Heros and Heroines

In his compelling and critical book Mysteries of the Middle Ages, author Thomas Cahill concludes by underscoring te need in our times for Christian heroes. He writes:

Like tenants on an eighteenth-century estate, we live amid romantic ruins,
a chancel arch here, a crumbling lancet window there, awaiting revenant
figures of reformation-the return of energizing, enveloping forces like
Hildegard and Francis, Giotto and Dante. We might even find ourselves
mumbling a prayer like the one whispered by the anonymous bard who
once stood looking at the ruins of Kilcash Castle on the southern slope of
Slievenamon in County Tipperary:

I beseech of Mary and Jesus
That the great ones come home again
With long dances danced in the garden,
Fiddle music and mirth among men,
That Kilcash the home of our fathers
Be lifted on high again,
And from that to the deluge of waters
In bounty and peace remain.

The gigantic heroes like those mentioned above have become celebrities. We know that there are heroes who never advance to that stage of awe and wonderment. These are the heroes of everyday life, who conduct themselves heroically in the everyday lives of ordinary men and women. I think of the teenager who stands up to peer pressure and says “no” to the temptations of instant gratification, the grandparents who have raised their family and cheerfully and lovingly commit to assist in raising their children’s children, the Catholic Christian who invites an un-churched or non-practicing person to a faith event knowing that the possibility of rejection is acutely probable, or the economically-challenged family that still shares their “bread” with the needy. I have met many heroes, both in religious or priestly garb and those without, who have inspired me. And they are not in short supply.