Celebrating St. Rita... and some other Saints too!

Today, this ministry conducted a presentation - another one for the RCIA Group at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua.  Being that it's May 22nd, the Saint this administrator spent the most time speaking about was St. Rita of Cascia, whose Feast Day is today.

When conducting talks about Saints, I always try to tie in a lesson when sharing the bio of each featured holy person, and St. Rita's life-message was easy: when life gets tough, PRAY... and do it with confidence!  St. Rita exemplified this lesson beautifully since her biography is filled with lots of examples of how she overcame many challenges through persistent prayer and trust in God (click here to read more about her)... and I further emphasized her life by also bringing a relic - "ex habitu" (clothing) - of the Saint for the audience to see and venerate.

Other holy persons I spoke about this morning included St. Bernadette of Lourdes, Ven. Carla Ronci, St. Damien of Molokai, Bro. Joseph Dutton of Molokai, and Bl. Lorenzo Maria Salvi; diverse, yet all inspirational examples of holiness in our Church!

Holy Relics present at this morning's

presentation included (from Left to Right):

Our Lady's veil, St. Bernadette (1st Class),

St. Damien (2nd Class), Bl. Lorenzo (1st

Class), and St. Rita (2nd Class).

.... and what particularly pleased me was this year's group of RCIA candidates was comprised primarily of young adults, and several seemed genuinely enthusiastic about what they heard, even staying after the presentation to view/venerate the relics and to ask more questions.  These people are the next generation of Catholics and to see their interest in our spiritual heroes gave me a sense of excitement and hope about the future of the local Church.

It was a Saint (St. Bernadette) who first led me years ago to fall in love with the Catholic Faith... so, may the Saints I shared about this morning intercede for each of my listeners so that they, too, may receive the same grace I did.