My
Life with the Saints
by James Martin, SJ
Loyola Press, 2006
review
by John Koize
Books
on the lives of the saints are often marred by one or more common
flaws, the first involving perspective. Authors oftentimes place
their subject so high above everyday human experience as to make
them nearly supernatural. By doing so, these well-meaning writers
inspire feelings of inadequacy and an uneasy hopelessness among
their readers that defeats the church’s purpose for setting
people apart: emulation.
The
ordinary details of their earthly lives can be so hidden by legends,
miracle stories, and tales of heroic virtue that we forget or ignore
that they lived and breathed and suffered the same slings and arrows
of daily life that we do.
James
Martin’s captivating new memoir (and a few others, to be fair)
exhibits none of these flaws, and in fact rises above the rest so
thoroughly as to create an entirely new sub-genre: Lives of the
Saints that Might Actually Get Read. His
bright, conversational style reveals as much about the spiritual
life of this young Jesuit as it does of the friends in the faith
he illuminates: well-known saints such as Mother
Teresa, Ignatius of Loyola, and Joan of Arc, and lesser-knowns like
Pedro Arrupe and The Ugandan Martyrs.
Martin
does not so much present the life of each saint, as one would expect
in an ordinary biography, or in a reflection on an icon. Rather
he introduces them to the reader in much the same way one might
introduce a friend or companion. He shares both aspirations and
frustrations held in common with each. Thomas Merton, for example,
struggled with the same pride, ambition and selfishness that Martin
confesses. Dorothy Day represents, among other spiritual ideals,
the union of action and contemplation to which he aspires and which
remains an important dimension of his Jesuit vocation.
For
Martin, the saints represent not so much lessons to be learned as
lives to be encountered and friends to be met. Each portrait is
rendered with the kind of loving detail that must only be the result
of long hours in prayer and contemplation of the spiritual force
that guided their lives. Through these portraits
emerges a new understanding not only of the life and mission of
each saint, but also of the notion of sainthood itself.
While
miracle stories, legends, spiritual classics and even prayers can
reveal something about each saint and engage our curiosity, these
traditional trappings are not of primary importance. Rather it is
relationship—with God, with each other, with their truest
selves—that is at the heart of their spiritual lives, and
which sustains Martin’s abiding interest and affection.
Peppered
throughout the text are reminders that the author was not raised
in the Catholic faith, nor even particularly religious in his young
adulthood. Martin prompts us to recall that there are saints and
holy ones who are remembered chiefly for their amazing conversions
to the faith, something those of us who are converts can relate
to—and all of us are converts in one way or another. Ignatius
of Loyola, Francis of Assisi, and Thomas Merton are noted among
them.
It
is in this way that My Life With the
Saints is a sweetly
persuasive apologetic for the saints as models for all Christian
believers—and a solid counter for those who do not understand
Catholic interest in the saints, or worse, hold
it in contempt.
Equal
parts storytelling and reflection, revelation and reminiscence,
it is difficult to imagine a better way to approach a topic that
already has enough entries to stock entire libraries. Martin’s
own life and spiritual journey is revealed in a way that mirrors
the deepest connections between the saints he encounters and the
readers he addresses. These holy ones aren’t simply images
or deftly carved hunks of marble. They are truly human, deeply in
love with God, and people whom you wouldn’t mind going out
of your way to meet. The same might be said of the author.
Copyright
©2006 John Koize
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