Raising a Saint

Last evening, I had a very unique, strange privilege - I met the parents of a saint! Well... technically she is only a "Blessed", but I believe that Chiara Luce Badano will be canonized (officially recognized by the Catholic Church) as a saint in the not-to-distant future. She died in 1990, just 3 weeks shy of her 19th birthday.The cancer that took her life did not diminish her spirit, nor her faith. She was a member of the Focolare Movement, as am I, and the spirituality helped her live and die well.
Her mom and dad spoke so beautifully about her, and what impressed me was how normal they are, and how normal her life was. Her mother told us that they had tried for 11 years to have a child, until finally Chiara was born. As you can imagine, she was considered a special gift to them from God, and they tried to raise her to be grateful for her life. Neither her truck driver father nor her mother had any thought about raising a saint. All they knew was that she had been entrusted to them by God and they tried to do the best they could. When asked what advice they could give to parents, they replied simply - "always teach your child to try and do the will of God as best they can. That is what will make us all saints!"
There is a brief biography that you can read on the web page dedicated to her. It can be found at http://www.chiaralucebadano.it/.
After the experience of listening to Ruggiero and Maria Teresa Badano, I wondered how many parents today has God chosen to raise a saint? And how many of us have parents that God chose to raise a saint. The answer: all of them... and all of us! So, let us try and live the  will of God today, and every day. Ciao for now.