By Juan Rodriguez
All of us have ideas to share, but one idea that comes to mind from my personal experience in youth and young adult ministry is having a patron saint by your side.
What is a patron saint? First, a patron is someone you trust, gives you aid in times of need. They can be your advisors, supporters, and more. A saint, coming from the word “Sanctus” means “Holy One” – someone set apart by God for His Glory.
Saints can be found all over the Bible. They were prophets who raised kings to fame and humbled kings to the ground. They were great healers, raising many from the dead, healing the sick, the dying and more. They were even teachers of great wisdom, giving spiritual guidance to the souls lost in darkness and more. They were even your ordinary guys and gals trying to live for God. One thing is for certain, when we speak of the saints we can say they were Christ in our midst; a promise of Christ made to His Apostles that extends to their successors, and to us. He said to all who believed and kept His commandments that “the one who believes in me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these…” (Jn 14:12)
There are images of saints in our Churches. Their names are dedicated to churches to give them praise and honor for their example of Christian living. The saints are with us even in the news when we least expect it, like Pope John Paul II, Padre Pio, or Mother Theresa. They are holy men and women in love with Jesus.
Saints are close to us like a family member. They are our spiritual family members, leading us to Jesus. That is why the Church invites us to have a close and spiritual relationship with the saints, because with them we can reach Heaven. We need all the help we can get.
Religious orders have patron saints; take for instance the Society of Saint Paul. Their patron is St. Paul and also Our Lady of the Apostles. Now they have their founder, “Alberione” who is now Blessed. Also, when we celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation, we as young Christians choose a saint for our patron, taking his or her name as our own. Now, if a church, a religious order, and even Christians can pick a saint to help us, why can’t we choose one for our groups?
For the Defenders of the Holy Trinity, our Patron is St. Athanasius (May 2nd), a bishop who dedicated his life in defending the Catholic Church. He was born in Egypt around the third century. Wise and learned in the studies of the sacred scripture and philosophies of the time, he was chosen at a young age (about 18 or 22) to face a priest named Arius, who taught that Jesus was not God, but a perfect human being. Athanasius faced Arius in a public debate before the Council of Bishops at the Council of Nicaea in 325. Just a Deacon, he took control of the debate over and expressed that Arius’ teaching was dangerous. With that, Athanasius shared with the council some of his experience and wisdom that Jesus is not just a perfect human being, but God Himself, and that if we are followers of the Lord, we must hold fast to this truth. The Patriarch of Alexandria, his bishops and many priests were amazed at his teachings and how the Holy Spirit was guiding him to speak of Christ’s equality to God. With that, Arius and his teachings were condemned and eventually, Athanasius was chosen to be the new Patriarch of Alexandria.
Humble Athanasius faced great trials during his time as Bishop of Alexandria. You could imagine the horrible words, and evil intentions would haunt Athanasius, even coming as close to killing him for his belief in Christ as being God and Man. Exiled at least 5 times from Alexandria, Athanasius continued to write letters to his people to hold fast to the truth of Jesus. He prayed, and sacrificed much for his spiritual children to stay firm to Jesus and His Church. Till this day we celebrate his memory for defending this ancient truth by proclaiming the “Nicene Creed” together at Holy Mass as we pray that Christ is “God From God, Light From Light, True God From True God. One in Being with the Father.”
WHAT COULD WE LEARN FROM THE CHURCH?
We learn that in choosing a saint as our patron, we can find meaning and purpose in our mission. DHT takes St. Athanasius as our patron, not because he defended the Church, but because his life told us a story of love for Jesus. St Athanasius was a father, a brother, and a Christian to all his people. He was Jesus for Alexandria when there was no hope. It is said that his name comes from the Greek word “Thanatos”, which means “Death”. But his name actually means “One Who Rises From Death (Athanatos)”. Isn’t that what every Christian believes, that we are raised in Jesus Christ through our baptism? Isn’t this our faith?
LET’S USE THESE IDEAS!
If youth and young adult ministries suffer from identity problems such as: not knowing what to do for their parish, struggling to build character and strength within the leadership, or finding difficulty developing vocations within the group, then having a patron saint by your side can be the best idea we Catholic leaders need. They are not the solution to all things, but the saints are there to serve their Christian brothers and sisters in building a Civilization of Love.
Our group and ministries can find identity and purpose in a saint. Like Our Lady, who magnifies perfectly the greatness of the Lord, the saints do this in a very small, but powerful way. Imagine a community destroyed by the illnesses of sin in our society; poverty, gang violence, drugs, family violence, prostitution, corruption and murder – all these problems can be transformed by the Grace of Jesus Christ through individual men and women called to be lights in their world. If you can imagine this in your mind and heart then we have to respond to the needs of our community. New York and another city in this world can become a Civilization of Love.
How do we do this? One step at a time, saving youth and young adults from despair and sin, bringing them into a world that hopes in the triumph of our victorious Lord, Jesus Christ. I believe that we can be a powerful example of Christ’s love in New York, but it must begin first in surrendering to Jesus and uniting our hearts to the saints.
St. Athanasius, Pray for us!
SMALL QUOTES FROM ST. ATHANASIUS
“For God, being good and loving to mankind, and caring for the souls which He made, since He is by nature invisible and incomprehensible, and since His existence transcends that of every created being, on which account the human race, made out of nothing while He is not made at all, was unlikely to reach a knowledge of Him, - for this reason God, by His own Word, gave to creation such order as is found therein, so that while He is by nature invisible, men might yet be able to know Him through His works.” St. Athanasius
– Treatise Against the Pagans (A.D. 318)
“Sing in Praise of Christ’s redeeming work” St. Athanasius
“Christ, higher than the Cherubim, when you took our lowly nature you
transformed our sinful world.” St. Athanasius
“The Lord calls his ransomed people to sing songs of victory.” St. Athanasius
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