St Ansgar: Gracious in Disappointment

Today in the book In Caelo et in Terra, we read about St Ansgar. His life is a good reminder that not everything that God does through us is seen during our lifetime. St Therese of Liseux is another great example of this. When St Therese died, the other nuns in her convent didn't even know what to say at her funeral because they thought her life was so humdrum and unremarkable. Then her little book was published and it changed the world. Now she's a doctor of the church.

St Ansgar was a wonderful man and gifted preacher. He had evangelical zeal and a great desire to convert people to the Catholic faith. Knowing this, and knowing that he's a saint, you'd think that this story would end with, "and millions of people became Catholic due to his influence and work." But it doesn't. He traveled to Scandinavia and shared the gospel with people in northern Europe. They liked him, and many did decide to become Catholic. But after he left to go back to Germany, most of them reverted to paganism and the Norse gods. When St Ansgar died, he had done lots of good work. But his fervent desire to convert the world to Christianity was not realized.

Believe it or not, I find this very encouraging! Because I see in my life many of the same things. I very much want to share His love with the whole world, but I see my influence on the world being very limited. I've had many people ask me about becoming Catholic, and I tell them all that I know and encourage them to join me in the faith, but almost all of them decide, for one reason or another, NOT to become Catholic. I would find this very discouraging, but I'm in good company. Throughout history, we see people genuinely desiring very much to share the faith, but not being as effective as they'd like. I think that's good for us. Maybe one day God will use my words, like He did St Therese's little book, to draw people to Him.

God, thanks for giving us the example of this fervent saint. St Ansgar, pray for us.