Today I thought hard about why I am running the Chicago Marathon. One reason is to honor the memory of my maternal grandfather, a Canadian who spent much of his youth in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. He was the descendant of some of the earliest settlers of New France (Quebec).
While thinking about my grandpa I was Called...and this may sound a little hokey, but it's true. I was called to run wearing a medallion from the Basilica of St. Anne de Beaupré, a very old shrine in Quebec. Sometime around 150 years ago the grandfather of my grandfather (my great-great grandfather) made a pilgrimage to this shrine in his youth and was miraculously given back his sight. This medallion has been passed down to me from him. St. Anne was the mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus of Nazareth.
So today I received a Calling...not someone talking out loud to me, but a deep feeling of something that I should do. In this case I am supposed to run wearing this medal. I don't know what the purpose for this is, but I will follow through with it, even just as a way of further honoring the memory of my grandfather and his family before him. At the very least I owe a debt for the intercession of St. Anne, and maybe the reason will be clear when I run...or maybe not.
While thinking about my grandpa I was Called...and this may sound a little hokey, but it's true. I was called to run wearing a medallion from the Basilica of St. Anne de Beaupré, a very old shrine in Quebec. Sometime around 150 years ago the grandfather of my grandfather (my great-great grandfather) made a pilgrimage to this shrine in his youth and was miraculously given back his sight. This medallion has been passed down to me from him. St. Anne was the mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus of Nazareth.
So today I received a Calling...not someone talking out loud to me, but a deep feeling of something that I should do. In this case I am supposed to run wearing this medal. I don't know what the purpose for this is, but I will follow through with it, even just as a way of further honoring the memory of my grandfather and his family before him. At the very least I owe a debt for the intercession of St. Anne, and maybe the reason will be clear when I run...or maybe not.
