Most of us don’t think we have it in us. We have this lofty vision of what a saint is, and we might believe our own faults and failures preclude us from ever having such a title attached to our names.
Well, that’s just not so. When Mother Theresa received the Nobel Peace Prize, she got up to the podium and said that, although she was grateful to receive the award, she wasn’t quite sure why she was getting it.
She went on to say that she felt that she had done nothing extraordinary, but rather she had simply done what we are all called to do. Another time, she was asked what was the difference between a sinner and a saint. She replied, “the saint kept getting up.” So, there is hope for us after all 🙂 Here’s some thoughts about just what a saint is, taken from an article in the National Catholic Register. Click here to read the whole thing.
Saints are not freaks or exceptions. They are the standard operating model for human beings. In fact, in the biblical sense of the word, all believers are saints. “Sanctity” means holiness. All men, women and children, born or unborn, beautiful or ugly are holy, for they bear the image of God.
Saints are not the opposite of sinners. There are no opposites of sinners in this world. There are only saved sinners and unsaved sinners. Thus holy does not mean “sinless” but “set-apart:” called out of the world to the destiny of eternal ecstasy with God. ..
We become saints not by thinking about it, and not (certainly) by writing about it, but simply by doing it. There comes a time when the “how?” question stops and we just do it. If the one we love were at our door knocking to come in, would we wonder how the door lock works, and how we could move our muscles to open it?
Francis of Assisi once told his monks that if they were in the midst of the Beatific Vision and a tramp knocked at their door asking for a cup of cold water, turning away from the heavenly vision to help the tramp would be the real heaven, and turning away from the tramp to keep the blissful vision would be turning from God’s face.
A saint is one who sees who the tramp is: Jesus.
I know so many people who are hurting right now, and I’m sure you do too. Some have lost their jobs, others are struggling in their relationships. Still others are caught in a cycle of illness, addictions or depression. There has never been a better time to be more present to others, praying for them, and offering the love, hope and support they need.
There has never been a better time to be working towards becoming a saint. We do that by living the life. Yes, this means you too.
