As Catholics, the one thing we do more than anything else is celebrate. Everything the Church does is centered around a celebration.

We celebrate life. We celebrate the changing seasons with the richness of the Church’s calendar. We celebrate excellence by honoring as saints the heroes of our faith. We celebrate birth and eternal life with baptism and burial. We celebrate truth, beauty, and goodness by seeking them out wherever they are to be found and honoring them in our everyday lives. 

The spirit of Catholicism is predominantly one of celebration. Yet there’s a truth we often miss: it is important to celebrate the right things. As we covered back on August 7: we become what we celebrate.

Saint Fermín was a faithful bishop who celebrated his faith right up until the moment he became a martyr. After his own conversion to Christianity, he spent his days preaching the faith, went on mission to France, and baptized many people throughout the country.

In the centuries after his death, a very interesting celebration has become attached to his name. Legend has it that he was dragged to death by a bull, but in fact he was beheaded. Despite the legend being untrue, each year in Pamplona, Spain during the week-long Festival de San Fermín in July, thousands of people participate in “The Running of the Bulls.” Twelve bulls chase men and women down the narrow streets, often causing severe injuries and occasional deaths.

You can decide for yourself if that is a fitting celebration to honor a saint—or a misguided one. But the truth is this: You can celebrate anything you wish. You can celebrate life and faith.

You can celebrate love and honesty, mercy and forgiveness, kindness and generosity. You can celebrate truth, beauty, goodness, and redemption. On the other hand, you can celebrate destruction and paganism. You can celebrate hatred and violence, selfishness and greed, contempt and disrespect. You can celebrate perversion, corruption, pride, deceit, and condemnation.

One thing is certain: We become what we celebrate. It is true not only of the life of a person but also the life of a family. It is true of the life of a nation, and it is true of the life of the Church.

Let’s set our sights on celebrating those things which help us become the people and the Church that we were made to be.

(And maybe let’s leave the bulls out of it.)



Feast Day: September 25 

Patron Saint of: Navarre, Spain