SAINTS: WARTS AND ALL
INTRODUCTION
The title of my
homily is, “Saints: Warts and All.”
I was wondering if
you have heard the expression: “warts and all”.
A wart is a
hardened raised bit of skin or tiny lump.
The dictionary describes it as something that is unpleasant and
unattractive.
The saying “warts
and all” means we all have our
imperfections – our negative stuff – our weaknesses or what have you.
This is me with a
pimple or a wart on my nose. Will you still love me?
SAINTS LIVES A
CENTURY AGO
I was brought up
with the idea you only wrote about a Saint’s virtues.
You didn’t mention
their warts or negatives.
Then after 1950 or
sometime there people wrote about saints and their weaknesses and their warts –
as well as their wonderful qualities.
I heard that Padre
Pio could make some hurting comments to some people.
I like it that
saints are real – not that they make mistakes – but that they can make mistakes
and still become saints.
I think a lot of
people liked it when they read that Mother Teresa had struggles with darkness
and faith. Don’t we all at times? Don’t we all?
I worked with a
Redemptorist who told Mother Teresa off
a few times – for being too strict and unbending at times.
To me that makes
her real.
I liked reading
Ida Gorres book on St. Therese, the Little Flower. The book was called The
Hidden Face. Ida Gorres saw a photograph of St. Therese in a full
religious habit and the picture was rejected. When Ida Gorres saw that picture
and the pictures her convent wanted – and compared them, she wanted to see who
the person in the photograph really was.
So she did the
research and in her book, The Hidden Face, we get to know Therese Martin
a lot more. Therese had to deal with
personality differences. She found out her sister Pauline cut some stuff out of
her sister’s autobiography and also made some insertions. That made Therese and
her sisters more real to me.
There weren’t
major dishonest changes – but they helped me know Therese better. Her feast is
tomorrow.
TODAY’S FEAST
Today’s feast is
that of Saint Jerome.
Pope Francis put out a document today - on the 1600 anniversary of the death of St. Jerome. It's called, "Scripturae Sacrae Affectus" - "Devotion to Sacred Scripture" [September 30, 2020.] The pope urges us to read the scriptures as Jerome did.
Here's a painting by Caravaggio of Jerome:
Now Jerome has always
been known as a character.
In his letters we
find out that those who had his stuff – letters – and comments – and
experiences and meetings with him – were not scared to save what they saved –
and tell others about him.
Jerome had his
struggles with lust and impatience. He told it as it is.
You get him “warts
and all”.
He made comments
about women and their make-up. He criticized priests for their only concern
being their clothes.
He had some close
women friends and he had to deal with gossip and calumny about his
relationships – especially with Paula.
He had quite a life
– traveling everywhere – doing everything.
At one time there
he was secretary to Pope Damasus in Rome
for three years – but as soon as Pope Damasus died in 384 – many people wanted
him out of Rome because of his sharp
tongue and sandpaper personality.
CONCLUSION
Would he be made a
saint today – warts and all? Hypothetical question. We’ll never know. Yet, Jerome certainly made life interesting.
