Unsung

"The truly humble reject all praise for themselves and refer it all to God." - St. Alphonsus Liguori

I watch the Olympics when I can. Lots of praise goes out to the athletes and rightly so. They work hard. I was at the New York Encounter recently. It is a cultural event and there are many talks about many things. I came across a book and a presentation about Giovanni Calzone. I also read about Rolando Rivi. There are many heroes, saints and deeds that are unsung. Many people do not get praise for what they do. Many fly under the radar so to speak. It is interesting to read about these people, and some might get recognition. We continue on the road that our Lord has written for us. Anything else is a waste of our time.

“Humility is nothing, but truth and pride is nothing but lying.” St. Vincent de Paul

I would expect that there are many saints in heaven. In the early Church, many saints were declared through public declaration, but as the Church grew, a more formal process would begin. Being credited with miracles, intense scrutiny and a serious study of the life of the potential saint came to be. It is important to have processes in place and serious analysis of one’s life before being declared a saint. There were martyrs in the early Church as there have been throughout history. I doubt we have record of everyone in the last 2000  years. Two potential saints have come to mind through reading and listening. Giovanni Marco Calzone was a teacher who came from a beautiful Catholic family. He was the third of six children and had a happy youth. As he grew older, he began to wonder where his place was in this world. Father Luigi Giussani, founder of Communion and Liberation, reminded his followers in one of his many books that at some point, we need to remove our proverbial backpack and look at what family, school and life has put inside. We need to pay attention to what God wants from us. We need to look at our experience. Giovanni Calzone did just that. He died young in a car accident and after meeting Communion and Liberation. He stayed with the community while he taught philosophy in Naples.  He wrote many things down and his notes were collected by Father Giacomo Tantardini. Everything, he thought, becomes a step towards our destiny. He died on his way to a ski trip with a friend in the car. It was 1988. Another potential saint, Blessed Rolando Rivi was determined to be a priest. At a time during World War II, when cassocks were not the best idea for potential clergy, the partisans kidnapped him. He went to study in the forest, but he never returned home. Pope Francis placed him on the road to canonization once it was determined that he died for his faith and it was not political. Rolando was forced to kneel before his grave where he was subsequently shot in the head and heart. There was a chance he might have been released because of his age, but the assassins wanted ‘one less priest.’  Fr. Olinto Marzocchini, Rolando’s spiritual father, was attacked. The attack on faith is relentless sometimes and we must stand firm. Rolando said, “"I study to be a priest, and these vestments are the sign that I belong to Jesus". We do not all wear cassocks, but we all belong to Him.

"You either belong wholly to the world or wholly to God." — St. John Vianney

Giovanni, through his experiences teaching and, in the movement, Communion and Liberation, he made a comparison of his life through all this. What did God want for him. Joyful days are coming because we ask the Lord to be able to follow Him. This is from the book, “Joyful Days Ahead,” the life of Giovanni Calzone. I picked up a copy of the book, and it is part of my spiritual reading for Lent. There are many things I plan to do during Lent and there is no need to list them here. What is important for me is that I was reminded by my friends in the Cloister that we need to improve ourselves during Lent. It is a time to take stock so to speak. Are we ready for this during the next 40 days or are we planning to discard everything we learned during this period once it is all over? I would submit that the two examples I have been reading about are examples for everyone. What do we want? What does our Lord want from us? They are great questions. It might take quite a bit of time to answer them.

"Whatever a man loves he inevitably clings to, and in order not to lose it he rejects everything that keeps him from it." — St. John of the Cross