Happy All Hallows Eve!
In addition to all the tricks or treats, tonight and tomorrow, we celebrate all the Saints in heaven. We not only celebrate the well known Saints like Patrick, Francis and Joan of Arc. We also honor the "unnamed" Saints - those people who are in Heaven but have not been recognized by the church. But what is a Saint?
In his book Mother Teresa's Secret Fire, Joseph Langford says: The saints reflect the beauty of God and his plan for us, a beauty they make concrete and tangible -- and inviting. . . . . . The saints illumine us with God's own light, granting us a glimpse of who both he and we truly are. They are a mirror of our own God-given dignity, of who we were created to be, and of what we can yet become.
We are all created to be Saints. God loves each of us just as we are, but he loves us enough to desire us to be better than we are and as we draw closer to Him we grow closer to becoming the Saints we were made to be. I love to read, and tell, the stories of the Saints. They have reached the goal that we are aiming for. Each Saint has gotten there by their own God-guided path. Their diverse stories show us that we can get there, too.
Tomorrow I will start once again to share my November "Saint of the Day" posts. I'm going to try an alphabetical approach this year - not sure how that will work. May all the Saints in Heaven pray for us!!
