Let's become Saints!

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Beloved2010

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Since it is All Saints Eve it is appropriate to focus evermore on how we ourselves can become holy. I want this to be a discussion of how we can be holy in our modern day 2012 AD world, not 1000 AD world. It is difficult to find good examples of lay saints because most saints are either priests or religious and lived a very long time ago.

Who knows of modern day, lay saints? How can we be holy today?
 
Amen. I’m praying that we can be saints of God here on earth and that one day, we will be joining all the other saints in heaven. 🙂
 
God willing! I work out my salvation with ‘fear and trembling’ tempered by trust in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Divine Mercy that flows from His Heart.
 
Lets all become Saints and achieve Eternal Bliss,

I desire to see everyone in Heaven!!
 
As you know, saints are recognized as such for their “heroic virtue.”
Virtue, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is “a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows a person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself.” (#1803).
Heroic means “to such a degree as to enable a person to perform virtuous actions with exceptional promptness, ease, and pleasure.”

Now, having said that, this may sound formidable and unattainable. But listen to how our Pope explains it. In speaking of the saints Pope Benedict XVI said that “heroic virtue does not mean that the saint performs a type of ‘gymnastics’ of holiness, something that normal people do not dare to do. It means rather that in the life of a person God’s presence is revealed….”
(emphasis added)

Saints allow God to work through them in a powerful way. Through them His presence is revealed. We should imitate that. That is how we can be holy in any age, and why we can be inspired by the saints regardless of whether they lived hundreds of years ago or today.
 
Beloved2010 said:
It is difficult to find good examples of lay saints because most saints are either priests or religious and lived a very long time ago. Who knows of modern day, lay saints? How can we be holy today?
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Your words lead you most necessarily to read “Story of a Soul” of the Doctor of the Church St. Therese of Lisieux 😉
Unfortunately, when I have compared myself with the saints, I have always found that there is the same difference between the saints and me as there is between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and a humble grain of sand trodden underfoot by passersby.
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Instead of being discouraged, I told myself: God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new.
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I am determined to find an elevator to carry me to Jesus, as I was too small to climb the steep stairs of perfection.
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In Holy Scriptures, I sought the elevator I wanted, and I read: ‘Whoever is a little one, let him come to me.’ It is your arms, Jesus, which are the elevator to carry me to heaven.
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So there is no need for me to grow up. In fact, just the opposite: I must become less and less.
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The only way I can prove my love, is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.
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The little way brought forth for us by the Doctrix Amoris is our ordinary way to holiness: because we may be ready to great deeds, but it is the smaller, even the smallest works that will matter in the end for most of us! For our beloved Jesus clearly said (Lk 16:10):
He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater: and he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust also in that which is greater.
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And, stepping into private revelations, I’d like to quote the following from St. Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament’s diary “Divine Mercy in my Heart” (another worthy reading):
“Why did you step down from your celestial abode and come to dwell among us?”
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“Daughter, love brought me here and love keeps me here. If you knew what great merit and reward can be earned with a single act of pure love, you would die of joy.”
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In a more formal way, this is also the charisma of the Opus Dei, which reunites both priests and lay faithful, through the sanctification of work, in the middle of the ordinary circumstances of life. The writings of St. Josemaria Escriva’ are another great point to begin learning about sanctification in the modern day:
Great’ holiness consists in carrying out the ‘little duties’ of each moment. …] It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind. Christians working in the world should not live “a kind of double life. On the one hand, an interior life, a life of union with God; and on the other, a separate and distinct professional, social and family life.” On the contrary: “There is just one life, made of flesh and spirit. And it is this life which has to become, in both soul and body, holy and filled with God.” You and I belong to Christ’s family, for he himself has chosen us before the foundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight, for love of him, having predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ, …] Our goal is personal sanctity, as St. Paul insistently reminds us, haec est voluntas Dei: sanctificatio vestra (1 Thess 4:3), this is the Will of God: your sanctification.
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I believe that modern-day goodness (such as charity, celibacy, fasting etc) comes with a greater reward and value seeing as it is done in a day and age that makes it quite difficult, almost impossible for some people. A time filled with gluttony and sex on every corner, it’s constant temptation. Doing good in a time like this is certainly more valuable than doing good in a time where things weren’t as “evil”.

My priest made a very good point today in Church. He said that no amount of adoration, prayer or other celebrations can make someone a saint. They’re definitely helpers, enforcers and instigators to that lifestyle, but it takes a lot more than that. It takes the actions of goodness. Charity, pure and unconditional love towards eachother, a passion for love and openness, purity etc. These are the foundations of sainthood.

Sometimes I feel that God is calling me to such a lifestyle. I do everything I can, but with work and studies constantly getting in the way, I find it hard. I’ve even sacrificed time from work and studying to fill these desires as much as I can.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. Maybe not only in Heaven as reward, but in their earthly life, we will “see” (read: experience, feel and be drawn to) God. This will help us to becoming so-called Saints.
 
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Beloved2010:
It is difficult to find good examples of lay saints because most saints are either priests or religious and lived a very long time ago.
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If you want to learn about modern day saints, Ann Ball has some good books: Modern Saints (in 2 volumes) and Faces of Holiness (also 2 volumes). Not all of the people included in these books are canonized saints; and although I can’t check it right now, I believe some of them were laypeople.

Having said that - I would argue: So what if they lived a long time ago? Does it make any difference?

I have a special devotion to St. Thomas More. He was an exemplary layman - as a husband, father, friend, lawyer, public servant, diplomat and author, as well as a martyr. Most of the issues he dealt with are highly relevant today - the needs of the poor, religious dissent, the relationship between Church and State, among others. He died because the political authority of his time and place was proud and greedy, and tried to seize control of the Church. Sound familiar?
 
All of these are good replies and give good food for thought. I am familiar with Story of a Soul and many things in there are certainly applicable anywhere. I was also given 7 or 8 books by St. Josemaria Escriva. I will read those.

Thank you for the quote from St. Benedict also:

Saints allow God to work through them in a powerful way. Through them His presence is revealed. We should imitate that. That is how we can be holy in any age, and why we can be inspired by the saints regardless of whether they lived hundreds of years ago or today.

I was told by a priest on Tuesday that God wants all of us to be saints, which of course is true, but does he want all of us to be canonized Saints? There are many saints who are not officially recognized by the church. It seems fitting that a person would want to live a holy life, but it seems misguided for anyone to think that they would actually be worthy of canonization. It seems very prideful to say “I am holy and I will be a Saint”. Many Saints never thought that they would be canonized because they new their sins too well.
 
Beloved2010 said:
I was told by a priest on Tuesday that God wants all of us to be saints, which of course is true, but does he want all of us to be canonized Saints? There are many saints who are not officially recognized by the church. It seems fitting that a person would want to live a holy life, but it seems misguided for anyone to think that they would actually be worthy of canonization. It seems very prideful to say “I am holy and I will be a Saint”. Many Saints never thought that they would be canonized because they new their sins too well.
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You seem to be implying that canonized saints are/were more holy than those who have not been canonized. This is not true. There are a number of reasons why a particular person might be a saint and yet not have been canonized, it has nothing to do with how holy that person was.
 
Domiy said:
I believe that modern-day goodness (such as charity, celibacy, fasting etc) comes with a greater reward and value seeing as it is done in a day and age that makes it quite difficult, almost impossible for some people. A time filled with gluttony and sex on every corner, it’s constant temptation. Doing good in a time like this is certainly more valuable than doing good in a time where things weren’t as “evil”.

My priest made a very good point today in Church. He said that no amount of adoration, prayer or other celebrations can make someone a saint. They’re definitely helpers, enforcers and instigators to that lifestyle, but it takes a lot more than that. It takes the actions of goodness. Charity, pure and unconditional love towards eachother, a passion for love and openness, purity etc. These are the foundations of sainthood.

Sometimes I feel that God is calling me to such a lifestyle. I do everything I can, but with work and studies constantly getting in the way, I find it hard. I’ve even sacrificed time from work and studying to fill these desires as much as I can.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. Maybe not only in Heaven as reward, but in their earthly life, we will “see” (read: experience, feel and be drawn to) God. This will help us to becoming so-called Saints.
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Go for the Priesthood Bro!!

Fratere Tuus in CORDE JESU

Frenki Fehervari
 
Domiy said:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. Maybe not only in Heaven as reward, but in their earthly life, we will “see” (read: experience, feel and be drawn to) God. This will help us to becoming so-called Saints.
Click to expand...
Yes, literally seeing God in heaven in this very earthly life, not as a reward or a help to becoming a saint, but for Itself. Directly seeing includes experiences, feels, and is drawn to, (but read: “see” as “see.”)

I can’t imagine that the saints really know anything about or care anything of what honors or titles others give them.
 
I figured it out, we need heroic virtue, and the Lord gives anything we ask in His name, so every day I pray I may possess and live the virtues to heroic degrees. Then He provides the opportunities.
And every day I pray to go straight to heaven
See it is simple 🙂
 
one really good way (and really difficult way) is fasting often. Blessed are the hungry, for they will be satisfied.
 
maxdouglas402 said:
one really good way (and really difficult way) is fasting often. Blessed are the hungry, for they will be satisfied.
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He who eats much and is hungry for more has a greater reward coming than he who eats little and is satisfied.
 
Isn’t Pope John Paull II on the way to being recognized as a canonized saint? He’s already been declared Blessed last time I checked.

I have faith in due time, hopefully not too long, his sainthood will be approved in our generation. We can all learn by him. Truly, he was a messenger of God, a devout preacher and agent of his greatness. Not only of how influential he was and the mysterious events associated with Him, but just his overall goodness. You could always sense humility and grace on his smile. It’s hard to associate him with sin. It’s like he never even got fed up or distracted, or even slightly annoyed with the biggest of issues. Forgiving the man who shot you in cold blood isn’t a virtue in many people.

I remember I was a lot younger when he died, but having the news spread around my local church that morning was something quite sad. I remember seeing many old women begin to cry in disbelief, including my aunts, none of whom had never even met him in person or physically been in his presence! He had such an amazing influence over people just by his appearance and words over telecommunications. Imagine what he did for those who received a physical blessing from him. <3
 
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