Saints
Your other team mates are researching about how to teach people about their
most important job. Your task is research about those individuals who heard
the lesson and took it to heart. THE SAINTS! These are people from the time
of Jesus until today who heard about the truth of Jesus, virtues, the Church
etc. and said, "I believe. I want to save my soul!" And they did. Now they
live forever in inexpressible light, happiness and peace with God and
everyone
else.
People do not accidentally become saints. It involves a lifetime of looking
at, speaking to and loving Jesus Christ. A lifetime of asking, "How can I be
like Jesus?" They find the answer in prayer, in working for their neighbour,
in receiving the Sacraments, of fostering virtue and of listening attentively
to the Church in the Pope, bishops and priests. This whole while the Holy
Spirit works in their hearts to form the very image of Jesus; like a master
artist the Holy Spirit forms Jesus in us.
"This sounds great!" You may be thinking. "I'll do some research on some
specific saints, maybe see how they lived, miracles they did, interesting
stories and the like. Maybe I'll even investigate how the Church officially
names and recognizes saints. But wait... what does all this matter? So
what,
a few people saved their souls, how is this relevant to convincing other
people? How is it relevant to me?"
Because everyone is called to be a saint! Even you! You are meant to be like
Jesus! It is relevant because many people can be more convinced about
something when they see an example of another person, and not just the
theory.
YOUR TASK: DISCOVER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN ABOUT HOW THE SAINTS MADE SAVING THEIR
SOUL THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE. ARE THERE SAINTS WHO INTEREST YOU?
WHAT
IS A MARTYR? WHAT MAKES A MARTYR DIFFERENT FROM SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A MARTYR?
WHAT ARE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS ABOUT SAINTS? ARE THEIR ANY? WHAT MIRACLES
WERE DONE OVER THE YEARS? WHAT ARE RELICS? HOW DOES THE CHURCH NAME SAINTS?
ALL THESE QUESTIONS AND MANY MORE MAY BE HELPFUL. BUT THEY ARE ONLY A ROUGH
GUIDE.
REMEMBER TO TAKE LOTS OF HANDWRITTEN NOTES DETAILING THE WEBSITES YOU
VISIT, ARTICLES AND BOOKS YOU READ ETC. YOUR HANDWRITTEN JOUNRAL SHOULD
INCLUDE WEB ADDRESSES, TITLES OF ARTICLES, KEY WORDS, SUMMARIES OF WHAT YOU
READ AND YOUR OWN REFLECTIONS. KEEP ALL THIS NEAT AND TIDY.
The following are some links to help you get started. These should not be
thought of as either necessary or sufficient, they are a way to help you
begin
your research.
Internet Links
Patron Saints Index
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm
Salesians of Don Bosco Main page
http://www.sdb.org
Catholic Culture
http://www.catholicculture.org/
Love and Responsibility
http://www.catholicculture.com/of_interest.html
Dominicans Homepage
http://www.op-stjoseph.org/Students/homepage.html
Raphael Net - Information especially on Angels
http://www.raphael.net/
List of Military Martyrs
http://www.ucc.ie/milmart/shortlist.html
Life Teen
http://www.lifeteen.com/
One Rock
http://www.onerock.com
Other Resources