All Saints Day

            This past Tuesday, we celebrated the Feast of All Saints.  God be Praised!  Sometimes I wonder what it means to be a saint.  I have a two-pointer answer:

·         to live the message of the gospel and

·         that we can intercede for others from Heaven after we die. 

As St. Therese once prayed to Jesus: “I want to be a saint, but I feel so helpless.  Be yourself my sanctity!”  We are all called to take on the Way of Jesus.  After all, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

            My religious community I used to belong to (The Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary in Tyringham, MA) have a long tradition of drawing one of the beatitudes.  We read about each one in the gospel on this special day. It helps each of the sisters to reflect on and to be assured by the one they chose.

            The witness of the saints inspires us to live the gospel in our own lives.  And it is not a hard way, so long as one feels open to the challenge.  It is the way of self-sacrificial, joy-filled love!  God be Praised!