No, I don't mean for Blessed John Paul II. Or Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
I mean you. I mean me.
We are called to be Saints.
I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I am a bit sad about some news of a blogger who is suffering terribly. I am wondering what on earth I can do for a person I have never met and lives thousands of miles away. It is heavy on my heart. I am a bit overwhelmed at work. I am a bit overwhelmed by my family. It is none of it too much, but it all adds up to a Mary who is sitting at 8 p.m., just wanting to slip into my warm bed and go to sleep. (Which I will do as soon as I finish this.)
I looked at the website of one of my new favorite authors: Dr. Peter Kreeft. I read the transcript of a speech he gave in 1998. The whole speech was great, but a particular line hit me between the eyes:
Here is one of the most wonderful and terrifying sentences I have ever read, from William Law’s Serious Call, “If you will look into your own heart in utter honesty, you must admit that there is one and only one reason why you are not even now a saint. You do not wholly want to be.”I will reach out for God's hand to help me to get there. It is my heart's desire (someday, I hope, without reservations).
Maybe there is a saint within me somewhere, but I doubt it. Sin is so natural to me. Let me confess one here now. My mother is 77 years old and hard headed and fixed in many of her ways. I stop and see her every day on my way home from work, and almost without fail I get angry at her for something. I keep telling myself, no let her stubborness go and not say anything. But wouldn't you know it, without fail I raise my voice to force her not to take care of herself better or whatever.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I believe you will be one Mary-C. You really project holiness.
I will be better today, I promise.
ReplyDeleteManny, you are not alone in that regard. I catch myself snapping at my aging parents all the time and I have to ask myself: am I angry because I care or because I have no patience? And I'm ashamed to admit that many times it is the latter. I just tell myself I'll try to do better next time.
ReplyDeleteMary Christine, when reading St. Therese, I was struck by something she said. She desired sainthood and was sure, by faith, that she would earn a place among the Elect. But her greatest desire in reaching Heaven wasn't to see God, but to make Him more greatly loved. It made me ashamed of myself to read that, because my desire to reach Heaven is driven by my desire to see God and escape this exile on earth. If we pray for the grace to love as Therese did, we will receive it, and we will be saints (in my case, with a small s, although it looks like an uphill climb from here)
Peace
You should see me in the supermarket or when driving. I have such a long way to go it is ridiculous!
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