A WORD FROM THE PASTOR

To Walk the Walk of the Saints

If you were looking for an answer for a questions - Why we Catholics honor the Saints - perhaps we could cite four reasons:

1. The Saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to Philip and to Timothy, he advises Christians to welcome, serve and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The saints enjoy heavenly bliss as a reward for their faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration. "The Saints", St. Bernard says, "have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs.... But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning."

2- The Saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives that Christ’s holy life of unconditional love, mercy, and forgiveness can, with God’s grace be lived by ordinary people, of all walks of life and at all times. 

3- The saints are our heavenly mediators who intercede for us before Jesus, the only mediator between God and us (Cfr. Jas 5:16-18, Ex 32:13, Jer 15:1, Rev 8:3-4). 

4- The Saints are the instruments that God uses to work miracles at present, just as he used the staff of Moses (Exodus), the bones of the prophet Elisha (II Kgs 13:21), the towel of Paul (Acts: 19:12) and the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) to work miracles.   For Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and to some extent, the Anglicans, “All Saints Day” is a day, not only to remember the saints and to thank God for them, but also to pray for their help.  It is, as well, a day to glorify Jesus Christ, who by his holy life and death has made the saints holy.

All Saints’ Feast day teaches us two strong messages: We need to accept the challenge to become saints. This feast offers a challenge to each one of us: anybody can, with the grace of God, become a saint, regardless of his or her age, lifestyle or living conditions. St. Augustine and several others accepted this challenge when they asked the question: "If he and she can become saints, why can't I?" On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the saints and not just talk the talk: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven" (Mt 7:21).

We can take the short cuts practiced by three Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for his glory and for the salvation of souls and by doing God’s will to the best of one’s ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love.  
 
Let us walk in the walk of the Saints.