Dare Great Things For Christ

Leaders lead in their own way.  Saints are the same.  Although most of us have preconceptions about Saints, describing them in terms of prayer and piety, Pier Giorgio Frassati shows us a different look.  He was full of life, energy, and activism.  He was a courageous leader for his age, his peers, and for us today.

I’d like to tell you of St. Margaret Clitherow, the patron saint of Catholic businesswomen and entrepreneurs.  This incredible woman left a legacy of courage as she gave up her life harboring priests and inspired her children to dedicating their lives to God as well.  Listen in to this amazing tale of leadership from the inside.

When most people speak about leadership today, they mean it in the context of business.  And there are ample examples of great leadership in the world of business, and ample examples of Catholics who have typified that same leadership in the world of business.  But I’d like to focus us today on the reflection of a great Saint who was not a business leader but in fact the Pope, Pope St. John Paul II, and see how his life teaches us about Catholic leadership.

Today, leadership requires courage.  In times like ours it’s easier to stop rather than to keep going.  But what’s the secret to courage?  In the lives of the saints we find many examples of courageous leadership.  But in the life of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Krakow, there is a special lesson that speaks to each one of us: the strength of consistent integrity.

I think that most of us feel that when you do something heroic you should be recognized for it.  Almost like, “Good heroes usually win.”  In the story of St. John Bosco, however, this was not the case.  He had to defend himself, work hard, be under appreciated, and make his case boldly in a situation where people did not believe in him, or make it easy for him.  His is a story of true heroism.

Courageous leadership requires courageous leaders.  And that’s what we find in the lives of many Saints, but few saints excel in the areas of zeal and apostolic labors like Saint Junipero Serra.  I’d like to look at his life in particular because it reminds us of the urgency to both spread the Gospel and the willingness to lay down our lives in order to make this happen.  Obviously this is something that we can apply to all the calls of God in our lives.

All of us are inspired by the lives of Saints.  I think it is important that we remember, though, that Saints come in all different stripes.  Some are poor and destitute and others come from lives of affluence.  What makes Saints great is not their background but how they use it for the love of God.  In today’s Saint, St. Catherine Drexel we learn the surprising story of a young woman of wealth who becomes holy for others.

When you read the lives of the Saints you can get the impression that things were pretty easy for them.  Afterall, they’re the Saints!  It looks like their lives just kind of roll along and they do wonderful things for God.  A far cry from what we have to go through.  When you read the life of Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini that impression can change.  This was a woman of terrific courage who faced amazing hardships and endured.

Heroes come in all sizes and stripes.  We are well versed in the lives of heroic priests and bishops in the Catholic church.  But not many of realize the heroism intrinsic in America women saints.  One of the most amazing of them is St. Marianne Cope.  I want to tell you about her life and her example of courageous leadership.

Fr. Nathan's series on courageous leaders to inspire us during difficult times!  Part 1 discusses the courage of St. Damien of Molokai.