Be a Saint. What else is there?

Reflection for the 4th Sunday Ordinary Time

Question: Are you being called by the Lord? Answer: Yes! In my previous post, I talked about receiving a call, and how we respond.

Bigger question: What are you called to be? Short answer: You are called to be a saint.

Each person is going to live out this call a little differently – some as a businessman, a nurse, an electrician, a teacher, a mother. That doesn’t change the fundamental nature of the call. You are called to be a saint.

Patrick Coffin, the former host of the radio show and podcast Catholic Answers, closed his show with this parting comment. “Be a saint. What else is there?”

The next time you face a difficult situation, let these words guide your next response. Be a saint.
When facing difficult coworkers or having a family argument at home, be a saint. When walking down the hallways at school or laying on your deathbed, be a saint. Wherever you are, the call doesn’t change. You are called to be a saint, not just every once in a while, but in each and every moment of the day.

Right here. Right now. God is calling you to be a saint.

I preached the same message a while back. When my coworkers heard I was preaching, they asked, “What is your message?” I told them my title, “Be a Saint. What else is there?” One said, “That’s great. When you’re in a meeting and begin to rant, can I say these words to you: ‘Oh, would you please just be a Saint.’?” The other thought about it and said, “Hey, you could put that on a tee shirt. On the front, you could have a picture of the gates of heaven with the words, “Be a Saint”. On the back, you could have flames with the words, “What else is there?” Hmmm.

But really, what else is there? At various times, I have been a jerk, a lout, a bully, a showoff, a cheapskate, a windbag, a braggart, a cheater, a scrooge, a liar, a bum, a charlatan, a fiend, a gossip, a grump, an egoist, an idiot, a sloth, a devil, plus a few vulgarities that I’d rather not put in print. Come to think of it, there are a lot of ways I have chosen not to be a saint!

So if that’s the case, here is the follow-up question: How? How can I be a saint?

How does a saint respond to life’s difficulties and challenges? One answer came from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He began his preaching with eight beatitudes. These blessings might be titled “God’s Little Instruction Manual for Saints”.

In this instruction manual, Jesus says “Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the clean of heart. Blessed are the peacemakers.” We might even change the word ‘blessed’ with the word ‘Saint-like’. Saintly are those who hunger for righteousness. All eight beatitudes (Mt 5:1-12) illuminate the various facets of a saint. Each blessing contains habits we can put into practice today.

The reward from working on our saintliness doesn’t come after we die, but the blessings begin right now. When we are peacemakers, we are blessed with a greater sense of peace. When we work on cleaning our hearts, we are blessed with greater closeness to God. When people see our hunger and thirst for justice, the world around us becomes a little more aware of injustice and maybe a little more just. When we are poor in spirit and empty our hearts of every selfish desire, we are blessed by a full, rich spiritual life. So…

Be a saint. What else is there?


Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  (Mt 5:1-12)