WE NEED SAINTS

August 2, 2013

During his visit to Brazil for World Youth Day, Pope Francis drew huge crowds, answered media questions freely, challenged the church to come out of itself and into the world, to be truly on mission. Here is a small extract from one of his addresses in Rio. You might find inspiration, delight comfort or a bit of a challenge in what he says, and you might find that you can respond pretty well too! 

Father Kevin 

“We need saints without cassocks, without veils; we need saints with jeans and tennis shoes.  

We need saints who go to the movies, who listen to music, who hang out with their friends.  

We need saints who place God in first place ahead of succeeding in any career.  

We saints who look for time….to pray every day and who know how to be in love with purity, chastity and all good things.  

We need saints, saints for the 21st century with a spirituality appropriate to our new time. 

We need saints who have a commitment to helping the poor and to make the needed social change.  

We need saints to live in the world, to sanctify the world by their presence in it, and to not be afraid of living in the world. 

We need saints who drink Coca Cola,  

who eat hot dogs, who  

surf the internet and who listen to their Ipods.  

We need saints who love the Eucharist, who are not afraid or embarrassed to eat a pizza or drink a beer with their friends.  

We need saints who love the movies, dance sports, theatre.  

We need saints who are in this world and who know how to enjoy the best in this world without being callous or mundane. We need saints. “ 

Pope Francis 

Reflections