St Paul Miki and Companions

"I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.” St Paul Miki

The above words were spoken by St Paul Miki as he was being crucified. Praying that his blood would be like rain for those yearning for faith growth is a very powerful image. Wouldn't all of us want our lives to be like rain for others?  

Last year, I presided at the mass of Christian burial for a young man of 48 who had turned his life around, re-embraced his faith, and in the process touched many lives. More than anything else, it was liturgical music that brought him home to the church and it was music, sung by a wide variety of cantors, both young and old, that lifted the spirits of the mourners and helped us focus not on the pain of an early death, but on the quality of the life we were celebrating.

Music and singing  are like rain and impact parts of the human spirit that words alone can never touch. How wonderful it is when our faith lives drench others in the love of God.

Today, sing your way through the struggle of dying to self and let your daily dying to self absorption be like rain on others' lives.

Whose lives have been like rain for your spiritual life/