It seems as though the saints are not like us. 

Saint Vincent Ferrer walked around with crowds announcing “the miracles he wrought, from raising the dead to casting out demons to possessing a voice that could be heard for miles.” Saint Catherine of Siena can say that, at age seven, she vowed her life to God and made full on that promise. When attempting to compare ourselves to the saints, we identify at best with a pre-conversion Saint Augustine, or maybe a teenage Bl. Henry Suso who felt that “if God only preserved him from weightier sins, which might tarnish his good name, there was no need to be over-careful about ordinary faults” (Conferences on Blessed Henry Suso, Fr. Clement Thuente, O.P.). 

So how do I go from young, prideful Augustine to Saint Augustine? From half-hearted Henry, how do I become a holy servant of God, the Eternal Wisdom? What did they do that I cannot do? What did God give them that he has neglected to give me?

A lot, actually. Although I am in the midst of my studies, St. Augustine was a lot smarter than me. And although I am faithful to our horarium of prayers, God is not manifesting himself to me in the same way that he did for Bl. Henry Suso, which was the wellspring of his life of prayer.

So I guess this means I am not the stuff of the saints. And I certainly am no St. Augustine or Bl. Henry Suso. They did things that I will probably never be able to do, and God gave them gifts that I am not meant to receive. But the teaching of Christ tells us that we are nonetheless made for heaven. Indeed, Jesus tells us, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3). This is no empty promise, especially in light of today’s first reading: “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

Jesus is that word, the Word sent for us. And for all who receive him, who believe in his name, “he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). God our Father has sent his Son that we might become sons ourselves, and that we might become saints. He has given us this power; the saints have simply actualized it, with God himself having brought his work in them to completion (Phil 1:6). So how are we to become saints? Certainly a good place to start is with prayer, as we heed the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel, “This is how you are to pray: Our Father . . . .”

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Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. (used with permission)