CALLED TO BE SAINTS
Today is All Saints Day, a day when we honor all those who had been found worthy to enter the Kingdom of God. We celebrate this day to move us to strive in life through their examples and to merit the mercy of God through their intercession.
We read about The Beatitudes today. Right at the start of His teaching ministry, Jesus made sure that the Apostles understood the need to be holy. To enter the Kingdom is the supreme goal of following Jesus. The Beatitudes are supposed to guide, challenge and bring the Apostles to eternal life. In our present context, The Beatitudes are meant to make us saints. To be a saint is the minimum requirement of being a good disciple.
When we were still seminarians, a bishop once asked us, “Who among you want to become a saint?” None of us answered. We thought it was an impossible, hard and boastful aspiration. Maybe others can, but not us.
When we look at the lives of saints, they were like many of us. The main difference is their response to God’s invitation to holiness. Some, like St. Augustine, St. Peter or even St. Paul, were even worse than many of us. Yet we regard them as saints because they had found favor with God and had lived out His teachings.
St. Paul realized that he may boast if it is in the Lord. We can also say that we can be saints in the Lord. That is, if we are to claim and strive for holiness, it is not for praise, recognition or vanity, but because of our love for the Lord. We want to gain heaven, for to be with God is to be a saint.
Today, all roads lead to the cemeteries. It is not just a day of the dead but a day for the saints. As we gather around the tomb of our loved ones, we not only pray for them but we ask them to pray for us. Hopefully, part of our prayer is for them to guide and lead us to become saints. On this day of the saints, let us rekindle our quest to become saints of God! Fr. Benny Tuazon
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Does your daily life reflect your desire to be a saint?
Lord Jesus, help me to become a saint. It may sound boastful of me to desire that, but my love for You makes me want to be with You in eternal life.
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