When the Saints Go Marching In! By Genna Grabowy, Fiat Ventures

When the Saints Go Marching In!

By Genna Grabowy, Fiat Ventures

All Saints Day

When I was growing up and I heard about the Feast of All Saints. I thought it was pretty cool that we could celebrate the brave men and women who lived for God. That is as far as I went. I thought it was cool but there wasn’t much connection to these people holy people who had gone before us.  I certainly never thought that I myself was called to be a Saint.

I remember I had to do a report for class on a Saint. As I was browsing through my saint book I found a saint whose feast day was on my birthday, July 6^th. That was St. Maria Goretti. She was a true model of love and forgiveness even though she died very young. This was the first time I saw a Saint as a real person. Not just an old painting from a time that bore few resemblances to where we live today. I started to realize that if they were able to live for God in their time I could also in my time and in my own way live for God. That’s where this week’s Gospel reading comes into play.  This reading show us that no matter what the situation is, there are ways we can turn to God.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

This is what these Saints did. In every moment we have, good, or bad, in the times when we are challenged or praised we can give that all to God. In that way we are called to be saints here on earth so that we can be in union with God in heaven.  The Saints offered their actions for God. That does not mean that they did not sin. In fact some of these Saints had real struggles with sin before their deeper conversion in faith. And even after that does not mean they were sinless.

There is so much that we can learn from the Saints. Picking up a book of Saints is what gave me such encouragement to keep going every day. Everything we do every day can be an opportunity to offer the moment to God. If we are with our friends, family, at school or work we have a chance to try and live like a Saint. Even if it is a small act of kindness that could be exactly what God is asking us to do.

So let’s look at the Saints as models for how we can live out our faith, while remembering that they were regular people just like us who lived extraordinary, adventures lives of faith.   And 300 years from now when the Church is celebrating All Saints Day, they’ll be remembering you and me and asking for our intercession since we’ll be part of that number “when the Saints go marching in!”