Why not become a Saint?

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Every once in a while I recall a conversation a Priest had with a youth member concerning Catholic vocation. The youth did not feel "called " in any particular way however. The Priest then suggested, “Why not become a Saint”. Wow.
May of us feel we Could never reach such a lofty position. I myself am a GIANT work in progress. Hoping to not receive damnation. Let alone be “set aside by God”. St Paul and others give us hope for achieving a higher purpose. Many of us may think we have no real purpose in THIS world or society. Why not become a saint ? Many of the contributors here in their wisdom and love maybe should consider. I often wonder as I read, if Angels may be providing some answers to posts.
 
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Yes, indeed, we should all aim to be saints!
If we aim for purgatory and miss, then…

But if we aim for heaven and miss, then…!
 
My Mom was a saint. I mean really. People say that about their Moms and maybe some of them are right, but my Mom really was. She busted her backside to raise six kids, put up with a challenging husband and did absolutely everything the Church even suggested she do. Mass and Rosary every day, volunteering for everything, visiting sick people absolutely no one cared about and even some who were critical of her. She was always positive, never complained, never spoke ill of anyone.

But she never got Canonized because she was “just” a workaday housewife, with no publicity machine behind her. And she would have wanted it that way. She would not have wanted the publicity.

It taught me a lesson. Sainthood is more for the living than the dead. The church does the whole sainthood thing to motivate the living. I can’t find where Jesus ever used the word “saint.”
 
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Patrick Coffin would end most Catholic Answers Live shows with the catch phrase “Be a saint. What else is there?”

If you think about it, well, what else IS there?

Saints are those in heaven. There are likely many more uncanonized saints in heaven than canonized ones.
 
That is wonderful. Hope you take after your mother. I’m sure nothing would please her more.
 
You are so right. My time in the military, our leaders would sometimes ask an un reasonable amount of effort from us knowing full well we would fall short. But we fell above our own expectations. Pretty much right where they needed us to be.
 
Exactly right…Nothing else we do in this material world is of any permanent importance.
 
The definition of a saint is simply a soul who is in Heaven. I think we all aspire to reach Heaven, so we are all trying to become saints.

The hardest part about being a saint is figuring out just what you can do, what you need to do, and what God is calling you to do. Some of the things I wanted to do for God when I was young were simply not possible. Other things that people considered saintly at that time seemed to me to be weird, beyond my ability, or just not what I personally wanted. For example I had no desire to become a nun or do a bunch of social justice work. In hindsight I reckon God was calling me to do something else, but at the time I just felt like I fell way short of the ideal female saint.

I think a lot of canonized saints struggled with similar thoughts. The only way around it is to trust in God and also stay in regular communication with Him through prayer, including learning to be quiet and listen to Him.
 
All are called to holiness without exception. It is not reserved for the chosen few. Holiness can be attained in the most ordinary and outwardly mundane of lives. It is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well and with love. On our own we can do nothing but with the help and grace given by the Lord, everything is possible.

It is hard as it is a real battle between our fallen natural state and the lofty heights the Lord is summoning is to. For myself I am far from a Saint at this current time. I am selfish, worldly, lazy and like comfort. I have many faults. I spend too little time in prayer or doing work to build the kingdom. I am a sinner. Pray for me.
 
I agree totally. You are all those things. (just kidding). 😁 My wife is however perfect and all knowing. She no longer needs this computer. Nothing new to see. 🤣
 
  1. 3 God calls us to holiness
This journal reports my desire to love God and to intercede for other persons. It is not a record of personal holiness as those who know me can affirm. No effort, prayer, insight or writing can engender goodness or love, but I hope that God will form me into loving wholeness, so that I become the image of God I am created to be. I desire this transformation for others also, as everyone is a unique image of divine love intended for communion with God, the angels and each other. God’s word assures us that God loves us unconditionally and that we each are chosen, however we regard ourselves.

“I have in mind for you…plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you. Then when you will call to me, and come to plead with me, I will listen to you. When you seek me you shall find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” [Jeremiah 29:11-14] “I have chosen you, not rejected you, do not be afraid for I am with you; stop being anxious and watchful for I am your God. I give you strength, I bring you help, and I uphold you with my victorious right hand.” [Isaiah 41:9-10]

“You are God’s beloved called to be saints.” [Romans 1:7] Therefore our God: “Open to me the gates of holiness, I will enter and give thanks. This is the Lord’s own gate where the just may enter. I will thank You, for You have answered and You are my Saviour.” [Psalm 118:19-21] “It is God’s will that you grow in holiness.” [1Thessalonians 4:3]

Jesus, in Your desire for our personal and communal holiness in living the gospel, You taught us, “Your light must shine in the sight of others, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.” [Matthew 5:16] You desire us not to obscure Your light in us. Therefore, to allow Your light to shine out from one’s life does not represent a display of pride. The light of Your love most clearly manifests in humble hearts that joyfully acknowledge that all goodness—all loving kindness—comes from You. “If anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.” [Jeremiah 9:22]

We may feel doubtful and discouraged regarding our call to be saints, knowing how far from the reality we seem to others and to ourselves, yet most of us have little experience of how God perceives us. Therefore Jesus, give us trust to respond fully to the Spirit that shines through us before others. You encourage us to allow this radiant presence of the Spirit, saying, “If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of individuals, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.” [Matthew 10:32]
 
In accepting Your call to wholeness, we choose to love You above all and other persons as ourselves. This call requires us to take up our personal cross and follow You in love, prayer, and service of others. Therefore, it is not arrogant to seek sanctity, for to be truly holy means to be genuinely human. What is truly human is our creation in God’s image. Sin and indifference injures the fullness of our humanity.
Saint Therese of Lisieux encourages us in our attempts towards holiness in our vocation to love and serve. Of her own response to the call, she wrote, “This desire could certainly appear daring if one were to consider how weak and imperfect I was, and how after seven years in the religious life, I am still weak and imperfect. I always feel, however, the same bold confidence of becoming a great saint because I do not count on my own merits since I have none, but I trust in God who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to Himself and make me a saint, clothing me in His infinite merits. I didn’t think then that one had to suffer very much to reach sanctity, but God was not long in showing me this was so and in sending me the trials I have already mentioned.” Therese remarked that such holiness may “not be evident to the eyes of mortals.”

We draw hope from this saint of ‘the consecrated ordinary’, whom Pope John Paul 2 declared a Doctor of the Church on October 19, 1997. Many Sisters in her Carmelite community were unaware of the holiness of her ‘ordinary’ deeds of kindness, and doubted that anything worthwhile could appear in her obituary circular. I implore God for ‘everyday’ love and trust such as Therese maintained before temptations of doubt and suffering.

Like her, in ordinariness made holy by union with Jesus our God who lived ‘the ordinary life’, for 30 years prior to His public Ministry, (and thereby witnessed the ordinary life well-lived as sacred in God’s eyes) we must become shining lights in an era when disbelief, humanism and self-absorption prevail.
 
We ask God to give us dynamic confidence that holiness is not reserved for a favoured few. As Saint Paul taught, “each soul is God’s favourite” and God desires fulfilment of each person’s call to love God above all and others as self. Every person has a unique vocation and purpose, intended to enrich each other person’s soul for all eternity.

In our struggle towards love and faith, we need to pray. Jesus ensured time for prayer in His busy travels as witness and teacher. Even great saints face difficult challenges that require much prayer. Consider the response of Saint (Padre) Pio to someone who wished him ‘a long life’ when he was already old. Suffering grievously for the salvation of souls, Padre joked, “What harm have I ever done to you!” However, he also said, “Suffering is a gift from God; blessed is he who knows how to profit by it!” Saint Paul the evangelist felt sufficiently overwhelmed at times that he struggled between the desire to give up his ‘earthly tent’ to enter heaven, and the will to serve God’s people.

These faithful disciples knew that although life is a precious gift, it seems protracted when there is yearning for beatific union with God. They knew the value of perseverance in service and prayer for others’ welfare and salvation. It is difficult to be invariably cheerful and kind in life’s difficulties, especially when dealing with abrasive, troubled or selfish individuals [or our own weaknesses]. For others’ sake, we may even experience with Jesus the ‘sadness unto death’ of sacrificial life for others.

Our vital responsibility to fulfil God’s dream in our lifetime and to intercede faithfully for others, counter-balances the weariness caused by suffering. Although each of us has unique individuality, we are created as part of God’s family in the Communion of Saints. Therefore, we must value and pray for everyone as family whose welfare and eternal salvation is vital to us. Not everyone is aware of their identity as God’s children; therefore, people of faith owe prayer and witness to others.

God, grant us buoyant dedication to the message of Jesus so that we present the person of Jesus to others, in the cheerful justice of our attitudes and behaviour. In our daily routine and in our crises, please grant us grace to live our Christian vocation faithfully in the particular charism that You desire. Grant us to live with faithful love, buoyant hope and joy, with authentic, creative humanity.
Grant that we carry the person, the message and the vision of Jesus to all whom we encounter. Through Jesus Your Son, You bring our efforts and intentions to flower for our world, for our loved ones, others, and self.

_____a few thoughts from my journal, “A Handful of Wildflowers”
 
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