All Saints

What can we become? Ever since Vat. II the Church has charged us to “Be Saints!”

What are the saints?

They are people who chose Christ and didn’t stop choosing Christ. Fr. Mike

““Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me,  “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;  they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” Rev. 7

We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 Jn 3

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,[a] and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

St. Therese of Lisieux.

Blessed are they who mourn

Our Lady of Sorrows

Blessed are the meek,

St. Paul

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

St. Francis and St. Claire

Blessed are the merciful,

St. Maria Goretti and St. Josefine Bakita

Blessed are the clean of heart,

St. Joseph and St. Agatha

Blessed are the peacemakers,

St. Martin de Porres

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

St. Maximilian Kolbe & St. Edith Stein

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me

St. Stephen and St. joan of Arc

Why do we pray to saints?

This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

Libelli - When you get to heaven, pray for me!

“We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.”

St. Dominic - When I get to heaven I will be more powerful than you can imagine

St. Therese - I will spend my time in heaven doing good on earth.

Mt 18:10 ‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

What does this have to do with me?

Are we to compare ourselves with the saints? Maybe

But better yet is to look up to them, aspire to their level of greatness, and their choice to choose Christ today, later today, tonight, later tonight, and tomorrow.  They didn’t stop running the race and conform their lives ever more to the love of God.  And maybe, just maybe, because they are right next to Christ, their pleading on your behalf might just make the difference!

Also, God answers in particular the prayers of the righteous. James declares: “(Jame 5:14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.)The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit” (Jas. 5:16–18). Yet those Christians in heaven are more righteous, since they have been made perfect to stand in God’s presence (Heb. 12:22-23)

All this isn’t just a nice option to have, it seems God wants us to do this!