When I was a small child growing up outside of Detroit, I was fortunate to have been able to attend a small Catholic school run by Bernardine Sisters. My school, Holy Innocents, was named after the first Christian martyrs of children who were commanded by King Herod to be executed because he feared the newborn King of the Jews. It’s a horrific image, indeed, of small babes being torn from their mother’s arms and killed because a king feared he may lose his crown. Perhaps, you may think it even stranger still that the sweet Sisters who followed in the footsteps of Saints Francis and Clare would name an elementary school after such a massacre and remind their students often of those poor little children. A strange lesson, certainly, for children living in a society that fears suffering, pain and death. We fear aging, sickness, poverty, not getting what we want, the opinion of others and loneliness. We fear so many things and are constantly on the lookout for a remedy. We don’t want to suffer and we certainly do not want our children to suffer. So why celebrate the story of those children and name a school after them?
The Bernardine Sisters taught us stories on the lives of the saints to instill in us a love of sainthood. The Sisters showed us that what seemed to be stories of pain, suffering and sadness were actually love stories. The saints loved Jesus so completely that they often had to leave their families, give up fame and fortune, go hungry, were mocked, physically tormented and some even killed. Whatever the Saints suffered, no matter how great or seemingly insignificant, it was suffered lovingly and joyfully. We learned that not all suffering is bad and should be feared. The Sisters showed us the beauty in Christ’s suffering and the sufferings of the saints. The saints became our heroes and we wanted to be saints! Not just the brave and the strong, but all of us.
All of us were called to sainthood when Jesus said to his disciples: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The call to perfection is real and possible for each and every one of us. Teach your children about the saints and give them real heroes. Show them by example not to fear life. And, above all else, let’s teach our children to love God completely and joyfully.