Chances are that the homily at Mass this weekend had something to do with saints and All Saints Day which we celebrated on Saturday. In modern times, many Catholics don’t give saints a second thought. What are saints and how do they get named?
The Busted Halo website has produced a fun (and educational) video titled, The Saints on Halloween, starring Fr. James Martin, SJ, the author of My Life With the Saints
On a more serious note, the video delivers profound wisdom when Martin helps us to understand what it truly means to be a saint. As he explains, “Being holy means being who we are.” I wonder how many of us have ever thought of it that way?
Growing up Catholic, I always imagined saints to be distant people, well beyond our reach. As an adult, I have come to realize how the saints were really one of us while they were alive. Martin’s words are both calming and challenging. If the saints were like us when they were alive, then what prevents us from being like them in our response to God? Being a saint is quite simple, according to Martin. “God calls us to be nothing more and, more importantly, nothing less than who we are called to be.” And isn’t that what we, too, are already striving to be?
Posted by APWeb 
