Did you ever catch yourself secretly wondering whether or not God really, really has our best interest at heart? It is so easy to slip into thinking that doing the will of God is automatically tantamount to a life of suffering and woe. Instead, Jesus came to bring us life - abundant life! As Pope Francis reminds us we are called to encounter and become messengers of the joy of the Gospel!

Paradoxically, however, we have to admit that the kingdom of God that Jesus preached and lived out in his own life does put us in the pathway of suffering and even conflict. Blessed are the poor, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness... (see Matthew 5:1-11)--these are not the values of the business-as-usual-world and we shouldn't be surprised when we find opposition. In the face of this where do we find encouragement and confidence in following God's loving plan for our lives?

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Pope Francis is giving the Church - and the whole world - the gift of the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II. Both of these men teach us with their lives and their words that a life of holiness is a life of deep confidence in God's love for us. 

As the editor for the Classic Wisdom Collection, I was delighted when two of my colleagues volunteered to prepare a book each for this series. Sr. Donna Giaimo compiled Secret to Happiness: Wisdom from John XXIII and Sr. Lorraine Trouvé worked on Be Not Afraid: Wisdom from John Paul II. Like the other titles in this series, Secret to Happiness and Be Not Afraid are short but substantial collections of writings about the spiritual life lived out in the real world. They both address overlapping issues of confidence, humility and trust in God. Let their words and their example inspire you!

Sr. Sean Mayer, FSP

Discover more about how we're celebrating the canonization here and download the Forewords to these two books FREE.