JEFFERY SHELER CLOSES HIS ARTICLE on the
veneration of saints ["Worship of Saints Evolved Over the Ages," January
11] with the conclusion that "without saints, sanctity could too easily
be viewed as a mere abstraction." Not only did U.S.
News offer
a fascinating and respectful assessment of the collaboration between scientific
professionals and the Catholic Church but you remind a community of readers
that life is informed and transformed by forces other than the invisible
powers and principalities of the free market. (I must admit that canonization
proves an expensive venture.) Saint makers in the United States testify
that grace abounds even in a culture that Pope John Paul II describes as
marked by death and greed. Ordinary people who work
passionately for civil rights, racial
equality, access to health care, and living wages embody Gods grace with
us.
DOMINIC P. SCIBILIA, Ph.D.
Little Sisters of the Assumption New
York
From U.S. News and World Report
"Letters to the Editor"
January 24th, 1999