I love All Saints Day, November 1st! Celebrating each of the Saints Feast’s Day is awesome, but everyone on the same day! Wow, that is spectacular! It was always a joy when my children were in 4th grade and they dressed up as their favorite Saint and processed into church with their place of honor at the front. During the homily, Fr. Jim would call a few “Saints” up and ask them questions. It was so sweet and often hilarious. One year he asked a boy in a St. Joseph costume to come forward. He asked him, “How are you today, St. Joseph? The lad looked a bit overwhelmed in front of everyone, looked away, and said nothing. Fr. Jim tried again, “What kinds of things do you make as a carpenter, St. Joseph?” The boy suddenly brightened up. He leaned into the microphone and everyone was excited to hear his answer. With great enthusiasm he said, “a race car.” Giggles scattered through the church. Fr. Jim said, “Well, St. Joseph, that is wonderful. You can sit down now, we know you are a very holy man and you do not like to waste your time in idle chatter.” 🙂

 I collect Saint quotes like other people collect stamps. Hundreds of them…I start every day with a quote and when covid began, my sweet daughter posted inspiring Saint quotes through the house. I have come to rely on the wisdom of these holy men and women. I cannot always remember the particulars of each Saint but I can usually recall an inspiring quote from them. It is like a little piece of their holiness that they pass on to us, encouraging us on our journey and a road sign to point us to Jesus and our ultimate destination. I don’t know about you, but I get lost pretty easily without proper directions. My kids have no idea how I got anywhere without GPS. 

The Saints are on the sidelines of our life, cheering us on, interceding for us, and encouraging us to be saints too.  They were real people who at some point made a radical decision to follow the Lord in ways that most of us cannot imagine…giving away all their possessions, leading armies in France to triumph as a teenager, going to foreign lands under harsh conditions to share the Good News, and taking care of the dying in the streets of India, to just name a few. What was it that made them change the course of their ordinary life to do extraordinary things for God? I believe a common thread for all of them was that they were ready to surrender and trust in the Lord and say, “Yes!” when God asked them. Not all of us are called to an extreme life like theirs but we are asked to follow the Lord more closely each day.  A young man once was confused about his vocation and felt terribly “lost.” He talked to a priest who said, “Your number one goal is always sainthood, nothing less.” I think that is good advice for everyone.

A Few of My Favorite Saint Quotes:
“Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude.”  St. Therese the Little Flower

“Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” St. Padre Pio

“Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to Mary, the Immaculata who is queen even of God’s heart.” Saint Maximilian Kolbe

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”  St. Mother Teresa

“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures, we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son Jesus.”
Saint John Paul II

We are so blessed to have thousands of incredibly holy men and women that we can call upon to intercede for us. There is a Patron Saint for just about every illness, struggle, and condition known to man, just google. 🙂 There are so many beautiful ways to honor the Saints, these brave, faithful, humble, holy, and loving people who inspire us to love the Lord like they did, with total abandon. Have fun celebrating them by cooking a special meal, reading about the Saints, playing Saint games, like 20 questions, dressing up like them, and most of all praying to them for their intercession.

Would you pray with me? Dear Holy Spirit, we ask you to show us our weaknesses and provide us the humility and fortitude to overcome them. Please enlighten us on how we can be more holy in our day-to-day life. Show us how to use our time, talents, and treasures to build up your kingdom. Let our love for you be so strong that it overflows to all in our path. Give us the courage to say “YES!” to You when you ask us to do something, help someone, die to ourselves, sacrifice, and above all love you with all our strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. Let our goal each day be sainthood. We thank you for your many blessings and praise You. We ask this through Jesus and with the Blessed Mother’s intercession. Amen  

Be assured of my prayers for you, dear friends in Christ! If you have a favorite Saint quote, please share!

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