Aurelio Porfiri
I am sure many of you will remember the slogan “Let’s be realistic, we expect the impossible!” which was very popular in 1968. Obviously this slogan can make us smile but, in reality, if read from a Christian perspective, it also tells us a great truth. Let me explain.
Do we believe in the power of intercession? If we believe in it, we probably assume that the saints can implore graces and protection for us. If we believe that we are part of a communion of saints that extends in time and space, we must also believe that our brothers ahead of us in faith, like the saints, like those who have left us and who now know the glory of Heaven, they can intercede on our behalf. Our Christian realism must lead us to feel this truth as tangible, real and concrete.
Let us take Saint Rita da Cascia, who the Church celebrates on May 22. She is known as the “Saint of the impossible,” that is, the saint of desperate causes. We must learn that often the problem is not in the saving power of the saints but in our little faith: “Truly I say to you, whoever said to this mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ without doubting in his heart but believing that what he says will happen, that it will be granted to him” (Mark 11:23); “And he answered, ‘Because of your little faith. Truly I tell you: if you have faith equal to a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, “move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you’”(Matthew 17:20); “Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you be able to do what has happened to this fig tree, but also if you will say to this mountain, “Get up and throw yourself into the sea,” it will happen’” (Matthew 21:21); “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, “Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,” and it would obey you’” (Luke 17:5-6). Scripture is clear in this regard. In this sense, is not the faith of the simple better than that of the wise? The simple believe and trust, while the wise are devoured by their curiosity and try to understand what will be revealed to us only in our transition to eternal life.
A few years ago, I was an organist in a church where the feast of Santa Rita da Cascia was celebrated with great solemnity. I saw all these simple people who carried their aspirations, their sufferings their torments to the saint’s feet. And in their faces one could read that Christian realism I was talking about earlier, and it was clear that they, in their implicit Christian faith, demanded the impossible. They knew that in God’s plan, some of them would be heard. And who was not, as impossible as things might seem, continued to trust.
(Image: St Rita da Cascia. Source: Catholic.org)
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