is this what being a saint is all about?

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Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.
Mother Teresa


"Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are — in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society — completely forgotten, completely left alone.” - Blessed Mother Teresa






I was watching a TV show in which a Catholic priest was being interviewed and the subject was sainthood..."what does it take to be named a saint in the Catholic church?" I straightened up to listen, as I had known how saints are chosen, but wanted to see what he had to say. He went into a lengthy diatribe about the subject and how the church must get written testimony from all who knew the person while that person was still alive. Were any miracles attributed to that person? Were they a sanctimonious upstanding member of the church, of society? On and on he went, while I felt myself growing smaller and smaller. I am a secular Franciscan,  I follow the rules of poverty, chastity and obedience. I give as much as I can of self and heart, as well as desire. I treat others as to how I wish to be treated...yet by this one's standards, I still may not measure up! 

I kind of went through a "George Bailey moment" (from It's a Wonderful Life.)
Huge sigh.....
While I don't relish saying prayers by rote, with words that have been written down, I do pray and often. I use words from my heart. Does God still listen? I appreciate so much what I see, from the first sounds of birdsong in the morning to the rising of a moon, to the billions of stars in the sky. I see those for whom life has kicked aside and try to extend myself to them...is this enough?
Someone said to me, "if you have to ask, maybe it's not." A friend of mine told me, "sainthood in human terms is almost laughable. Build all peoples up because your heart tells you so. Build people up for our perfect Father in heaven. He cares! He wants us to grow up to be our best version of ourselves! Helping all peoples with a clear, loving, honest heart."

and so...there was my answer. Build ALL peoples up. Not just those from my income level, or those with whom I am friendly or those whose skin color I agree with...no...build up ALL people. The dying, the homeless, the addict, the alcoholic, the Jew, the Muslim, the black....the disabled, the ...well, you get my drift. Everyone. Do for them. Do it because your heart tells you to do it. Do it because it happens to be a day that ends in Y. Just do it....because this is the way to heaven.


"Be faithful in small things, because it is in them that your strength lies."




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Comments

  1. with so much hate in the world...it is easy to fall into the trap of being complacent. Letting "someone else" fix things. But as you say...why can't we point that finger at ourselves and fix it?

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