I’m very passionate about the saints. That passion has guided my life, and my carreer, and it’s what motivates me to this day . The saints are our allies in Heaven who have won what we are battling to win—the crown of eternal life in heaven. My passion for the saints, and for sainthood and holiness, is the driving motivation behind this podcast apostolate.
Years ago I had a custom of reading the lives of the saints. I read one brief story and bio of a saint every day in the morning. This was mostly out of intrigue more than a passion. But day after day my intrigue grew into a passion for these holy men and women, their heroic virtue, their witness, the living and—for the martyrs—their dying.
Through the pages in these stories I saw that God had turned these men and women into ‘something else.’ Something more than human, in a way. They had fallen in love with God and, through that love, and by living that love, they had, as I saw it, become the Good. They had almost become goodness itself by their reflection of Jesus.
As I read these stories I’d think (say?) “My God, look at what you have done! Look at what you made of these men and women”. I have been passionate about the saints, and holiness ever since. When I say that I’m “on the adventure of forming saints” I really mean it. And I don’t mean that I am a saint-maker. I only want to participate in the work of God and the Church and play some small/tiny role in helping all of you to be saintly, so that you can become the saints you were made to be. (Article continues below this video)
Becoming Saints
Today’s second mass reading for the Feast of All Saints has always gripped me. Particularly this part:
“Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.”
We are God’s children NOW. But what we will be when we see God face-to-face is more amazing than we can imagine. The saints aren’t merely souls in Heaven. They get an upgrade beyond our comprehension. They’re still human, but they are something somewhat different from us. Higher than us. Higher than even the angels. The way I explain this is to point out that an Oak Tree is not a seed/acorn. The acorn is not a tree. But it possesses “Tree-ness” in its being, though it hasn’t come to fulfillment yet. What the Saints in heaven ARE, we have the capacity to become. We possess holiness and sainthood in our being NOW. It just hasn’t come to fulfillment yet. We have to grow win holiness, purge ourselves of our bad and sinful habits, inch our way closer to Jesus through charity, prayer and the sacramental life.
I am passionate about the saints, and so I’m passionate about all of YOU. I have seen what God can make of ordinary men and women, even of the most sinful people. I believe in you, and God believes in you. But all of that is pointless if you don’t also believe in yourself. Believe in your destiny. Believe in your own capacity to be saints. God doesn’t believe in fairy tales. You CAN be a saint. You may be an anonymous saint who lived a life of heroic virtue on earth, but was never canonized. Or you may become a canonized saint. But never believe the your destiny is mediocrity. It is not. You were made for greatness. Know, trust, and believe!
Ave Maria, Virgo Fidelis
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