerous Marian books, pamphlets, statues etc. Some I purchased and some were gifts. 

What about profitable films about saints? There have been many popular movies about St. Bernadette, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Beckett, Oscar Romero and the most popular St. Joan of Arc. She is the central figure of at least 16 films. Interestingly, the first Joan of Arc movie was produced in 1895, at the beginning of the film industry. The most recent movie, about St. Joan was The Messenger which grossed over $14 million in the U.S. 

St. Christopher is still popular with the faithful.  St. Christopher is still venerated and as pointed out in the article, "His close association with travel makes St. Christopher one of the few religious figures whose medals can be purchased in auto parts stores."

St. Joseph statues are big business. As most everyone knows, people are planting statues of St. Joseph in their front lawns in the hope of getting a "saintly advantage" in trying to sell their homes. If you google St. Joseph's name, many sites come up titled, "The Home Sellers Statue Kit for St. Joseph." You can't make this stuff up!

And then there is the association with St. Valentine and Valentine's Day. Though a lot of confusion surrounds the identity of the saint connected to Valentine's Day, it is a very profitable holiday for Hallmark as well as candy manufacturers. 

And then there is St. Nick. His popularity is without question. It's difficult to get Christians to reflect on the true meaning of the Incarnation and Christmas with all the Christmas hype and materialism. It's hard not to get caught up in it. 

NJA 

A Great Jesuit Insight-For A Saint

I recently attended a talk on Long Island given by Fr. Donald Haggerty, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and a Professor of Moral Theology at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, NY. The talk was about Mother Teresa's private letters which were compiled into a book titled, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday). The following excerpt is from an article which appeared in the Long Island Catholic,  written by Mary Gorry, a reporter who also attended the talk.  

I quote from the article, Mother Teresa's 'dark night' inspires LI Catholics, from the Long Island Catholic...........

According to Fr. Haggerty, "The 'dark night of the soul' the longing for God from which Mother Teresa apparently suffered for many years was not a loss of faith, but an experience she came to accept as uniting her with both Jesus' Passion and the suffering of the poor she served in India....The writings disclose a long period of interior spiritual suffering, or what mystical theologians such as St. John of the Cross refer to as 'the dark night of the soul,' Fr. Haggerty explained...........During this time, Mother Teresa wrote letters to many priests documenting her suffering. 'There is such a deep loneliness in my heart...How long will our Lord stay away?'

We keep hearing that combined element, noted Fr. Haggerty, 'the desolation and at the same time the great longing for God. That is a very significant sign that this is not a person diminishing in faith.' Some of the commentary in the media after the book came out was poorly done. The New York Times noted how 'isn't it wonderful all the good Mother Teresa did after she lost her faith. She's experiencing a great darkness, but still intensely longing for God.' In 1959, Mother Teresa met Fr. Joseph Neuner, a Jesuit priest who finally offered her some insight into what she was experiencing. Until this point, nobody really helped her.... Mother Teresa wrote to Fr. Neuner, 'I can't express in words the gratitude I owe you for your kindness to me. For the first time in 11 years, I have come to love the 'darkness' for I believe now that it is a very, very small part of Jesus' own darkness and pain on Earth....Fr. Haggerty continued, 'She now understood that Jesus wanted to unite her with the poorest of the poor. He wanted her to know what it was like to be unwanted and thrown away. He did not simply want her to take care of the poor. He wanted her to become herself one of the poorest of the poor.' She wrote to her sisters, 'without our suffering, our work would just be social work, very good and helpful, but it would not be the work of Jesus Christ.'"

The great insight by Jesuit priest, Fr. Neuner must of been a great relief to Mother Teresa. She finally had some understanding of what she was feeling. 

Mother Teresa, the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, a religious order which serves the poor and marginalized throughout the world won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. At the time of her death on Sept. 5th 1997, she had over 4,000 Sisters operating about 600 missions in over 120 countries. In 1999, less than 2 years after Mother Teresa's death, Pope John Paul II waived the 5-year waiting period and opened the cause for her canonization. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 19th, 2003.

Mother Teresa is a modern day saint, who suffered a 'dark night of the soul,' so she would be united to Jesus' Passion and also so that she would be like 'the poorest of the poor,' in her longing.  She continues to bear "great fruit," even after her death. 

For information about the cause for her canonization- http://www.motherteresacause.info/index.htm

Happy All Saint's Day to all God's friends, who during these difficult and uncertain times, remain bearers of light.

NJA

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.   Blessed Mother Teresa