Dare to be a Saint?

“Dare to be a saint?” asked Fr. Martin. He said that saints are not born but came to be by drawing closer to Christ. He told the story of how grubs are transformed into beautiful dragon flies. The dragonfly begins as a grub at a bottom of a pond scurrying around away from the glistening sun. Every time a grub climbs up a lily stem, it never returns. It grows wings and takes a flight delighting in this new change. Fr. Martin explained that Saints are like that – they go through from one stage in life to another persevering in holiness by staying connected to Christ.

All Saints’ Day is a celebration honouring the multitudes of holy people in heaven connected to us in prayer(Rev 7, 1 Jn 3:24) explained Fr. Dom. We honour saints because they led heroic lives by trusting Christ, simple people who did the will of God, they are our heavenly mediators and instruments, God uses to work miracles.

Fr. Dom pointed out that the path to sainthood is clearly given to us by Jesus through the Beatitudes Mat 5: 1-12. It about surrendering to the grace of God and doing His will. It is living a life of love and mercy. The saints show us that it is possible for all of us to be saints and all we have to do is seek the face of the Lord in prayer and action (Psalm 23). Like the stained glass, the saints shine the light of Christ through them.

Saints are ordinary people who were not removed from this world but single heartedly wanted to be the person God wanted them to be; like the ‘dragonfly’ they chose to go towards the light representing transformation, growth and hope. They chose not to attach themselves to wealth and material things, or be fixated on pleasure, power and worldly honour. They chose the path “less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

• St. Therese of Avila – teaches us to recharge our spiritual batteries everyday by listening to God and talking to him.
• St. Therese of Lisieux spirituality was on converting every action into prayer.
• St. Teresa of Calcutta – doing ordinary things with love.
• St. Benedict Labre led a life of pilgrim among the homeless giving up his attachments to material wealth.
• St. Dorothy Day led an unconventional life, was an activist and showed holiness through her work.
  
  -SR