My blog is much like a French film: I rarely draw a conclusion at the end of an entry. What I write about are simply thoughts that occur on a given day.
I write "A Sinner's Guide to the Saints" when I have free time, as a way to relax. This is not the traditional type of storytelling that people in Western World are accustomed to. These entries might be considered slices out of time, not parables or moralistic stories.
This evening, in Newport, I joined some friends, Ben and Jean-Francois, at a picnic table outside a closed bakery. While the latter drank beer, we talked about travelling around Europe and corporate jobs.
Jean-Francois, who was raised in Morocco, said he summered in a town near Lourdes, France, and every Friday, the family took a pilgrimage to the grotto and basilica made famous by St. Bernadette.
Jean-Francois said that over of course of time he became less than reverential about going there and seeing the "sweaty-palmed priests collecting money and dispensing false hope" to people who had gone here looking for a miracle. He said he remembers a sea of crutches and how absolutely creepy it was.
Ben, on the other hand, was a hippie in the 1960s with a fondness for St. Francis, who made a special trip to Assisi, Italy where he camped for two weeks with friends.
Ben said he thought St. Francis and St. Clare were romantically involved having sex with each other, but because they were becoming too close he "bugged out on her."
I put in my two cents about what I thought and what was supposed to be a 10-minute hello turned into a two-hour conversation.
But, it did get me to thinking about what I'd like to do with my life at this point in time. And I think it should be something that I enjoy.
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori is the patron saint of vocations. He was born in Marianella, Italy on Sept. 27, 1696.
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was a bishop and spirtual writer who founded the Redemptorists Order. He was a noted theologian who was named a Doctor of the Church. He died in Nocera on Aug. 1, 1787 and his feast day is Aug. 1.
If you pray to St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, you will have a clearer focus.
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