A: My favorite saint is St. Mary, the mother of God. Daily, I ask for her intercession in prayer and I try to become more like her as we read in sacred Scripture with love, humility and interior resolve. St. Mary personifies what it means to fully follow God’s will without qualification. How fortunate, also, that the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the patroness of our beloved diocese.
There are two other saints who I have special affinity for and one is St. Paul, specifically regarding the new evangelization. St. Paul personifies the fortitude necessary to follow God and his teachings, regardless what era in which we find ourselves and the Gospel being, either “in or out of season” for that specific culture.
St. Therese of Lisieux is another saint who I frequently focus on, especially with regard to her “little way.” In our contemporary era, there are numerous distractions that invite us away from focusing our gaze on the holy face of Jesus. Namely, so much in this world can prevent us from listening to the word of God. As a saint during the Industrial Revolution and the entrance of the modern era, St. Therese instructs all that matters in the end is to humbly walk with Our Lord Jesus Christ because whatever we do great or small does not get past his gaze.
Q: How often do you read the Bible?
Brendan Grimm Steubenville
A: Keeping with the Bible team: I read/pray the Bible every single day. While I have promised to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the breviary, I make a point of it to spend time with sacred Scripture each and every day, fortifying my relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no replacement to our encounter with God than through sacred Scripture. Perhaps this Lenten season we can focus more directly on those scriptural passages that highlight the season of penitential journey especially the Books of Exodus or Deuteronomy, not to mention of course, the Gospels which we hear every day at Mass. Notwithstanding, when was the last time you had opportunity to spend a great length of time with the passion account of Our Lord Jesus that we hear both on Palm Sunday and Good Friday?
St. Jerome puts it quite well that “ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
Q: Do we get our bodies back when we go to heaven?
Nevaeh Tingler Wintersville
A: In a previous “Ask the Bishop” question, I had the opportunity to answer that as human beings, we are both body and soul. In the end time, Jesus teaches us that yes, most certainly we get our bodies back, but they will be of course, changed or reconfigured because of the resurrection of Jesus himself.
How blessed we are that God the Father saw fit to send his only son Jesus Christ for our salvation! Consequent of Jesus’ actions, we will receive our bodies back and they will be reunited with our souls. Let’s keep each other in prayer that we will have opportunity to see all whom we encounter here on earth in heaven as well.
May you and your family have a blessed Lenten season as we quickly approach the halfway point of climbing the Easter mountain.