Who wants to be a saint?

Now if I asked “Who wants to be a millionaire?” like they did on the hit TV series, I’m sure everyone would answer, “me, I do!” But what was your first thought when you read the question in my blog header? Was it “me, I do!” Or was it, “um, not me, really…I’m not qualified, it’s too hard, I’m too much of a sinner…” Yes, they are my immediate answers too. But I believe God calls us all to be saints, and what’s more, to answer that question with a resounding “ME, I DO!” Like anything you want to do or be in life, first you have to want it…and then work for it. If we all had the same drive to want to become saints that we do to become doctors, lawyers, authors, speakers, mothers, fathers…well, the world would probably be a better place. The problem is not that we aren’t qualified. Jesus even tells us “…whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.” (John 14:12) He’s actually telling us we are qualified to do more than He did…to become disciples and even saints! We just have to want it…and then work for it. Yesterday on All Saints Day I thought about how neat it is that we have seen and known saints in our own lifetime. I actually saw St. John Paul II when he was our Pope visiting Baltimore. I also visited his tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican during my trip to Italy this past summer. And of course Mother Theresa has been beatified and will most likely be canonized one day. Now, you say, they were extraordinary…but actually both of them admitted to struggling from time to time. And most saints, if you look them up, were far from perfect. They made mistakes. They were sinners too. But they kept trying to do God’s Will. And so must we. Is it egotistical to hope we can be saints one day? I think not. Actually, it’s quite humbling when you really think about it. You and I are called to be extraordinary…in little acts of faith, hope and love every day. Those days add up to lifetimes. I hope we can at least say we wanted to be saints and we did the best we could trying!