EVERYONE is called to holiness. Everyone can and should be a
saint.
This is perhaps the main message, the good news that the canonization
of the Cebuano Pedro Calungsod is telling us today.
No matter how ordinary and obscure we are, like the new saint who
found himself in faraway Marianas Island working as a catechist and
helper to an equally holy priest, we can and should be a saint.
God is no respecter of persons. He shows no partiality to anyone or
class of persons. He calls everyone to holiness, whether rich or poor,
intelligent or not so, etc. All we need do is to make use of what we
have or are working at the moment, our ordinary daily duties and
chores, to be the vehicle of our sanctification.
In fact, God somehow favors the small and the lowly, the
underprivileged and suffering over the big ones and the mighty who
often are proud and vain in this game of life called sanctification.
Remember the beatitudes?
St. Paul reiterates the idea when he says: “The foolish things of the
world has God chosen, that he may confound the wise. And the weak
things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the strong.”
(1 Cor 1,27)
And even no matter how sinful we may be, no matter how burdened we may
be with sins, mistakes, weaknesses, etc., as long as we do our part
seeking always the forgiveness of God whose mercy is forever, we can
and should be saints.
Just look at the saints. Many of them were great sinners, starting
with the apostle Peter who denied Christ. Then you have saints like
St. Augustine who even sired a child, St. Magdalene, a woman of
ill-repute, etc. But they repented and were forgiven and became great
saints.
There is always hope and likelihood for that, since in the first place
this is the will of God. Christ clearly says it: “Be you therefore
perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5,48) And St.
Paul seconds: “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thes
4,3)
We have to make this truth a common and constant guiding principle for
us. We should not think to be a saint is such a big deal as to be
reserved only to a few people who happen to have the appropriate
temperament and circumstances. No. To be a saint is our ultimate
common goal, achievable in various ways, ordinary ones more than the
extraordinary.
We have to remember that more than us shaping our destiny, it is God
who does it with his omnipotent providence. All we need do is to
cooperate or to correspond to his promptings which is what our human
freedom is all about.
But alas, that is usually our problem. We tend to think our freedom is
absolutely ours alone. We can think it is self-generated by us,
driving God out, when our common sense can easily give the lie to it.
Our freedom simply comes from God. It can only be exercised following
God’s will. It can only be lived properly in God. Contributing to this
mess is the view that there is no God (atheism) or that God takes no
interest in our affairs (agnosticism). He leaves us completely alone.
We need to be clear about this fundamental truth and start to conform
ourselves to it. Thus, we need to take our faith and religion more
seriously. We need to be consistent to them at every moment. The
skills of prayer, meditation, contemplation, offering sacrifices, etc.
should be cultivated.
There may be difficulties, but these are understandable and in fact
should be expected. Christ himself warned us about them. “In the world
you will have affliction. But take courage, I have overcome the
world.” (Jn 16,33)
We should just trust God’s providence and correspond to it as much as
possible. Doing so will surely lead us to a divine adventure that will
always have its highs even if it will also have some low moments. But
definitely, it will be a drama with a happy ending. Evil will never
have the last word.
It’s good to meditate Christ’s words to boost our hope amid trials:
“There is no man who has left house or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother...for my sake and for the gospel, who shall not
receive a hundred times as much, now in this time: houses, and
brethren, and sisters...with persecutions, and in the world to come
life everlasting.” (Mk 29-30)
St. Pedro Calungsod lived these words.
This is perhaps the main message, the good news that the canonization
of the Cebuano Pedro Calungsod is telling us today.
No matter how ordinary and obscure we are, like the new saint who
found himself in faraway Marianas Island working as a catechist and
helper to an equally holy priest, we can and should be a saint.
God is no respecter of persons. He shows no partiality to anyone or
class of persons. He calls everyone to holiness, whether rich or poor,
intelligent or not so, etc. All we need do is to make use of what we
have or are working at the moment, our ordinary daily duties and
chores, to be the vehicle of our sanctification.
In fact, God somehow favors the small and the lowly, the
underprivileged and suffering over the big ones and the mighty who
often are proud and vain in this game of life called sanctification.
Remember the beatitudes?
St. Paul reiterates the idea when he says: “The foolish things of the
world has God chosen, that he may confound the wise. And the weak
things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the strong.”
(1 Cor 1,27)
And even no matter how sinful we may be, no matter how burdened we may
be with sins, mistakes, weaknesses, etc., as long as we do our part
seeking always the forgiveness of God whose mercy is forever, we can
and should be saints.
Just look at the saints. Many of them were great sinners, starting
with the apostle Peter who denied Christ. Then you have saints like
St. Augustine who even sired a child, St. Magdalene, a woman of
ill-repute, etc. But they repented and were forgiven and became great
saints.
There is always hope and likelihood for that, since in the first place
this is the will of God. Christ clearly says it: “Be you therefore
perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5,48) And St.
Paul seconds: “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thes
4,3)
We have to make this truth a common and constant guiding principle for
us. We should not think to be a saint is such a big deal as to be
reserved only to a few people who happen to have the appropriate
temperament and circumstances. No. To be a saint is our ultimate
common goal, achievable in various ways, ordinary ones more than the
extraordinary.
We have to remember that more than us shaping our destiny, it is God
who does it with his omnipotent providence. All we need do is to
cooperate or to correspond to his promptings which is what our human
freedom is all about.
But alas, that is usually our problem. We tend to think our freedom is
absolutely ours alone. We can think it is self-generated by us,
driving God out, when our common sense can easily give the lie to it.
Our freedom simply comes from God. It can only be exercised following
God’s will. It can only be lived properly in God. Contributing to this
mess is the view that there is no God (atheism) or that God takes no
interest in our affairs (agnosticism). He leaves us completely alone.
We need to be clear about this fundamental truth and start to conform
ourselves to it. Thus, we need to take our faith and religion more
seriously. We need to be consistent to them at every moment. The
skills of prayer, meditation, contemplation, offering sacrifices, etc.
should be cultivated.
There may be difficulties, but these are understandable and in fact
should be expected. Christ himself warned us about them. “In the world
you will have affliction. But take courage, I have overcome the
world.” (Jn 16,33)
We should just trust God’s providence and correspond to it as much as
possible. Doing so will surely lead us to a divine adventure that will
always have its highs even if it will also have some low moments. But
definitely, it will be a drama with a happy ending. Evil will never
have the last word.
It’s good to meditate Christ’s words to boost our hope amid trials:
“There is no man who has left house or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother...for my sake and for the gospel, who shall not
receive a hundred times as much, now in this time: houses, and
brethren, and sisters...with persecutions, and in the world to come
life everlasting.” (Mk 29-30)
St. Pedro Calungsod lived these words.
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