Saints are the great multitude that strived to live the way of Christ, who gave
themselves, out of love, to God and others and who are with God; they were good and
faithful stewards.The beatitudes [happiness] explain what the way of Christ is! Most of
the commandments say: don’t do this or that; the beatitudes teach how to transform
lives, the world, what shall we do to reflect the kingdom of God in us or restore in us
the likeness of Christ; life of saints are a reflection of beatitudes! First four beatitudes
are inner attitudes of a Christian or saint [1. blessed are the poor in spirit 2. blessed are
the gentle 3. blessed are those who mourn 4. blessed are who hunger and thirst for
righteousness] and five to eight are outward actions of what is inside [5. blessed are
the merciful 6. blessed are the pure in heart 7. blessed are the peacemakers 8. blessed
are those who are persecuted for the cause of uprightness]: poor in spirit is simplicity
of heart, seeing God as true richness. Blessed are those who mourn-we do not despair
in grief, know that God is our support in suffering; we reach out to all who deal with
pain due to loss of loved ones, health, material loss etc. Blessed are the gentle means
you are a compassionate presence to all; you hunger for righteousness in your work for
common good, social justice. Blessed are the pure in heart, they see God-your actions
correspond to your intentions or no duplicity/hypocrisy in you. The peacemakers are
children of God, called to break barriers built by human selfishness/greed, hatred.
Many saints are martyrs persecuted for the sake of love, justice, truth! During this
pandemic, healthcare workers and all who risk their lives to ease the sufferings of the
world are modern day saints!
Once, long time ago, a young man decided to become a saint. He said goodbye to
family, friends and sold his possessions and gave the money to the poor; he walked off
to a desert to find God. He found a dark cave in the desert and thought: ‘here, I will be
alone with God; nothing can distract me from God’. He prayed day and night, then he
encountered great temptations. He imagined all the good things of life and wanted
them, however, he was determined to find God. After many months, the temptations
stopped. He was St. Anthony of the desert [4th century monk known as father of
monasticism]; he was at peace with God. But then according to a legend, God said:
‘leave your cave for a few days, go to a distant town and look for the shoemaker and
stay with him a while. Anthony was puzzled by that and after a long search found the
shoemaker’s place. A smiling man opened the door. He noticed how tired and hungry
Anthony looked. Shoemaker and his wife prepared a fine meal for the saint and gave
him a soft bed to sleep. Anthony stayed with them three days and walked back to his
cave wondering why God had sent him to the shoemaker! then God asked: what was
the shoemaker like? Anthony said: he is a simple man; his wife is going to have a baby.
They seem to love each other very much. He works had making shoes. They give
money and food to those who have less than they have. He and his wife believe very
strongly in you and pray at least once a day. they have many friends and the
shoemaker enjoys telling jokes. Then God said: you are a great saint Anthony and the
shoemaker and his wife are great saints too’!
Like Anthony and the shoemaker’s family, we all can live the beatitudes, with trials, in
our families, workplace and be kind and generous stewards of our gifts! In Augustine
we see saints struggled with sin and temptations. In Francis Assisi we have the
likeness of Christ; he literally lived the beatitude, poor in spirit. We see likeness of
Christ in Mother Teresa in her love for the poor; in Father Damien we see Christ’s love
for the outcast, the lepers and who were abandoned to die. Theresa of Avila was
teacher of prayer like Christ; Edith Stein and Maximillian Kolbe, killed in Auschwitz
embraced suffering like Christ with love and patience. In Thomas Aquinas and Albert
the Great we have teachers of wisdom like Christ. Above all, in Blessed mother Mary,
the delight of all saints, we have the total yes to God like her Son Jesus! Saints [lives
dedicated to God and others] inspire us to be ambassadors of the kingdom of God by
saying yes to God! All saints pray for us!