Loving God, 500 years ago St. Teresa of Avila, a great spiritual leader who is now recognized as a doctor of your Church, asked that you save us from “sad” saints who undermine the joy that your grace always brings.
I now make a similar request regarding “cute” saints, those who have become so familiar and domesticated that they risk losing their ability to foster our conversion. Although Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux and Francis of Assisi may be the most popular “cute” saints today, that attitude would shock them and severely distorts what you would want us to take from the virtues they so generously enfleshed.
The Fault Is Ours, Not Yours
You, of course, never created “cute” saints. We did, as a subtle way of running interference, of shielding ourselves from the radical conversion that every saint (well-known or the “next-door” ones) should foster in us.
“Cute” saints promote complacency, not conversion. “Cute” has a built-in distance. Someone might find a kitten on a piano keyboard cute, of course, but that image suggests to those who love it that all’s right with the world and that the person does not need to make any significant changes. All’s right with the world, not because of cute kittens but because you are always trying to help us live in your divine image.
Because we all need a rest every now and then, “cute” isn’t all bad, but this way of looking at saints hides the wideness of your mercy and your grace so that our conversion to your ways keeps going ever deeper. “Cute” also has other dangers—in politics, finances, and all other aspects of life—because it refuses to ask tough questions and gives evasive answers a pass. “Cute” is a factor in many financial offers that sound too good to be true and probably, in fact, are scams.
Politicians sometimes give their opponents “cute” but derogatory nicknames in order to divert attention from important differences between their positions on key issues.
All Saints Are Prophets
Loving God, you inspired the author of the Book of Wisdom to write: “Although she [wisdom] is one, she can do all things, and she renews everything while herself perduring; passing into holy souls from age to age, she produces friends of God and prophets” (7:27).
“Friends of God” and “prophets” are not separate groups but rather a single group: Your friends always point people to you. That’s also what all prophets do: They speak for you and point people to your invigorating grace. “Cute” saints ultimately dull our souls, creating more distance between us and you. Prophets, however, always say things that make some people feel uncomfortable. Over the centuries, many people have dismissed prophets as idealists and presented themselves as the only genuine realists.
Were the harshest critics of Isaiah and Jeremiah more realistic than those prophets? Hardly! Genuine saints never seek publicity because they know their conversion is not yet complete—or they are still tempted to resist your grace by trying to improve upon your ways.
‘Not Dismissed So Easily’
Venerable Dorothy Day once said with irritation: “Don’t call me a saint! I don’t want to be dismissed so easily.” Dorothy Day had a strong devotion to Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux and Francis of Assisi, not because they were “cute,” but because they showed what happens when people cooperate generously with your grace. Saintly people move us to respect the dignity of every person because she or he has been created in your divine image.
Your Church may some day recognize Dorothy Day as a saint—but certainly not because she was “cute.” She drew people closer to you, especially by working with people at the extreme margins of society. St. Oscar Romero was not being “cute” when, shortly before he was martyred, he told Salvadoran soldiers not to fire upon innocent civilians. Speaking truth to power is always dangerous, but it is never a waste of time or energy.
In October, we celebrate the feasts of Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Francis of Assisi, and many other saints. We begin the following month by celebrating the feast of All Saints, acknowledging the many people from all times, places, occupations, and social conditions who, with a laser focus, point us to you.
Help us not to blur that focus by making any of them “cute” as a feeble defense against your powerful grace.
