“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8
The Holy season of Lent is a time for Catholics and Christians alike to draw closer to God. The traditional ways of self sacrifice, such as giving up candy or eating between meals, and alms giving, such as making charitable donations, are wonderful ways to grow closer to Him.
Another way to grow closer to God is to strive for holiness, godliness. A good way to help accomplish this is to add something to our regular daily prayer routine in order to learn more about Him. Throughout history there have been many wonderful people who set beautiful examples of holiness and were later declared to Saints by The Church. Getting to know a few of these inspiring holy people would help us to grow in spiritual zeal.
There are many books available in both stores and on-line. A lot of these books are fairly short biographies that are easily read in a short amount of time. One might pick out two or three to read over the course of Lent. Another way, would be to pick a reputable website that offers short summaries of the Saints. Some offer up a Saint a day! Learning a little about them will allow you to pick and choose which Saints seem interesting to you so that you can then find a more in depth book or article on them.
One source that I use regularly is Catholic Online http://www.catholic.org/saints/. It is a great resource for Saints and for Gospel readings, etc. To get started why not choose a few of the traditional Saints that you have possibly heard of before. A few good ones are:
Saint Therese of Lisieux
St. Francis of Assisi
St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Teresa of Avila
St. Francis de Sales
After checking out a few you that already know about click on some that you have never heard of. You might be surprised what you find out! Saints were ordinary people who struggled through the trials of everyday life much the same as we do. I often find something in their life I can totally relate to. Most of them struggled to be holy. They fought their weakness and sins while praying to God for help to become who He wanted them to be. They humbled themselves before Him trusting in His mercy and forgiveness. God especially loved them for this. It was in the actual striving for holiness, for godliness, that they became Saints.
Get to know these very influential people of faith. Learn from their example and strive to be like them. Make Lent a time of growth toward holiness, toward godliness. Who you know will make a difference!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 
