We can all be saints!

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

LET’S be clear about this. We can all be saints. In fact, we should try our best to be saints, since insofar as God is concerned, everything has been given so that what he wants us to be can really turn into reality. Things just depend on us, on how we correspond to the will of God for us.

Remember St. Peter citing a passage from the Scripture: “You must be holy because I am holy.” (1 Pt 1,16) And St. Paul reiterates the same idea: “This is the will of God—you sanctification.” (1 Thes 4,3) And Christ himself said: “Be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Mt 5,48)

With everything that God through Christ in the Holy Spirit has done for this purpose, we can say that our ultimate failure would be if at the end of our earthly life we fail to be saints.

Not only is God offering us grace, the Church, the sacraments, the doctrine, etc., etc., he in Christ is also eager to identify himself with our worst condition in our life, showing us how to handle it so we can manage to share his own life, that is, to be holy and be saints. Thus, in the gospel of the Solemnity of All Saints, we are reminded of the beatitudes that reassure us that we can be blessed in our bad conditions of being poor, persecuted, etc., if we follow him. (cfr. Mt 5,1-12)

We should feel at home with this most wonderful will of God, overcoming whatever disbelief and awkwardness we may have about it, and trying our best to follow all that Christ has taught, shown, commanded and empowered us.

Sanctity should be a constant concern we ought to have. We should not be derailed from this pursuit by aiming only at some practical purposes and other earthly and human goals which, no matter how legitimate, can only be at best a means, an occasion, an instrument to develop sanctity and to do apostolate which always go along with the pursuit for holiness.

Our work, for example, for which we spend most of our time during our active life, can and should be a wonderful occasion to seek sanctity and do apostolate. It’s there where we can truly encounter God and others and develop our intimate relationship with them. 

We should never regard our work as purely worldly as to have no relation with God and others. If we let ourselves be guided by our Christian faith, we know that our work, no matter how mundane and small as long as it is honest, is always our cooperation in the abiding providence of God over all his creation. It is supposed to lead us to God and to strengthen our relation with everybody else. There is something sacred in it.

When we end the day with an examination of conscience which is highly recommended if we are truly serious with our God-given life, we should have the sensation that there is some growth, no matter how small, in our sanctity. We should not judge the value of our day by purely earthly standards like efficiency, profitability, practicality, etc.

There should be the sensation that we are getting closer to God and everybody else, because we manage to give our heart to them, willing to fight and overcome any obstacle that we can encounter in our pursuit for our love for God and others, which is the essence of sanctity.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.co

The Solemnity of All Saints

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THIS Solemnity is not only an occasion to celebrate the success stories of

holiness of those who are already in heaven, and are recognized and canonized by the

Church as saints. It is also a strong reminder that all of us are called to holiness. And

the way to holiness is clearly spelled out by Christ himself when he preached about the

beatitudes. (cfr. Mt 5,1-12)

Everyone can be a saint because God calls all and empowers all to be so. Ever

wondered why Christ chose his apostles practically randomly? He, for example, would

just pass by Matthew in his tax collector’s table and say, “Come, follow me,” without as

much checking on Matthew’s background.

Same with brothers Peter and Andrew, and James and John. Christ would just

call them, and without asking any question they simply left their nets, for they were

fishermen, and followed Christ.

In the end, he would also call Judas Iscariot who would later betray him. Christ,

being God, would have known that Judas would turn him in. But that did not deter him.

He called Judas just the same to be one of his 12 apostles.

The only reason I can find for this behavior of Christ is that he has the right to call

anyone and everyone to follow him. And that’s simply because, as God, he has that

right since all of us come from him and belong to him. As redeemer, he calls everyone

to follow him.

Yes, everyone is called to holiness, because everyone is a creature of God, and

as such is therefore created in the image and likeness of God, adopted a child of his,

and meant to participate in the very life of God.

There is a basic and inalienable equality among all of us insofar as we are God’s

creatures and children called to holiness. Regardless of our position and state in life,

whether we are priests, religious men and women, or ordinary lay faithful, we have the

same calling and purpose in life.

Corollary to this truth is that there is also a basic and inalienable quality of

everything in the world to be an occasion and means for our sanctification. To be holy

does not mean that we only spend time praying, going to church, availing of the

sacraments, etc.

To be sure, prayer, the sacraments, the doctrine of our faith, obedience to the

Church hierarchy are important and indispensable, but these would hang on thin air if

they are not supported and made as the goal and expression of a sanctified life that is

consistent to the teachings and the spirit of God as lived in the middle of the world.

And given our wounded condition, we have to understand that the road to

sanctity will always pass through the ways of suffering in this life. Thus, Christ preached

about the beatitudes where what we usually consider as human disasters or clear

disadvantages and inconveniences according to worldly standards are converted into a

source of joy, a means of our redemption, a path to heaven, narrow and difficult though

it may be.

They expand our understanding of what would comprise as our true happiness

by including those situations which we normally regard as unsavory and therefore to be

avoided as much as possible and hated.

We need to study well the content and spirit behind the beatitudes by looking

closely at the example of Christ. There we will have the reassurance that all the

suffering and sacrifices that we have to go through would be all worth it.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com