I wrote in a blog at the beginning of October about a brief conversation I had with someone a few years ago.  He was a seminarian at the time studying at the North American College in Rome and was giving Sr. Ann and me a little tour of some places in Rome (including the Church of the Bones–but that’s another story).  We were chatting while riding the bus, and he relayed something one of his professors had said: “We don’t choose our favorite saints; they choose us.” That comment struck home with me, and I haven’t forgotten it.  It corroborated my own experience with my “favorite” saints.  It’s as if they initiated the relationship rather than vice versa, drawing me into a friendship with them.  

 That gives me a lot of hope: to know that the saints are actively looking out for us, seeking to befriend us if we’ll just be open to that working of the Holy Spirit. 

May God give us many new “friends” this coming year. A blessed All Saints Day!