WE all can be
and should be saints even if we are not
canonized, that is, to be officially declared as saint by
the Church
after a long process of verifying the holy life of a
person that
definitely should show how heroic he lived his fidelity
to his
vocation and mission.
In fact, for the
great majority of the saints, this is the
case, because sanctity is not a matter of public
knowledge but of
being faithful to what God in the Holy Spirit is asking
them to do at
every moment.
Many times,
this holiness is achieved not by being special
in the world, like being a Pope, bishop or priest, or a
hero like
Rizal who was shot at the Luneta. It can be attained by
anyone by
simply doing the small little duties of everyday with
great love for
God and neighbor and with heroic consistency despite
difficulties.
That is why I
was happy to read the following words in the
latest Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, “Gaudete et
exsultate”
(Rejoice and exult), which is about holiness in today’s
world:
“This holiness
to which the Lord calls you will grow
through small gestures. Here is an example: a woman goes
shopping, she
meets a neighbor and they begin to speak, and the gossip
starts. But
she says in her heart: ‘No, I will not speak badly of
anyone.’ This is
a step forward in holiness.
“Later, at
home, one of her children wants to talk to her
about his hopes and dreams, and even though she is tired,
she sits
down and listens with patience and love. That is another
sacrifice
that brings holiness.
“Later she
experiences some anxiety, but recalling the
love of the Virgin Mary, she takes her rosary and prays
with faith.
Yet another path of holiness. Later still, she goes out
onto the
street, encounters a poor person and stops to say a kind
word to him.
One more step.” (16)
The Pope
continued by saying that while we can be inspired
by the lives of some holy people, we are not meant simply
to be
copycats, since in spite of similar aspirations and
desires and of
having the same particular spirituality, we all have
different
conditions and circumstances. Each one is unique, and his
way to
holiness is unique and peculiar to him.
In this regard,
the new document says: “’Each in his or
her own way,’ the Council says. We should not grow
discouraged before
examples of holiness that appear unattainable. There are
some
testimonies that may prove helpful and inspiring, but
that we are not
meant to copy, for that could even lead us astray from
the one
specific path that the Lord has in mind for us.
“The important
thing is that each believer discern his or
her own path, that they bring out the very best of
themselves, the
most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts
(cf 1 Cor
12,7), rather than hopelessly trying to imitate something
not meant
for them.
“We are all
called to be witnesses, but there are many
actual ways of bearing witness.” (11)
I believe that
what is really important is that each one
of us learns how to discern what the Holy Spirit is
prompting to us to
do at every moment and what he is showing us as our
particular
vocation and mission for our life.
That is why we
need to learn to pray, to live always in
the presence of God, to have recourse to some spiritual
direction to
better discern the things of God for us, etc., etc. These
I believe
are basic things that are common to all who aspire to be
truly holy in
today’s very complicated world.
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