I want to be a saint! I frequently think about this and I think that it is good and healthy. We believe that a saint is someone who has made it, anyone who has entered into the presence of God in heaven. In this sense, we should all want to be saints one day.
My problem arises because I don't just want to be a saint who makes it to heaven, I want to be a great saint! Now, again on the surface, this is not a bad thing, but when I really look at my motives I begin to see the problem. What is it about being a saint that really attracts me? Well, when I am honest about myself it has a lot to do with the way people think about the saints. Hearing about the heroic acts of a St. Maximillian Kolbe giving up his life for another in Auswitz, staring at the volumes and volumes of the writings of the Angelic Doctor (Thomas Aquinas) or the Doctor of Grace (St. Augustine), learning about the conversion and susequent work of St. Ignatius Loyola, and reading the account of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp makes me want to be a saint even a martyr! But is it love of God I am seeking or greatness? Isn't greatness a good thing? After all St. Thomas Aquinas listed magnanimity as a virtue; Pope Benedict stated that we are not made for comfort but for greatness.
Shouldn't we want to be great? YES! But greatness takes on a new look when we speak about it in relation to being a saint as opposed to the world's view. None of the saints I mentioned (none at all for that matter) became great by simply seeking after greatness. They all became saints by seeking after Him, Greatness Himself. It was only because of their amazing love for God that they were able to do great things. In fact, they didn't do great things, God did great things through them because they were humble enough to let Him. Mother Theresa was well known for saying that we cannot do great things, only small things with great love. There is something about those Theresas. Mother Theresa and St. Therese (the Little Flower) can teach us a great deal about this.
When they first began their ministries I'm sure they did not think they were doing great things. One was ministering to the poorest of the poor and one was living in a convent and very sick. In Mother Theresa, we see the means by which we can become great, the starting point for all saints. We must do the little things that our life demands right now! These thoughts came to me when the Gospel was about the lost sheep. The shepherd, losing one sheep, leaves the 99 and goes in search for the 1 lost sheep. Now, I've never shepherded sheep, but this seems ridiculous. Leaving 99 sheep to try to save one. But such is the love of our God for us; it is ridiculous, at times it doesn't make sense. God's love doesn't make sense to us because it is too great for us to understand. The aspect of this reading the Mother Theresa lived was this. There are always 100 things that we could be doing. We must focus on the 1 thing we are doing, the 1 person we are helping. Our greatness must begin with the person God has sent into our lives at each moment. We must show His love for them through our words and actions. It is only through humble service of each individual we encounter throughout each day that we will truly become great, we will become saints. We will not be great in the eyes of the world. Rather, we will be great in the eyes of the One who really matters.
Let us spend time in prayer during this season of Advent of the lowliness that our God took on in order to bring us to greatness. He humbled Himself and became man so that we could become like Him. May this season of joyful anticipation for the coming of Christ anew into the world and in our lives help us to grow in our love for Jesus, the Savior of the world!
My problem arises because I don't just want to be a saint who makes it to heaven, I want to be a great saint! Now, again on the surface, this is not a bad thing, but when I really look at my motives I begin to see the problem. What is it about being a saint that really attracts me? Well, when I am honest about myself it has a lot to do with the way people think about the saints. Hearing about the heroic acts of a St. Maximillian Kolbe giving up his life for another in Auswitz, staring at the volumes and volumes of the writings of the Angelic Doctor (Thomas Aquinas) or the Doctor of Grace (St. Augustine), learning about the conversion and susequent work of St. Ignatius Loyola, and reading the account of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp makes me want to be a saint even a martyr! But is it love of God I am seeking or greatness? Isn't greatness a good thing? After all St. Thomas Aquinas listed magnanimity as a virtue; Pope Benedict stated that we are not made for comfort but for greatness.
Shouldn't we want to be great? YES! But greatness takes on a new look when we speak about it in relation to being a saint as opposed to the world's view. None of the saints I mentioned (none at all for that matter) became great by simply seeking after greatness. They all became saints by seeking after Him, Greatness Himself. It was only because of their amazing love for God that they were able to do great things. In fact, they didn't do great things, God did great things through them because they were humble enough to let Him. Mother Theresa was well known for saying that we cannot do great things, only small things with great love. There is something about those Theresas. Mother Theresa and St. Therese (the Little Flower) can teach us a great deal about this.
When they first began their ministries I'm sure they did not think they were doing great things. One was ministering to the poorest of the poor and one was living in a convent and very sick. In Mother Theresa, we see the means by which we can become great, the starting point for all saints. We must do the little things that our life demands right now! These thoughts came to me when the Gospel was about the lost sheep. The shepherd, losing one sheep, leaves the 99 and goes in search for the 1 lost sheep. Now, I've never shepherded sheep, but this seems ridiculous. Leaving 99 sheep to try to save one. But such is the love of our God for us; it is ridiculous, at times it doesn't make sense. God's love doesn't make sense to us because it is too great for us to understand. The aspect of this reading the Mother Theresa lived was this. There are always 100 things that we could be doing. We must focus on the 1 thing we are doing, the 1 person we are helping. Our greatness must begin with the person God has sent into our lives at each moment. We must show His love for them through our words and actions. It is only through humble service of each individual we encounter throughout each day that we will truly become great, we will become saints. We will not be great in the eyes of the world. Rather, we will be great in the eyes of the One who really matters.Let us spend time in prayer during this season of Advent of the lowliness that our God took on in order to bring us to greatness. He humbled Himself and became man so that we could become like Him. May this season of joyful anticipation for the coming of Christ anew into the world and in our lives help us to grow in our love for Jesus, the Savior of the world!
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