Every 1st of November all roads lead to the cemetery. People light candles and pray for the dead. Yet in the Church’s liturgy its the solemnity of all saints! Today we celebrate the saints with the small ‘s.’ The ‘small time’ saints, the unknown and uncanonized ones. Yet saints nonetheless because they have reached heaven. After all that is what matters. We are to reach heaven; while some get there in big steps, others in small ones.
Today we are reminded that heaven is our final destiny. But before we become saints we must first die and bid goodbye to this world. Its something most people fear. Death is the final act of detachment which needs a tremendous amount of faith. Don Bosco’s last words as he lay dying on his bed were: ‘tell my boys that I’m waiting for them in paradise.’
Pope John Paul II raised so many saints in his long pontificate. When asked why, he explained that ‘holiness should be the ordinary ambition of a Christian.’ A Christian cannot but be holy! Every Christian is simply called to be Christ-like in his or her thoughts, words and actions. God says: ‘be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy!’
The world is in need of new saints: committed, courageous and compelling. Can you be one of them?
Disclaimer: This section of the website is a personal creative writing of the author and does not necessarily reflect the official views, opinion, or policies of the Salesians of Don Bosco – Philippines South Province. For concerns on the content, style, and grammar of this piece, please contact us.