My Life with the Saints (10th Anniversary Edition) [Paperback] Martin SJ, James and Allen Jr., John L

If you think only sinners make for interesting reading, you should pick up this volume to learn how exciting sainthood can be. The title of the introductory chapter, “Saint of the Sock Drawer” is an immediate indication of the lighthearted but loving treatment of the saints featured in the 12 chapters that follow. For those of us who have enjoyed Fr. Martin’s appearances on many popular venues including the Colbert Report, this book is just more of the same: more levity, more lightheartedness, and, overarchingly, more love. Love is a two-way street for Fr. Martin, a “communion of saints,” as the Apostles Creed proclaims. Using his own life experiences as a springboard, Fr. Martin delves into the lives of saints as diverse as Therese of Lisieux, the retiring religious, and Dorothy Day, the social activist, Thomas Aquinas, whose life revolved around books, and St. Francis of Assisi, who told his followers they should not own even one.

For those of us who have always been comfortable with the saints, the book gives reinforcement and reason to our beliefs. For others who question the need for veneration of the saints, Fr. Martin’s gentle explanation of their role in his own life gives credence to the belief that they are valuable assets, both as intercessors and as models of what our own lives can be.