# the saints among us
*2016-05-28*

> Bill Young reflects on the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, shares stories of saints and miracles, and encourages listeners to pray to the saints as part of the Year of Mercy.

## Introduction

Good afternoon. This is Bill Young and welcome to Prayer in Lunch. Today is Monday, January 4, 2016, and we’re doing a special episode because the calendar of giving at my church, St. David’s, is called Saints Among Us 2016. It’s a fitting theme for the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born canonized saint.

## Saints and Miracles

Last Sunday’s homily reminded us that miracles are not for us but for the glory of God. The priest mentioned the recent second miracle of Blessed Mother Teresa, which will make her a saint in September, and we had just seen the film *The Letters* about her life. Mother Teresa was a humble woman who sought to give all glory to God. I also reflected on the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, a reminder that God’s power transcends time.

## A Sign in the Rose

I shared a story from a recent Respect Life Sunday. We were praying the rosary for guidance from St. Teresa of Calcutta, the Little Flower, on her feast day, October 1. After we finished, a parishioner mentioned she had gone to the shrine in France and had not seen the roses that are a sign of her intercession. A passerby then threw a hard-boiled egg at a fellow parishioner, but the egg missed and struck a rose, scattering its petals while the stem remained intact. I took that as a sign that the saints are listening and that God’s grace can protect us.

## Praying to the Saints

I encourage everyone to pray to their favorite saint—whether it’s St. Teresa, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Patrick, St. Francis of Assisi, or any other saint. The saints are among us and are listening. We should pray with them, asking for their intercession, because God works through prayer.

## Year of Mercy and Pope Francis

We’re in the Year of Mercy, and Pope Francis has spoken about mercy and forgiveness. He visited the United States, including Washington, D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia, and we heard about a baby who was healed of a brain tumor after a visit. I closed with a prayer from Pope Francis for the Jubilee of Mercy, asking God to make it a year of grace, to bring good news to the poor, and to restore sight to the blind.

*The saints are among us, listening, and through their intercession and God’s mercy we can deepen our faith.*