Okay, so I’m finally getting around to reading that America interview with the Pope. Haven’t gotten too far yet — just up to the part where the interviewer has asked him who he really is.
And he repeats: “I am one who is looked upon by the Lord. I always felt my motto, Miserando atque Eligendo [By Having Mercy and by Choosing Him], was very true for me.”
And then he goes on to talk about mottos, of St. Ignatius, of John XXIII.
I love the idea of having a motto — especially if you can change it when you feel like it. My motto used to be something that I came up with when people used to ask me all the time, “How do you do it?” — meaning, raise kids and meet deadlines and make supper, I suppose. So my answer and motto was, “Praise God and cut corners.”
My family once put together a family crest, which I describe here, including our motto, which was “It Could Always Be Worse.” And, in the last year we homeschooled, we were doing a medieval unit, so we put together coats of arms. The motto my son came up with was, “REVENGE.” Yup, put the little sucker in school the next year.
How about you? Do you have a personal or family motto? Did you used to have one that no longer fits? If you had to come up with one today, what would it be?
