Posting the previous entry reminded me of the great collection of figures represented in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. It's a room to fill visitors with awe and gratitude when they consider the contributions of those represented there. And it would be better for the country, better for all of us, if those stories of sacrifice, discipline and achievement -- a kind of secular parallel to the cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12 -- were more widely told and taught.



Biography remains one of the best ways of communicating history, especially to children, and those remarkable tales convey the time as well as the person, reminding us of past failures and wounds as well as of hopes and triumphs, providing heroes to celebrate and models to follow.



It's worth noting that the heroes chosen by the states to represent them in Statuary Hall include the remarkable woman religious Mother Joseph and four priests, Father Damien of Molokai from Hawaii and the Franciscan Father Junipero Serra from California and the Jesuits Father Jacques Marquette from Wisconsin and Father Eusebio F. Kino from Arizona.