Face It - New Evangelizers

When it comes to Saints and Holy Things we all tend to get a bit overwhelmed by the realities that those situations present to us. Realities such as:  1. Saints were all simply ordinary people just like you and me. 2. Some Saints were illiterate. 3. Some Saints were crazy. 4. Some Saints did menial things their whole lives. 5. Some Saints were hated by their peers. 6. Some Saints were rejected by entire communities. 7. Some Saints were completely disregarded by family. 8. Some saints were so frail and/or weak their whole lives that they never left their bed. 9. Some Saints were disabled. 10. Some Saints were dying while called to do their best work. So in the realm of “I could never be a saint because…..”, most of our “go to” excuses are completely exploded.

The Church ultimately calls each of us to be a saint. Some of us might wind up as a Saint.   In that call, though, is a challenge that is really too scary to look directly in the eye. The call is the paragon of what it’s like to live life as a believer. Execute the call fully and you might become a Saint or at least live like one. The call, though isn’t easy and once one is fully aware of what the call really means it is much more compelling to retreat into: “I could never be that perfect.” Along with that dumbing down of our conscience, life then becomes a fade into taking care of family, paying the bills, work, friends and forget about this Saint business. Whether we pay attention or not, the call from our God still exists. The Church is not wrong. Living life like a Saint opens the possibilities for the best and most fulfilled life we can possibly live. So it is not a good thing when we slide it to the background of our spirit and raise the priorities of all the other stuff that we imagine is important.

Our Church, though, has a broad perspective and never leaves us without a solution to life and faith dilemmas. Often that solution is in the example of one of our own. One of our Saints. There is no situation in life that some Saint hasn’t lived through. In the lives of the Saints are example, courage, similarities to ourselves, clues to perseverance, solutions. So it is with the dilemma of how to be a Saint in this modern world. It’s not as hard as you might imagine. It requires no special devotion or prayer routine. It does not take a monumental fasting discipline. It takes not one extra minute of time out of your busy, important day. I costs no money at all. Like so many other things we have been gifted with, we have a Saint who has made the directions for the road to holiness clear,  easy and doable for anyone:

“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” Saint Teresa of Calcutta

 If you become familiar with the lives of Saints you might quickly realize that the way they lived and the acts they did were almost never monumental. More often they were tiny things that were consistent and added up over time. Mother Teresa touched one leper at time. And you, what do you have that is always with you? Why, your face of course. When people see you in public, especially those times when you think no one is looking, what do they see? Your face reflects your spirit and the presence of God in your soul.  Mother reminds us that a smile blesses and heals others because it mirrors God’s love. You can have a real shot at becoming a saint, you can bless or curse people. You can lift them up or make them confused, sad, and/or scared. All it takes is your face. How hard is that? Go ahead and tell yourself, this is too hard to do! That would make you a liar. Smile!

Copyright© 2016, Kathryn M. Cunningham

Author’s Note: The term “saint” has different meanings. When written with a cap:”Saint”,  refers to a person elevated by the Church as example of holiness.  When written in lower case: “saint”, it simply means believer.  The article was written with this in mind.

Kathryn M. Cunningham

Kathryn holds a Master’s in Education from Saint Xavier University. Most recently she completed Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies from The Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. This recent degree was part of a “retirement project” after teaching for 35 years. She has also worked as a spiritual director, music minister,council member and prayer team warrior. Kathryn has a deep interest in catechesis for the people in the pews. As a “sort of” convert she finds the wisdom of the Church a source for encouragement, joy and survival in a world not sure of anything. Her writing has appeared in diocesan publications and on-line sites, most recently for Zenit. To learn more about Kathryn check out her thinking at: www.atravelersview.org">ATravelersView.org.