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As St. Teresa of Calcutta famously said, “God has not called us to be successful. He has called us to be faithful.”
The stories of the saints can seem utterly unattainable, marked by impossible success as whole nations converted while lions lay down with lambs. Mercifully, holiness has nothing to do with success. As St. Teresa of Calcutta famously said, “God has not called us to be successful. He has called us to be faithful.” The saints understood this; many were failures in the eyes of the world. Their companionship can offer great consolation at times when our lives seem full of failures and missteps, of aimless wandering and unanswered prayers. Through their intercession, may we embrace the will of God, even when it’s failure.
St. Agatha Kim A-gi (1787-1839) was a Korean woman who longed to be baptized. Her intellectual disability, however, made it impossible for her to learn the faith; even the Hail Mary was too much for her. When asked to recite various prayers, Agatha would say, “I only know Jesus and Mary.” No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t memorize anything and was denied baptism (at a time when the Catholic Church in Korea had been without any priests for a generation and the faithful were unaware that theological acuity is not a prerequisite for adult baptism). But when arrested and ordered to denounce the faith under torture, Agatha’s response was the same: “I only know Jesus and Mary.” She was baptized in prison shortly before her martyrdom.
Continued below.
Marvelously inspiring saints whose lives were "failures"
The stories of the saints can seem utterly unattainable, marked by impossible success as whole nations converted while lions lay down with lambs. Mercifully, holiness has nothing to do with success. As St. Teresa of Calcutta famously said, “God has not called us to be successful. He has called us to be faithful.” The saints understood this; many were failures in the eyes of the world. Their companionship can offer great consolation at times when our lives seem full of failures and missteps, of aimless wandering and unanswered prayers. Through their intercession, may we embrace the will of God, even when it’s failure.
St. Agatha Kim A-gi (1787-1839) was a Korean woman who longed to be baptized. Her intellectual disability, however, made it impossible for her to learn the faith; even the Hail Mary was too much for her. When asked to recite various prayers, Agatha would say, “I only know Jesus and Mary.” No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t memorize anything and was denied baptism (at a time when the Catholic Church in Korea had been without any priests for a generation and the faithful were unaware that theological acuity is not a prerequisite for adult baptism). But when arrested and ordered to denounce the faith under torture, Agatha’s response was the same: “I only know Jesus and Mary.” She was baptized in prison shortly before her martyrdom.
Continued below.
Marvelously inspiring saints whose lives were "failures"
