Christ is Calling You to Friendship!
The Saints and the Call to Friendship with Christ, our most popular book, grew out of a tought time for all of us.
Shut down, Spring 2020.
My, how those were strange days! When we were all still learning about COVID, when the parks and churches were closed, and when many of us were forced to become homeschooling parents overnight.
Life was weird but, as I’m sure you experienced too, Christ was still there and we experienced plenty of beauty as well. With no activities, ever, we all had plenty of time together, and we got to know each other in a whole new way. Also, living in never ending close quarters, we were forced to experience the full force of each other’s emotions….which at times was intense.
At the same time I was constantly creating and recording the Catholic Sprouts Podcast and, if you ever listen in, you know that the lives of the saints are regular content on the podcast. Slowly the two things began to merge: our emotional lives and the lives of the saints.
Piece by piece it came together.
We sometimes felt powerless or forgotten amid the events of the larger world and this strange illness. Well guess what, plenty of saints experienced those feelings too. We felt misunderstood or defeated. Yup, lots of saints felt those things too. Maybe we even felt hopeless or disrespected. Many saints could relate to that as well.
And what was most remarkable, is that as I dug into the lives of the saints, I realized that not only did so many saints share in what we were feeling (no matter what that feeling was), Christ used that feeling or experience to lead them to holiness.
For example:
When St. Fina accepted her weakness, she was made strong in Christ.
When St. Dismiss offered God his fear of being unforgivable, Christ forgave Him and welcomed Him into paradise.
When St. Paul Hong Hasang truly believed that his greatest treasure was Christ, he was willing to lose everything in order to remain close to Him.
When St. Ignatius of Loyola allowed Christ to conquer his impatience, he embarked on the greatest adventure of all time.
When Venerable Pierre Toussaint realized that all work could bring glory to God, even doing hair, God made what he was doing significant.
And, when St. Kateri embraced the fact that Christ would remain with her even if her community abandoned her, she was comforted and filled with joy.
Over and over again the stories of the saints prove that Christ can and does use ANYTHING to lead us to sainthood. Even tough feelings. Even difficult circumstances. Even a pandemic. Even this family, in this home, right now.
And so, a year and a half ago I started working on this book. It was slow work, and goodness how it evolved over that time, but even now as I flip through the stories in this book, I am amazed at the radical hope that this book offers.
No matter what you are feeling or experiencing, God is calling you to holiness.
THE SAINTS AND THE CALL TO FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST is available right here:
Through the saints, God has written the most beautiful, hopeful and inspiring stories. It is an honor to share those stories with you, and I hope this book touches your heart and your family as it has ours.
In Christ Jesus,
Nancy