CALLED TO BE SAINTS
“Since love makes lovers one in likeness, if we love, let us model our lives on His.”
From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
November begins by placing before us the great company of the saints. Some are known throughout the world. Their names are written in our calendars, their images fill our churches, and their stories have been handed down through generations. Others are known only to God.
But what makes a saint? Perhaps St. Margaret Mary gives us an answer: “Since love makes lovers one in likeness, if we love, let us model our lives on His.” The saints are people who allowed their love for Christ gradually to make them more like Christ.
They were not all alike. Some lived quietly; others became great teachers, missionaries or reformers. Some lived long lives; others died young. They came from different cultures, circumstances and periods of history. They had different personalities and different gifts. And they were certainly not perfect.
What united them was their desire to allow Christ to shape their lives. That is why the saints matter to us.
We do not honour them because they lived lives we could never possibly imitate. We honour them because they remind us of what is possible when an ordinary human life becomes open to the grace of God. And most of us have known such people.
They may never be canonized. There may never be a statue or stained-glass window bearing their image. But we remember a parent or grandparent, a teacher, a priest or religious, a friend or parishioner whose kindness, faithfulness, courage or generosity showed us something of the face of Christ.
During our sixty years as a parish, countless people have prayed here, served here and handed on the faith here. Some are still among us; many have gone home to God. We stand upon the foundation they helped to build.
The saints remind us that the Christian life is never lived alone. We belong to a great communion of saints stretching across generations.
And now it is our turn.
Perhaps holiness begins more simply than we imagine: allowing Christ to shape the way we speak, forgive, serve, welcome, give and love.
As Margaret Mary reminds us, when we truly love Christ, we gradually become more like the One we love.
Prayer
God of all holiness,
we thank you for the saints
whose lives reveal something
of the face of Christ.
We thank you also for the quiet saints
who have touched our own lives—
those who taught us to pray,
showed us how to love,
and handed the gift of faith on to us.
As we remember sixty years
of St. Margaret Mary Parish,
we give thanks for all who have gone before us.
May their example encourage us
to become more like Christ
in the ordinary circumstances of our lives.
Sacred Heart of Jesus,
we place our trust in you.
St. Margaret Mary, pray for us.
All you holy men and women,
pray for us.
Amen.