By Alyssa Bormes

Untitled by Michael Gaida via Pixabay. CCO

As a teacher, when your students do well, you just beam with pride—not the pride that you have done anything, but that they have done it.

Today let me tell you about Hannah. She is amazing. After college, she married Simon. After their honeymoon, they realized that a baby was on the way. As the baby grew, they realized there were problems; their child might die in utero, or very soon after birth.

Hannah and Simon have named their baby girl Zoey Louise. She is kicking mommy, and daddy can feel the kicks as well.

As you can imagine, the joy of a baby is being tempered with the sorrow of possibly losing her. But the strength of her parents is something to behold. They deeply love their daughter. They have asked for the many prayers of their friends and family; we pray for a miracle, and pray for the continued strength for parents who find themselves in a world that might rather discard Zoey. Fortunately, they have received help from those who understand that Zoey has the dignity due to each life.

One day while telling this to my friend, she said, “There they are, this young couple working out their sainthood because of this small baby.”

That’s it! They are working out their sainthood in the life that has been given to them. They are doing it out of a little apartment in Dallas. We aren’t all Mother Teresa; we will not all be called to Calcutta. Some of us are called to the sainthood of the seemingly ordinary. Hannah and Simon have little Zoey helping them to become saints.

Today, Zoey is the teacher, and we are the students. She is reminding each of us that we are called to the sainthood of the everyday. What is in front of us? Even when it is difficult, let that be a way to allow us to become saints!

About the Author:

Alyssa Bormes is an educator, author, speaker, and retreat leader. She currently teaches at the Chesterton Academy in Edina, Minnesota, writes for the Catholic Spirit, and the W.I.N.E blog, is the host of a weekly show, “Christian Witnesses in the Church,” on Radio Maria US, and is the author of The Catechism of Hockey. You can find her at alyssabormes.com.