"Sainthood" - Do I have what is needed?

Question!  Is sin stopping me from becoming a saint?  First, read my reflection on “Rejecting God when we sin”.  The greatest attribute of God is His Genuine Forgiveness.  From the very beginning of time (as we know it) God’s Intention was to redeem mankind from rejection of Him and this would entail super forgiveness with a Love that knows no bounds.  Sin is the enemy for all believers; penance is the breastplate of righteousness that heals the broken soul.  It is here, in the Sacrament of Penance that we receive Sanctifying Grace.  I don’t believe there are any saints who didn’t adhere to this gift of God’s Mercy through the institution of the Catholic Church.  Those who came to Jesus seeking forgiveness and mercy were the forerunners of this magnificent Sacrament.  This is the first prominent step towards becoming saintly.  Sin turns the soul to seek forgivingness and finds God in the midst of weakness. 

Second, we must be perfected from our faults before entering into that beatific vision with Almighty God,  That entails a saintly appearance by us; i.e. reaching what is a willing spirit seeking God’s presence within our humanity and wanting to be with God, forever.  This may surely require a period of purging.  See “Communion of Saints”, “Evil Personified”, and "Souls are waiting” three articles wherein I stressed the stop-over in Purgatory to become cleansed and dressed for the Wedding Banquet with Christ.     

Then, read “Who did Jesus die for?”  another reflection where I poignantly stated that the answer is everyone.  Somehow there may be persons believing that only those who do not sin or those who believe they are not sinners are the ones to rise straight through the gates of paradise in some type of ecstatic experience the rest may not be quite ready for.  

The Blessed Mother, Mary Most Holy, and John the Baptist assuredly are the two that would have passed beyond that time of purification.  Mary, since she was conceived without any sin and was kept that way through out her earthly life.  Of John the Baptist, Jesus said; “Amen I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  (Mt. 11: 11).

What then regarding the question of “do I have what is required to be a saint?”  Let’s start with what a saint is.  One who does not turn away from God’s Love and total Forgiveness in the face of falling more than seven times; one who knows that in spite of falling He is there to lift us up.  

Being saintly doesn’t mean you are never sinful, but uses your faults to become less attracted to what has become the point of evil within your journey to God.  Temptation befalls each of us; failing is not uncommon; finding a forgiving God as we look up and see the light of freedom from the weight of sin is our victory.

Reading this reflection may appear to be about Reconciliation rather than sainthood, but look at what the essence of a saint is about; one who looks to be with God with all semblance of sin removed and knowing this can only reach that pinnacle free from the smudge of un-repented sin.  Therefore, a saint will look to be forgiven on a daily basis and grow in holiness and find the sanctity God has called each of us to share.  

A partial quote from St. Bernard of Clairvaux regarding sin and the refusal to correct and turn away; “There has come that rash leap, so dishonorable, so disgraceful, so full of ignominy and confusion; a leap from the heights into the abyss, from the court-yard to the dung-heap, from the throne to the sewer, from heaven to the mud, from the cloister to the world, from paradise to hell.”