Saint Stacey

The number of Catholic women saints is impressive. And what did they do to achieve their status? St. Faustina had visions, St. Joan of Arc led her people to victory in the 100 Years War, St. Katherine Drexel grew up wealthy and gave all her money and time to the poor, St. Theresa (Mother Theresa) cared for the sick, the poor, the orphaned children, St. Elizabeth Seton founded free Catholic schools for girls, St. Rose of Lima practiced severe penance, St. Catherine of Siena crusaded against the Turks and worked to create peace between rival Italian territories, St. Bernadette saw cured people from a spring of pure water— you get the idea. 

 

And so I wonder if, as the second Catholic president, Joe Biden has the authority to confer sainthood on Stacey Abrams. At this writing, it looks like Warnock has definitely won a Senate seat and Ossoff is likely to and both can thanks Stacey Abrams for her tireless and dedicated work in getting out the vote in Georgia, as she has done throughout the last fifteen years or so. She is tireless, intelligent, funny, humble, strong, dedicated, compassionate, level-headed with a vision for a more just and equitable society and the determination to do the work to move the moral arc towards justice one inch at a time. If that doesn’t qualify for sainthood, I don’t know what does. 

 

I’d also nominate her as a Buddhist Bodhisattva, a Hindu guru and a Nobel-Peace-Prize-worthy crusader. And if all these honors were publicly conferred upon her, I imagine her responding with “Thank you. Now if you excuse me, I have some work to do.”

 

Thank you, Stacey Abrams. You make me proud to be an American.