I want to be a saint!

I want to be a saint

The words of many people who live a holy life, that is with all the tenets of what holiness is about.  Looking through the lives of many from the past we find they were guided by an internal or deep spiritual proding that seemed to tell them when or where they needed to act in a supernatural manner that they wouldn’t have sought by themselves.  

Of course, when we see tragedies like the latest hurricane Ian and the many good samaritans jumping in to go beyond the normal action of helping, we might exclaim they are acting in a holy manner.  That is a commendable appraisal of human concern for others.  However, the theme of holiness goes a bit further than that, as commendable as it is, there exists a deeper essence of the presence of God that is already within each one who feels the touch of a divine presence.  That presence is not felt physically or even understood by those who experience it, but it is only a release from deep within that is percolating to get out and become alive through a holiness that is there but unseen.

“All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.  All are called to holiness:  Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Mt. 5: 48).   CCC 2013.

“Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ.  This union is called mystical because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - the holy mysteries - and in him,  in the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.”  CCC 2104  

“The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross.  There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.  Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace of the Beatitudes: CCC 2015  “He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end.  He never stops desiring what he already knows.”  A quote from St. Gregory of Nyssa.

(Ascesis means the exercise of self-discipline)

I want to become a saint; a most admirable quest but no matter how close the soul is to perfection, it is realized once we close our eyes for the last time and are welcomed into Paradise. 

How does one know if he/she has reached this point in their spirituality?  If you have, you will know it.

Ralph B. Hathaway