“What do you think the tubule is responding to?” my advisor asked me one afternoon.
We were discussing my project wherein a special protein in the lysosome, STARD9, drives lysosomal tubulation in order to deliver cholesterol to the rest of the cell.This is one of the major questions in my lab, so there wasn’t a “right” answer at the time. Whatever I came up with would become the hypothesis driving my research.
The question of “what does a tubule do?” weighed on my mind for a while.
As this question skipped through my mind, I started to contemplate another concept that I needed to describe to the Confirmation candidates:
“Why do we need the saints?”
By the grace of God, I discovered that perhaps the mechanism which drives cholesterol transport in lysosome tubules was a lot like how God’s grace brings us to Heaven. I’m unsure as to which answer came first, but it does not matter.
Today I would like to share this beautiful little story with my Dear Readers.
To start off, I want to emphasize point. God wants all of us to be united together in Heaven. Although we see Him on Earth in the Mass, this world is not our home. All of us belong in Heaven with God and His angels and His Saints.
But we do not have to do anything to make this a reality.
Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is what saves us. However, as Pope Francis wrote, “In salvation history, the Lord saved one people. We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual. Rather, God draw us to Himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in a human community.” (Gaudete et Exsultate p.6)
In order to be with God in Heaven, we must be fully ourselves. However, as human beings, we do not understand ourselves on our own.
Think of it: how many times has someone told you about yourself that you didn’t notice before?
But how does this work?
Well. It’s almost exactly like how a lysosome tubule forms.
Here is a cell with a lysosome, the ER, and the mitochondria. Cholesterol comes in to the cell, and it binds to proteins in the lysosome. When this binding happens, the protein changes shape and a tubule forms. The cholesterol is then delivered to the ER to make hormones and other important compounds for the cell to function. Some of these things are delivered to the mitochondria. The mitochondria makes energy for the lysosome proteins to work, but it also does something else that is equally important. It sacrifices itself in order to deliver specific types of cholesterol to the lysosome.
The lysosome cannot stimulate tubules if it is unable to consume the sacrificed mitochondria.
Some of my Dear Readers may have already made some connections, but to make it even more clear:
Let’s replace cholesterol with God’s grace. It comes to us, and we change and conform to fit His will. This sends us out in to the world so that we may bring Him to others. After all, God’s grace and love was not made to be kept to ourselves. As such, we go forth in love, and we give glory to God.
And God is always giving us the energy and strength to move forward.
The mitochondria’s death is unaffected by the lysosome, so too was Christ’s sacrifice. Regardless of if we accept Him or not, Jesus endured the Cross for each one of us.
Going to Heaven often looks like it is a big task. Even though the heresies which said that we were the ones who attained our salvation are rarely mentioned these days, we all suffer from the mindset that we have to save ourselves. We all suffer from the idea that faith is a big thing, that we have to do so many things in order to give glory to God and be united to Him in Heaven.
That’s just not true.
All we have to do is say “yes” to the one little thing we were made for.
Whether that be science, teaching, religious life, marriage, illness, etc…we are all given a little mission in the world. Lysosome proteins bind to specific cholesterol subtypes, and we have special tasks that God made us for.
Just say yes.
But what if the protein cannot bind to cholesterol? What if we do not conform to the will of God?
Well, just as the tubule cannot be made within the cell, so too do we struggle to go out in to the world. Life is difficult, and we feel trapped and alone.
But the cell has a way to overcome this difficulty, and so do we.
What my lab had shown in the past, and what we are trying to do now, is that the other lysosome proteins can compensate for the loss of activity in other proteins. If we can increase the activity of sterol-binding in other proteins, then the damaged protein can be carried up through the tubule. The task is still completed.
When we struggle, we need to lean on the Saints, both living and dead, so that we can carry our crosses.
“The saints now in God’s presence preserve their bonds of love and communion with us. The Book of Revelation attests to this when it speaks of the intercession of the martyrs…Each of us can say: ‘Surrounded, led and guided by the friends of God…I do not have to carry alone what, in truth, I could never carry alone. All the saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me, and to carry me.” ~Gaudete et Exsultate p.4
Now, what if there was a perfect protein? A protein that could compensate for nearly any loss in the lysosome, that could bind to other proteins, that could bind to pure cholesterol or mitochondrial oxysterols in order to deliver the cholesterol out to the rest of the cell?
Well there is one: STARD9.
STARD9 has four properties that make it the best lysosomal protein: it has a motor to move the tubules, it has an FHA domain to make complexes with other proteins, it is in the lysosome membrane, and it binds to cholesterol.
Is there a Saint that has properties like STARD9 that would make them the best person to aid us?
Yes.
Mary, the Mother of God.
Mary is the greatest mediator because of a few things that correlate to STARD9. She is free from sin because of her Immaculate Conception, just like the motor makes STARD9 free to move. Mary’s will conforms her with God’s will, just like STARD9’s cholesterol binding domain conforms it to the signal needed for tubules. Mary, full of grace and purity, was given to the Church, just as the STARD9’s sorting signal brings it to the lysosome. Finally, Mary is forever with Christ, just as STARD9 makes a complex with proteins that are necessary to make tubules.
If STARD9’s cholesterol binding ability is gone, a person goes blind.
If we do not allow Mary to help us find Christ, we lose sight of their beautiful relationship.
If STARD9 is removed from the body, the spine cannot form properly.
If we do not trust Mary, then the Church cannot stand in strength.
It sounds like we are worshiping Mary, but that just isn’t true. Mary is the greatest mediator because she always knew what Jesus wanted, what He needed, and who He loved. He loves us, and so Mary loves us. You see, if we separate Mary from her connection to Christ, we lose everything that matters to her. Mary’s entire life was united with her son Jesus, before and after His Passion
STARD9 activity can save virtually any hindrance.
But only if it binds to cholesterol.
Mary can aid anyone, but only if we understand that it is Christ who saves us, Christ who loves us, Christ who provides the grace Mary lovingly bestows upon all of us.
Although the Saints and Mary are able to aid us in all of our struggles, it is Jesus who serves as the one and only mediator.
“First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all.” ~1 Timothy 2:1-6
We are all called to pray and love one another, but ultimately it is the will of God that has the final say. By praying for one another, it is easier for us to accept God’s Will, whether it fits our hopes and dreams or not.
I have already told the story of my “Failed 54 Day Rosary Novena,” but I have not shared the story of the “Second Failed 54 Day Rosary Novena,” and I would like to do so now.
My heart was heavy from the burden of my own cross. I did not know what to do, so I decided to pray a second 54 Day Rosary Novena. Perhaps if I did so in secret, maybe then God would grant me relief from my cross.
Yet again my heart broke.
I tried to be happy, but it was so difficult. Why was Jesus forcing me to continue carrying a cross?
Because He had a better plan.
You see my Dear Reader, we should not expect anything. All we should expect from God is for Him to love us. That is something we cannot deny, nor should we ever give up on. Even though I said this to myself often, it was not until I had to hold my own cross that I realized what it meant.
Jesus loves us.
And He loves us through His Cross.
When we look upon the Crucifix, we are reminded of His love for us. We are also reminded of His call to carry our own cross and follow Him. The Cross calls us to love, and it draws others in to Christ’s love again.
The only response to the Cross is love.
I passed by a soul that had given up on God as I held my cross heavily on my heart. From previous conversations, I learned that this person had given up on God because of suffering. They thought suffering was a sign that God did not love us, and they said it was foolish to talk to God, let alone ask Him for help if He does not love us.
Yet when they saw my cross, they were moved with pity.
The only response to the Cross is love.
That day I overheard the soul say a prayer for me. It was the first prayer that soul had said in quite some time. Perhaps I did not receive my miracle, but this soul did. I was suffering, unable to accept God’s love and grace, so this soul conformed their will to God again, and we were brought out to the world in love again.
It does not matter how long it has been since you have spoken to God. It does not matter how far you have gone from Him.
All that matters is love.
My Dear Readers, we are all called to holiness. We are all called to love. Whether that call is filled with flowers and joy or crosses and tears, we are all made to love and be loved in our own little way. It does not matter how you get to your calling, but I can assure you that it is by your love that the world will be made a better place.
Even if it seems unimportant, all you give is important to God.
Just like every little cholesterol molecule given by the lysosome is important to the mitochondria.
Go forth in love my Dear Readers. I love you.