By Sister Elise Saggau, osf
Today is the feast of all the saints. Within the liturgical year, the Church creates what we call a “sanctoral cycle,” a series of feasts or commemorations that honors those persons whom the Church recognizes as saints. It sets before us, practically daily, the names and faces of the holy ones who have gone before us. Sometimes we are very inspired and impressed by the stories told about their lives. Sometimes, we are a bit mystified. Nevertheless, these men and women stand as our sisters and brothers, gone before us on a path that we ourselves are struggling to follow. They have completed their journeys with honor and now turn and encourage us, cheering us on through good times and bad.
Sometimes, as we go through life, we think there are different types of holiness—the kind that characterizes those who end up being canonized and another kind that characterizes “ordinary persons” like ourselves. But, the Church is not made up of saints and non-saints. There is only one kind of holiness, and it characterizes every single member of Christ’s body. This is God’s holiness, inspired and realized by God’s own Holy Spirit.
In every generation, Christian people seem to have certain gifts that are just what is needed for their own historical moment. They give living witness that the Spirit of holiness has not abandoned the Church. Now, of course, every baptized person is not going to reach the level that the official Church decides to canonize, but every single one is invited to the same circle of sanctity. Ages ago, St. Augustine told his community that if they were not capable of following the well-known saints in action, they should strive to follow them in affection. If they could not reach the same level of glory, they should participate in that reflected glory with joy and gladness. If they could not reach the same level of merit, they should nevertheless desire it. If they could not reach the same excellence, then they should cultivate a close relationship with those who have it. That is, of course, precisely what we do when we celebrate the feast days of the saints. A saint, after all, is not a saint for himself or herself. Any holiness that shines through another human being is an invitation and a challenge for all observers to imitate and follow.
Perhaps this story offers a simple, yet insightful, thought. A certain local parish church boasted beautiful stained glass windows. Each depicted a saint, using a variety of primary colors: red, blue, yellow, and many variations in between. And much like in our own chapel, when the sun shone through in the morning and evening, these windows would glow with an indescribable beauty, and this light would permeate the entire church with a rainbow of color. Well, one day the pastor of that church was talking to the children about the saints, a little bit like Father Dave Maciej might have done. He asked what they thought a saint was. One little girl’s hand went up immediately. “Ok, Marilyn,” said the pastor. “What do you thing a saint is?” “That’s easy,” replied Marilyn brightly. “A saint is someone that the light shines through!” She got it in one!
The holiness of a saint is God’s own holiness. Its shining through a human being is bound to illuminate anyone coming in contact with that person. The holiness of a saint is, by its very nature, an invitation and a challenge for all observers to imitate and follow. Francis and Clare of Assisi are, of course, such paradigmatic figures for us. We personally have chosen to be illuminated by the light that shines through them. We know that this light passes through us to others. We have witnesses on every side who testify to this. Today, in our own times, with the seemingly overwhelming challenges that beset the human community, we must do the best we can to let the light shine through. Such light does not provide answers to the issues of our times, but such light provides a light for the dark paths we must traverse. It gives courage, and it assures those who pay attention that there is a path and that it is leading us onward and upward. Let us be for our times what the saints of the past have been for theirs. Such is our mission for our times.
On this feast of All Saints, let us remember that we belong to this holy company. Let us rejoice that it has come to us as a pure gift of God. Let us live our Franciscan lives so that all the host of Heaven and earth will have to pause in amazement and say: “Here live great and faithful Franciscans who have let God’s light shine through!”
