On October 13 the Church celebrated my parish patron, St. Edward. Unfortunately in the United States we don't have the beloved saint on our liturgical calendar; however, since he's our patron we’re allowed to celebrate his feast day as a Solemnity. For this article I would like to focus on why I think this great saint is worth celebrating and what he can teach us about holiness and growing in the spiritual life.

St. Edward was king of England a very long time ago, way before Henry VIII; however, St. Edward was never supposed to be king (or it was at least very unlikely) because he had an older brother. Even the lifestyle of a king didn't appeal to young Edward so he wasn't upset about the idea of never being king. The young saint was only concerned with Jesus and living a virtuous and Holy life, especially a life of poverty and celibacy. Edward was actually discerning becoming a monk. Well, the unlikely happened and Edward became king of England. 

While Edward accepted the crown and its responsibilities with humility; he still felt the Lord calling him to a strict life of chastity. So while he did get married, as was custom, to have a queen, Edward and his wife never engaged in sexual relations and obviously never had children. Edward still had a great appreciation for the Vocation to monastic life and famously built Westminster Abby for catholic monks and this is also where Edward is buried today; although, the Abby was taken over by protestants during their long persecution of the Catholic Church under Henry VIII and beyond. 

So what can St. Edward teach us about holiness and the spiritual life? Most importantly he teaches us that our relationship with the Lord must always come first and everything we do must spring from there. Some Ignatian circles would call this idea, RIM: Relationship, Identity, Mission. Everything starts with who we are in relationship with. Hopefully our primary relationship is with our Father in heaven. From that relationship comes our identity. Because I am in relationship with my Heavenly Father that makes me his beloved son. My identity, and all of our identities, is a beloved son/daughter of God. My identity has nothing to do with who I'm sexually attracted to, the color of my skin, how much money I make, where I live, or anything else. Our identity comes from who we are in relationship with.

Once we know who we are in relationship with and understand our identity then we can focus on our mission. How often when you meet someone for the first time we immediately ask for a name and their job/occupation? We’re all so quick to put our mission first. Even for me as a priest, my mission is not more important than my relationship with God the Father and my identity as His beloved son. Our mission needs to come from our identity which is rooted in our relationship. 

St. Edward knew that he is a beloved son of God and that was his identity. He wasn't seeking the temptations of wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. He was seeking seclusion, prayer, community, and celibacy. Edward was able to live his mission as a humble King because he was rooted in his identity as a beloved son of God. This is the best lesson of them all that we can learn from this awesome and Holy saint. 

I ask for your prayers through the intercession of St. Edward for my priestly ministry and the parish I have been called to serve as a beloved son of the Father.