Stop Playing It Safe

An excerpt from Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century by Melanie Rigney

Radical. The word makes us, well, itchy. We think of people whose political beliefs are at one end of the spectrum or the other, people who won’t compromise or collaborate, maybe even people who foster revolutions that upset entire nations.

How in the world could a group of women, ranging in age from nine to ninety-three at their deaths, women formally canonized by the Catholic Church for heroic virtues and associated miracles, be considered radical?

Because being a Christian is radical. The word radical comes from the Latin radicalis, meaning “of or relating to a root.” When Christ and his teachings are our foundation, we are on a radical path, a path people have struggled to walk for more than two thousand years. Think about it: Is there anything more radical than loving God with your entire being and loving your neighbor as yourself? Society encourages us to worship money, status, prestige, and more. Putting God before any of that? Before our own spouses, parents, children, friends, all those people we love and would do anything for? And how about loving those who look different from us or who have betrayed us, injured us, or persecuted us simply because we’re told God loves them every bit as much as he loves us.

Now that’s radical.

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Jesus told the disciples (Luke 12:49). These women, from Dulce

to Faustina, got that. They lived it, and they didn’t care whether it cost them earthly love or respect.

They did so in a world that looked much like ours. All twenty-one saints featured in this book walked the earth in the twentieth century and were canonized in the twenty-first. (By the way, that’s why Zélie Martin, who died in 1877 and was canonized in 2015, and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who died in 1942 and was canonized in 1998, aren’t in this book. We had to draw the line somewhere.)

Many of these saints took trains, rode in cars or airplanes, received telegrams, talked on phones, watched television and movies, and perhaps a few knew their way around a computer. All were photographed, and many were filmed as they shared their radicalness. They had an awareness of some—not all, but some—of the modernday distractions that, when not used in moderation, threaten to crowd out room for God. And while they may not have taken selfies and had social media accounts, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if they had, they wouldn’t have been checking likes and shares at prayer, meals, or time with their loved ones.

I’m not saying that any saint from the Blessed Virgin Mary on had an easy life. Some joys and sorrows—the birth of a child, the loss of a spouse— are eternal. Some, such as martyrdom, are difficult for people living in any age to imagine. We can learn something from each and every one of our beautiful saints regardless of the century; indeed, the women in these pages were inspired by Teresa of Ávila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Bridget of Sweden, and others. Still, there’s something especially moving and challenging about the faith and perseverance of women who actually walked the earth with us or our mothers or grandmothers.

In each chapter, you’ll find brief descriptions of the woman’s radical gift and the world in which she lived. You’ll learn more about how she lived radically and find some relevant Scripture and questions for journaling or discussion, along with resources if you’d like to learn more about her.

Just as important, you’ll find the true stories (in some cases, with names changed) of “everyday” women who are living these gifts in ways large and small today. Sometimes I’ll share stories about the way my life has been changed by an experience or by knowing one of them. Sometimes the pairings might surprise you—for example, a schoolteacher living Gianna Beretta Molla’s selflessness or a mom of two illumining the vocational devotion of a longtime Carmelite. Every one of them is extraordinary in her ordinariness.

You know people who are living radically too. And I’m sure people think of some of you as they watch the way you trust, suffer, accept, and more, consciously or unconsciously. You think it’s no big deal, just like the women in this book did and do. But I assure you it is.

You see, it’s easier to be radical than we think. All we have to do is stop playing it safe—and follow the leader. Radical Saints 21 Women for the 21st Century Melanie Rigney Is there anything more radical than loving God with your entire being and loving your neighbor as yourself?