Blessed are the sorrowful. 
Blessed are the pure of heart. 
Blessed are the peacemakers.
I have a friend who usually calls me on All Saints Day to wish me a happy feast day. She believes we are all saints. So do I. I wish her a happy feast day right back.
Another friend, Lezlie Oachs, describes an incident in her spiritual journey that helps me realize we live always in communion with Holy Mystery. Or, to say it another way, we live always in the communion of saints.
Lezlie says, “Sometimes the organized church bothers me so much I can’t sit inside, but I don’t go far….I just sit outside on the curb. There’s plenty of company on the curb, and because we haven’t gone far, we still hear the music and prayers. Everything goes God’s way and God sorts through it.
“When we were little girls, my sister Deann (4) and I (5) got mad at our mom. We packed a little suitcase and told her we were so mad we were running away from home.
“‘That’s fine,’ she said, ‘Just remember you are not allowed to cross the street.’
“We went outside and sat on the curb. We were there a long time and then we got scared that someone might try to steal us. So we went back in the house and asked our mom to write a sign that said, ‘Please do not steal these children. They are mine.’
“When I’m frustrated with the church and can’t sit in the building, I sit outside on the curb. But God is sitting right with me and all the others, holding a sign that says, ‘Please do not steal these children. They are mine.’”
Being a saint asks us to reflect critically and creatively on gospel values. Our reflection can lead to actions that require courage and persistence or sitting on the curb for a while.
Our traditions remember many saints whose stories lift us up and give us courage and hope. Everyone has favorites. My own include Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, and my own mom (who would laugh in disbelief if she could hear me say that!). A saint lives in communion with God and all God’s own and lives out of that relationship.
- What do you think a saint is?
- What saints have inspired and animated your life? How and why have these saints and their stories influenced you?