Why do Catholics have a devotion to saints?

Imagine you know one of the advisors for the President.  (ok, imagine the president is pro-life).  This advisor has studied the president, tried to live a life similar to the president, loves the president and truly wants to please the president. The advisor has even thrown himself in front of a bullet to protect the president. The advisor loves the president so much that he has committed his life to being an example of how the president lives his life.

Imagine that advisor is someone you could totally relate and look up to.  He is just an ordinary man like you or I but for some reason has gone beyond the call of duty to make great choices in life.

That is how Catholics look at saints.  They are people, like us, that have lived a life pleasing to God.  They have done amazing and brave things to truly live Catholic lives.  They have exceeded our worldly expectations and serve as an example to us of how to act so that we too can be pleasing to God.  They have kept themselves pure and devoted to the Lord. 

Catholics do not worship saints or hold them higher than God.  Catholics don't worship or pray to the statues.  We do pray that the saint who we know is in Heaven will pray on our behalf.  It's like knowing that God is super happy with that saint and will listen closely when the saint brings our intentions to Him.

Saints are only windows to God.  We look through them to see the beauty of the Father.  We know that by following their example we have seen a way to seek sanctity.  Saints pattern their lives off of Jesus Christ never to exceed the Son of God but ONLY to glorify Him. 

Some of my favorite saints:

St. Terese the Little Flower
St. Gerard
St. Clare
St. Francis
St. Philomena

Evangelization in the home

Sometimes I get this urge to proclaim the love of Christ to the world.  You know what I mean?   I read Scripture and I read how we are called to evangelize and I wonder in what capacity that means?  God has been so faithful with His teachings throughout my life and I am convinced that the knowledge He has shared is meant to be shared. 

So, I was talking to my mom and sharing with her my frustrations of determining to what extent we are supposed to be evangelizing and she said that the most important evangelizing I can do is to my daughter.  She firmly believes that upon entering the gates of Heaven we will be asked what we did to bring Christ to our children.  In one breath this is a simple statement. Of course we need to evangelize to our children.  On the other hand it takes that breath away!  I am responsible for being the first Christ that my daughter encounters.  My actions, my words and my teachings must all consistently reflect the love of Christ.  What  a HUGE endeavor!  What a HUGE gift!  What a HUGE responsibility!

I think it such a testament to the gift of a child.  I am someone who has a very difficult time getting pregnant and then maintaining the pregnancies.  I am beginning to really see the miracle of life in that God is truly in charge of our fertility.  This can be difficult for me because I wanted many children!  And God has blessed me with one on earth and one in Heaven.  How much more am I being called to raise the one I have been given to truly serve the Lord and bring Christ to all she meets. 

I pray that I am always a witness to Christ's love in the world but I pray even more so that my little one knows and loves the Lord so that she may be a witness to all.  Whew!