Is Robin Hood a Saint?

Wow, it has been a very long time since I wrote… Sorry! We are just heading into exam week for school tomorrow! Then students will have break and we will be starting a few “summer” programs for the children around town!

Most people know that I have a lot of time to think. So, in that time I was reflecting on the president’s statement, “We need to teach republican’s that compromise is not a dirty word!” I do not get a lot of news on TV here, but that is one quote and speech that Al Jazeera covered a few weeks ago. And it got me thinking about compromise and if what he said is true, that compromise is not a dirty word.

Typically I do not enjoy talking about politics, but when I was thinking about “…compromise is not a dirty word,” A fun question that directly relates to this quote came to mind: Is Robin Hood a saint? After all, Robin Hood did dedicate his life to helping others. (A saint being someone who now finds rest in the presence of God in Heaven, not necessarily being recognized as a saint by the church)

This question came to mind because from what I have seen in the past months from the president and what I see in Robin Hood is this, they are both compromising morals! Robin Hood STOLE from people to help the poor. He threw morals out the window to help people out. The HHS mandate is immoral, but is part of something that could possibly help some people. He too threw morals out the window to help some people out. So yes. Compromise IS a dirty word if what you are compromising is morality!!

Merely helping people out while throwing morals out the window is NOT ENOUGH! Yes, helping your brothers and sisters in their physical and spiritual needs is one of the most important aspects of life… But to do so with a complete disregard to morality is not service at all.

On the contrary to Robin Hood is Saint Francis of Assisi! He asked for donations to serve others, never stealing to help others. His life was completely and totally devoted to the service of others, yet he never sacrificed his morality to do so! It was probably more work and sacrifice for Saint Francis than it was for Robin Hood. But that just makes it all the more beautiful!!

Here on mission, I have to compromise. I give up watching the evening news so I can get an extra hour of sleep each night so I can wake up a bit earlier to get to mass. At GT and Elon I did the opposite in regards to sleep, I would give up sleep in order to get another few hours of studying in. I both situations I compromise my sleep schedule so I can perform better. The above are not dirty situations, and ‘compromise’ is not a dirty word here.

‘I will skip church tomorrow morning so I can stay out later tonight!’ Compromising mass to ‘have a good time.’ …Compromise IS a dirty word here.

If you lie… you can get away with doing something wrong. You are compromising morals to save your butt; compromise IS a dirty word. Or, rather, you can compromise your butt’s well being to save your morals! All because we know that Jesus will be waiting with His arms WIDE OPEN, saying, ‘you chose Me when it would have been easier to choose to compromise your morals.’

Beautiful end to a story huh? But that’s the truth. Never compromise your morals and Jesus will welcome you home in the end! J It may be a bit more suffering and sacrifice now if we always choose to save our morals, I won’t deny that. But I can promise you it will always be worth it. Do not conform to what people tell you “the norm” is. Pray about morality and how to always choose it.

 “He is the Truth, and the Truth will set you free” Doing whatever you want is NOT freedom.

Peace and Love,

~Dan

Ps. An answer to, ‘Is Robin Hood a saint’: Only God knows that with certainty. What I do know though is that he does not have a feast in the liturgical year and he spent his life stealing and directly violating the 10 commandments based on a prejudice against whole group of people…