“Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (Revelation 14:12)
It has always intrigued me that the October 31st celebration of Halloween, a festival known for its ghosts and goblins and filled with stories about witches and ghoulishness, occurs on the eve of All Saints Day. This first Sunday in November is a day when we remember those who have labored faithfully in this life in their service to Jesus Christ and who have now have entered into their eternal home. On the other hand, Halloween or ‘All Hallows Eve’ is exclusively pagan in nature according to some scholars. Others claim that its roots are solely Christian, and in many parts of the world the day includes church services and lighting candles on the graves of the deceased.. The relationship of the two observances has raised many questions throughout the ages and will no doubt continue for many years to come.
Recently, I read a portrayal of residents in a nursing home provided by a young person who described his reluctant visit there to be an enlightening one. While assisting some other folks in conducting a worship service, he watched “the joy of those older saints light up.” I found his depiction to be interesting, and it made me wonder what it was that caused him to characterize those who lived there as saints. What qualities must one possess to be a saint? Do you have to be a certain age, or must you be deceased to qualify? Are there certain accomplishments or ‘good deeds’ one must do during one’s lifetime to be considered as ‘saintly’? We have all heard of the famous saints including St. Patrick, Joan of Arc, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the most well-known and influential of the modern day saints, Mother Teresa. And who among us at one time or another hasn’t known someone with a Saint Christopher medal or necklace?
Is sainthood reserved only for those who lived an unscathed life? Can you become a saint after having been an individual known for your lack of generosity? The life of St. Thomas Becket would indicate that you can. Known as a cold-hearted man of great wealth who shared nothing with those in need, he later gave away all of his possessions and welcomed the poor at his table. Can you hate Christians and even contribute to their slaughter, and yet end up being known as a saint? The Apostle Paul, who described himself as the worst of all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), would be surprised to learn of his own sainthood. Can you abandon your faith, become part of a pagan society, and live with a mistress outside the blessings of a marital relationship and later be called a saint? St. Augustine would tell you that it is possible to do so. In fact, he is quoted as having said: “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.”
A saintly life is not a life free from sin but rather from sin’s condemning and controlling power. Even the greatest saint was once a sinner saved by the grace of God, and even the worst sinner has a potentially glorious future; that is if we allow our daily life to more closely align itself with the life of Jesus. By virtue of our connection with the Holy One, we are welcomed into the sainthood of His creation, “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). But St. Therese of Lisieux would caution that “You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.”
So what then is our role then as we journey through this lifetime? It becomes obvious that it is “For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). Once our earthly excursion come to an end, we will know the inexpressible joys that God has prepared for those who love Him. “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). We cannot help but personalize the lyrics to that well-known song as it resonates, ‘O Lord I want to be in that number – when the saints go marching in.” Let it be so for each of us who endeavors to faithfully serve our Lord. Only then are we able to respond to the question, “Eligible for sainthood?” with the answer . . . “Yes, even me.”
REFLECTION: Who is the worst sinner you have known who turned out to have saintly qualities? What can we learn from the transformation of an individual from sinner to saint? How does such a conversion give us hope for our own life when we fail to be the kind of person God desires for us?
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