St. Michael's Lent

I really do believe the Saints call us. Sure we can call on them at anytime, but I heard on a recent podcast that they do call us. How? I'll give an example. My confirmation name is St. Francis. When I was young, I loved animals and I really liked how St. Francis called the wolf, "Brother Wolf," and he called the moon, "Sister Moon." I loved that the animals loved him. My mom, worrywart that she was, was nervous that I wouldn't understand my saint, so she bought me a Marvel comic book.

I enjoyed the story, but years later I found out we had much more in common than I realized. First, Francis's father was a wealthy merchant. My father was a wealthy merchant. Second, he drank and partied a lot with his friends on his father's credit. Ditto for me. Third, he wanted to be a troubadour. I was an actor and a performer for many years. Fourth, he misunderstood a lot. The Christ told him to re-build the church. He took this literally and started to re-build some ancient ruins where an old church once stood. Later, the Christ told him to re-build with people, not stones. I always misunderstand. I could see myself taking what the Chirst said literally.

Now, I've discovered a new thing that we have in common. When I lived in Chicago for my brief year, my favorite cathedral was St. Michael's. I've always loved the archangel and his storied tales of defeating Satan. I even bought a St. Michael medal that year. It turns out St. Francis loved him too! In fact, it was during St. Michael's Lent that he had his famous stigmas and visions.

These coincidences tell me that perhaps St. Michael and St. Francis chose me somehow, rather than the other way around. I'm still investigating this.