Living up to your calling to be a SAINT!

   Wow, that sounds like a lot.  Me, a Saint?  But everyone (yes, EVERYONE!) is called to be a saint.  God created us to love us and for us to love Him in return.  Saints are simply the ones who love Him in return.  Yes, you can do it, even I can do it.  You do not need to build a cathedral, start a religious community, or live like a monk.  Some are called to such a life, but most are not.  All are called to love God and if we fulfill that mission, we become a saint.

   There are capital ‘S’ Saints and little ‘s’ saints.  Capital ‘S’ Saints are the canonized saints like St. Joseph, St Francis, St Maximillian Kolbe, etc.  Little ‘s’ saints are all of the other people in Heaven.  Why the difference?  Canonized saints are given as examples for us as to how to live, but also as witnesses of hope.  Some lived in troubling times and some were martyred.  But we see their love for God in that they did not reject Jesus, even when the world was crushing them.

   Indeed, it feels like the world is crushing us down at times.  Stressed out, worn out, and just rejected by others, even loved ones.  The saints endured this too.  Yet they lived in a hope that Jesus loves them.  Jesus will take their burdens from them.  Indeed by dying on the cross, He has taken the burden of our sins upon Himself.  Is it easy to be a saint?  No.  But knowing God’s love for us can lessen the burden and make the burden feel like a way of loving God in return.

   Now, go out there and be a SAINT!

   Mary, the saint above all saints, please remind us of God’s infinite love for us.  Help us to see Him helpless on the Cross.  Help us to see Him helpless as an infant.  Help us to see Him helpless in the Eucharist.  May our hearts give our Eucharistic Lord a fitting dwelling place for Him to love us and for us to love Him.  Amen.