It's the first day of May, which is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. And that brings up two different issues for me as a new Catholic.

The first is the different -- I don't know what you call it! Personalities of Saints, maybe? Like the way there are different feast days or iconographic representations of the same Saint. I remember asking my sponsor about this seven or eight years ago, long before I considered the possibility of conversion. Why isn-t it always just Saint Mary? Why is there also Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Perpetual Help and more titles, and why are each one of these titles for Mary so definitive, it's almost like there are multiple people we're talking about.

My sponsor did her best to explain, but I still have trouble grasping this concept. I can understand how I am mother to my kids, wife to my husband, daughter to my parents, etc., and how each one of these relationships brings forth different aspects of my personality. But I'm still a mom when I'm talking to my mom -- I'm not just a daughter in that context. And in some ways, it seems like Saints are so much more in heaven that they would have even less definition between the different aspects of their personalities.

But maybe that's the point. Maybe the different representations of Mary and other saints are a way of showing how much more they have become in the very Presence of God?

Oh, I just don’t know enough words to explain all this very well. If I'm not making myself clear on that issue, feel free to ignore me.

On to the second item, which is prayers to Saints (again – I promise I won't always return to this issue, but remember, I come from a fundamentalist Protestant thing so it's still very new to me.)

Because St. Joseph is also the patron saint of fathers and because of the whole "Worker" part of today's feast day, I have been trying to pray for my husband more than usual today, and – awkward as it is – seeking St. Joseph's intercession on his behalf. You see, for multiple reasons, my husband would very much like a different job. And it seems like a good day to be asking for these things in particular. Or are you supposed to give Saints a "day off" on their feast days and not ask for anything? Hmmm. Hadn't thought about that until this very second.

Well, faux pas or not, that's what I’ve been doing today. I went to this site yesterday to get a couple prayers to St. Joseph regarding working and vocations, and I’ve prayed them on behalf of my husband. Still feels awkward. I just don’t know if I’m doing this right or not, or overstepping the bounds of my privilege or what.

I try to have faith that my prayers will be answered. It’s not that I don’t think I’m being heard. It’s more a matter of wondering if what I am praying for is within God’s Will. Because I don’t think that God answers prayers in any way other than within His Will.

Last year, when we were just beginning the process to join the Catholic Church, my husband’s brother had been out of work for some time. It occurred to me then that he could use some saintly intercession, so I took it upon myself to ask for some. I looked up saints who are patrons of workers and the unemployed and thought it best to seek the prayers of St. Joseph (fathers and workers) and St. Cajetan (unemployed people). My brother-in-law had very specific career goals in mind, so I asked that these two Saints pray for him, that he would get the particular kind of job he wanted.

His phone rang the very next day. I am not kidding. And it was the employer that he really wanted to work for. And it was the job he wanted.

Pretty cool, huh? I was all excited and getting ready to tell my somewhat-anti-Catholic brother-in-law about this, but I decided to wait until the final negotiations were complete and the job was his.

And then things got complicated. The end of the year came and the prospective employer somehow decided he didn’t have funding to hire my brother-in-law after all.

My initial reaction was, "Whew, good thing I never said anything about the intercession of Saints!" And then I thought that maybe this wasn’t the right job for my brother-in-law, and there was something better for him out there.

Days dragged into weeks, then months. And like any other person with next to no patience, I cut back on my prayers for intercession, from daily to just once a week during Mass.

Some weeks ago, my brother-in-law’s phone finally rang again. Same employer, still eager to hire him. This time, it was for a lesser position, but it came with the promise that he’d move up as soon as it was possible. My brother-in-law has been happily employed now for about six weeks.

So, do I tell him about my asking St. Joseph and St. Cajetan to pray for him? Is there an explanation for why it didn’t happen right away? Would I be better off keeping my mouth shut?

Siiiiiiigh. At least my husband is Catholic now. So I know he’s not going to mind me asking for St. Joseph’s intercession for him one little bit.

--Sparki