“For we are the temple of the living God; as God said: 'I will live with them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’” 2 Cor 6:16
(Vespers for the Solemnity of All Saints)
“Well, I am not a saint,” we often say—or even boast. But why not? Aren’t we meant to be? We need to ask ourselves who we want to become. After all, who are the saints? Are they figures on shiny prayer cards—unrealistic, tranquil, perfect, with glitter in their hair? We often picture saints as ancient figures of unattainable perfection whose stories intimidate us. Yet the Church also offers more recent examples. Among those newly beatified and canonized are people from our own times: John Paul II, Carlo Acutis, Mother Teresa, and Fulton J. Sheen. We know their stories, struggles, and paths to holiness, which may not be so different from our own.
Before appearing on glossy prayer cards, saints—both old and new—were living, breathing human beings. What made them special was how they responded to God's grace: the grace they received in baptism and nurtured as it grew within them. Recognizing their call to be living shrines of the Holy Spirit, they were moved by love to live for God and His Church. After their earthly pilgrimage ended, they entered, as we believe, the eternal happiness of those called to see God face to face. This, too, is our call.
Can the saints who came before us help us on our journey today? The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church offers this reflection:
“When we look at the lives of those who have faithfully followed Christ, we are inspired with a new reason for seeking the City that is to come and at the same time we are shown a most safe path by which among the vicissitudes of this world, in keeping with the state in life and condition proper to each of us, we will be able to arrive at perfect union with Christ, that is, perfect holiness.” (Lumen Gentium, 50).
The saints do more than inspire us; they also intercede for us. We confess this truth in the Credo when we proclaim “the Communion of Saints.” Those who attained perfect holiness in the presence of the Lord pray for and with us, so that we, too, may become holy and one day enter the perfect joy of the Eternal City of God!
