"What do you want to be when you grow up?" A Question of Faith

Sunday's readings can be found here.

When we were young and full of imagination, we all used to dream of what we wanted to be when we grew up.  We would say things like, “When I grow up, I want to be a policeman” or “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.”  Regardless of whether or not our dreams were fulfilled, the question still remains for us in terms of our Catholic faith — no matter what our age!  What do we want to be when we grow up?  The answer should be: a saint.

The feast of All Saints is a reminder to us that it is, indeed, possible to be a saint.  We do not mean this in a sanctimonious kind of way; we mean it in the most authentic way possible.  As we reflect on the Church Triumphant in heaven, we, who are the Church Militant on earth, look at their lives while they lived on earth and try to imitate their examples.  Some non-Catholics downplay the role of Catholic saints and may say, “Well, you can follow the life of a saint, but I follow the life of Jesus Christ.”  We also and above all follow the life of Jesus Christ.  But we look to the saints who lived their lives in Jesus Christ on earth to be examples to us of how we should live.  The saints show us concrete ways of living out the Beatitudes in our various states of life.  They show us examples of heroic virtue and holiness.  

For example, what does it mean to be a holy priest?  I look to the example of St. John Vianney, Don Bosco, St. Josemaría Escrivá.  What does it mean to be a holy wife, a holy mother?  Look to the example of the Blessed Virgin, St. Monica, St. Gianna Beretta Molla.  What does it mean to be a holy husband, a holy father?  Look to the example of St. Joseph, St. Thomas More and others.  These saints not only encourage us to holiness by their examples, but we have to trust that they pray for us in heaven as part of the Communion of Saints — that they are interceding for us before God the Father, through God the Son, and in God the Holy Spirit.  They want us to have what they had in this life: intimate relationship with the Holy Trinity that was radiated in charity for neighbor.

Even if we have done things in our life that are not Christ-like (that are not saintly) and even though we fail to live up to the upward calling in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14), we do not despair or give up.  We only look to such saints as Magdalene, Augustine, Francis, Ignatius of Loyola and others to show us that it is not too late to allow Christ to turn our lives around.  We can always make a good confession and begin again anew.  And with God’s help and grace, we can still be what we were always called to be — a saint!