Feast of Saint Maria Goretti

Good morning. “You can’t tell a book by its cover.” This old adage suggests that one can’t necessarily know anything about the content of something inside by the way it is presented. Or can we? We live in a society where the virtue of ‘chastity’ is trivialized, in fact we don’t even use the word much anymore, and come to think of it, we don’t even refer to virtue much anymore. The closest we even come to making reference to virtues is we may refer to values or character, but chastity or holding sacred our sexual selves is not generally included amongst these. In today’s Gospel Jesus instructs the Apostles to proclaim the Gospel to all people. We too are called to do the same, we too are asked to personally proclaim His goodness to others and one clear way we are asked to do this is by our example. As parents this especially rings true. Even without being told we have from early on in our lives an understanding that our bodies are special, even sacred. We come to an awareness as young children that our bodies are sacred. Modesty is a way that we show respect for our bodies. Yet, increasingly this message of sacredness, of holding sacred our sexual selves is diminished by our current day culture. We live in a culture that sends a message to our children that it is all about packaging and the content of the packaging is about sex. Music and movie stars glamorize promiscuity and promote attire that loudly proclaims SEX. As parents we have an obligation to send a different message to our children and one way to correct this message is through our example. Do we send a message that says our bodies are sacred through how we dress or through what we watch on television or by our language? As parents we are called to instruct our children of the importance of chastity for in doing so we help them know the joy of doing what is right. In the words of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta: “To be pure, to remain pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and loving him enough to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something as beautiful for him." Our Saint for today, Maria Goretti likewise offers a very clear message and example for our children of the importance of chastity. Other saints offer similar messages for our children. As parents we should encourage our children to read the stories of the saints. Can we tell a book by its cover? Perhaps! What does our book cover tell about the contents of our lives? Does our dust jacket make clear that we are followers of Christ? Make a great day!

Today we recall the good life, gifts, and works of Saint Maria Goretti.