A Holy Nobody

As a Roman Catholic, I know that we have thousands of wonderful people whose lives were examples of true love and trust in God in their lives.  These examples of good people come from all walks of life and were canonized for the sole purpose as companions in prayer and intercession for those of us on this side of Heaven.  "The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today."(2683-84)  They also are examples of Christian holiness to model our own lives by.

As you know, all Christians are called to holiness, but not all Christians are canonized as saints.  Believe it or not, many thousands of good people living exemplary lives are not recognized as saints.  Still we can know them on a personal level and know that they are with our Heavenly Father where they belong.  These are the holy nobodies that most folks don't know.  They didn't have the opportunities that we did to know them personally, maybe they are your parents, grandparents or a wise uncle that you totally looked up to.

My father-in-law, Chester, is a holy nobody for sure.  He was a gentle soul with a big heart.  I do not recall him ever having a bad thing to say about another person.  He was always willing to pitch in and help at their church, treated his wife of 60 years like royalty; one of the last things I remember him saying was that she was his princess.  He lived in Houston, TX and I remember one very hot summer morning, seeing him rolling an elderly lady to church 2 blocks away from the church.  He never thought twice about taking that time and bearing the heat for this person to get to service.  He loved his grandchildren to no end.  The list goes on of all the selfless deeds he did without a moment of thought.  He was a good man, a gentle man, with a big heart for family and neighbors and his church.

There have been aunts and uncles, teachers and priests that have done wonderful things for others time after time without a second thought.  These people are good people that were examples of God's love in the world.  These folks will never be canonized, raised up in sainthood, but they are still good examples of living a life of charity, faith, hope, and selflessness.  Perhaps they had saints that they were inspired by, but we didn't know.  I would like to thing so and at least know that they knew God's love and grace during their lifetime.

Perhaps they knew a holy nobody of their own?