This morning we in the United States awoke with a new
addition to our litany of saints. Mother
Teresa of Calcutta was canonized by Pope Francis around 10:30 am Rome time,
which was the wee small hours of the morning for most of us. Headlines of the secular news swirled in the
days leading up to her canonization about her worthiness, highlighting her dark
night and other controversies, but the fact is, she is a saint. A saint is canonized not for what he or she
DOES but for one reason alone: holiness.
A headline that caught my eye and made me laugh was “How to become a saint in four steps” as if it there is one method or a sure-fire way to achieve
or grasp sainthood. The article, of
course, referred to the process by which a person’s life is examined and the
declarations that precede canonization.
But I would like to propose that there are, indeed, four steps to
becoming a saint, and they are given to us by our Lord in Matthew’s Gospel.
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow me.” (Mathew 16:24)
Are those not the “steps” to becoming a
saint? You may note, that our Lord only
gives three steps. I submit that the
fourth step is: repeat. It is following
this “recipe,” if you will, that leads to holiness, that is, the perfection of
love, and conformation to the person of Christ.
The following gives way to union and the union comes through
faithfulness to the first three steps and getting up when we fall (perhaps the
fourth step could be: reset).
May the life and holiness of St. Teresa of Calcutta inspire
us to deny ourselves, embrace the cross, and follow Christ with the same
intensity and confidence that characterized her life.
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