To Be a Saint or a Saintly Sinner

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Since we are approaching the feast of the halloweds (the saints), I’ve been musing about sainthood. One of my favorite prayers as a teenager was, “O God Who art all powerful, make me a saint.” Some people exclaim, “I’m no saint,” yet we are all called to be saints. As French novelist Leon Bloy pointed out, “The only real failure in life is not to be a saint.” If we are not saints by the time we die, then we will have a miserable eternity. In view of our weakness, faults and temptations around us, being holy may appear farfetched, for some impossible! Keep in mind, though, that saints were sinners too—they had “tilted halos”— yet they loved God and others. The canonized saints are to serve as models for us, although the martyrs’ path to sanctity is not very appealing. The uncanonized saints, some of whom we rub shoulders with, may be easier to imitate.Click to continue

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