Today is All Saints Day. I have come to have an appreciation and understanding of saints over the past few years. Growing up in my home there was never any mention of the saints, no statues of saints or special prayers offered to them. Of course I heard of the saints in Mass and during my elementary education at Catholic schools. My mother picked out my patron saint when I was confirmed in 5th grade. I didn’t know anything about her; I just knew I didn’t like the name Agnes.
Several years ago some women from my parish wanted to do a study on the saints. I was interested but was quickly turned off. The first saint we read about was St. Rose of Lima. The book glorified how she performed severe acts of penance. She disfigured her face with pepper and lye so that people wouldn’t be tempted by her beauty. It glorified men flogging themselves and other acts of self-mutilation out of “love for God.” The God I have come to know and love does not want us to perform acts of self-mutilation. He created us in his image, why would he want us to disfigure our face with pepper, rubbing it on our face until it blistered?
We are all called to be saints. We cannot become saints by our own merits but only through Jesus Christ. St. Rose of Lima did dedicate her life to works of charity, caring for the sick and hungry. She sold her exquisite lace and embroidery needlework and used the money to care for the poor. She had a great reverence and love for all things relating to God. These are the things that make someone a saint. These are the things that make us want to strive to be a saint; to see how others, through times of great tribulation, have remained faithful to God. No matter what life sends our way we need to always keep our eyes, mind and heart on our Lord. And when we falter, which we will all do, we need to trust in God’s mercy and allow him to steady us and then once again begin our journey toward him.
Pope Benedict XVI states, “To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God’s adopted children in Christ Jesus… One might say that the saints are, so to speak, new Christian constellations, in which the richness of God’s goodness is reflected. Their light, coming from God, enables us to know better the interior richness of God’s great light…Nothing can bring us into close contact with the beauty of Christ himself other than the world of beauty created by faith and light that shines out from the faces of the saints, through whom his own light is visible.”
I love this image of the saints as Christian constellations. On our own journey to sainthood, they guide us to Christ and help us to become who we were created to be. They reflect the goodness of God and are a source of strength. During times of darkness, they light the way. We should let ourselves be helped by this gift from God; this great cloud of witnesses that surround us and support us. They lift us up in prayer and encourage us so that one day we might be united with them in his heavenly Kingdom.
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