“Sainthood is not some impossible goal attainable only by the few – far above us, impossible to reach and having little to do with the here and now of our everyday lives. Each one of us is created for and called to be a saint.” – Bishop Michael
Today, full of a somewhat fearful curiosity and just that little bit too small to see clearly, we try to eavesdrop on heaven. Like little children, we stand on the tips of our toes and stretch above the parapet of this world. With eyes of faith, we try to peep in to see who is there – or as the First Reading puts it – that “huge number impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language …”.
Now there are some people we would expect to get a glimpse of – St Patrick, Mother Teresa, Padre Pio, for example. We have seen their pictures, lit candles at their shrines, and if we saw them, surely we would recognise them. Oh! But there is Johnny! He used to live beside us. There is his wife Margaret. She used to go to bingo with my mother. There is Pat Byrne. I went to school with him. I see Michelle Rooney. I worked with her for a while. I think I hear my mother’s voice. Yes! I do! It is her and Grandma too. Listen! Sure, you couldn’t mistake it. It is Uncle Joe whistling to his heart’s content.
Today we honour all the saints – not just the well-known ones – but in a special way, the unknown and unrecognised saints. Ordinary men and women, many of whom we have known personally. Some our neighbours, some our friends. People we have worked with, our family. People who have lived the Christian life to the full and now enjoy sainthood – everlasting life with God.
They remind us that sainthood is not some impossible goal attainable only by the few – far above us, impossible to reach and having little to do with the here and now of our everyday lives. Each one of us is created for and called to be a saint. To be a saint is to fulfil our destiny. We do this by living our life day in, day out – in its joys and in its sorrows – the way God designed it to be.
Far from being an imposed constriction or added burden, it is a calling to be fully and truly everything we were created capable of being. In fact, sainthood has more to do with how we forge and shape our lives here on earth according to the values of Christ than with halos, serious faces and pious poses – those Christian values so beautifully portrayed in the beatitudes of today’s Gospel.
Today’s feast is a yearly reminder to take down the possibility of sainthood from its oft lofty resting place and to present it anew as something real, worthwhile and achievable with God’s insight and help. It is not just for the future but for the now. Not just for the few but for the many. It is not something impossible, it is not even something extraordinary. It is something we have a far greater chance of attaining than, say, winning the lottery.
As we tiptoe away from heaven’s window today, let us do so with a renewed sense of confidence in and commitment to living life in such a way that we reach our definitive potential – our ultimate destiny – which is nothing other than sainthood and heaven’s very rest.