Most days of the year, we remember, celebrate, and honor at least one saint as prescribed in the General Roman Calendar. Pope Leo XIV is about to canonize two more saints in early September: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis.
We truly are “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1), and I wonder if we could turn to them more to seek their intercession and help on our way to joining them in heaven. The Church teaches that those of us on Earth, those being purified, and those in heaven all form one Church, and that God and His saints are always attentive to our prayers.
I have two questions for you today. First: Do you have a favorite saint or saints? And if so, do you learn about them and pray to them?
For me, saints named John have always stood out: St. John of the Cross, St. John Chrysostom, St. John Damascene, St. John Vianney (patron of parish priests), St. John XXIII, and St. John Paul II.
St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist stand out most of all. I asked my father when I was younger who I was named after, and he told me it was St. John the Apostle. My parents wanted me to be “beloved” by Jesus as St. John was.
Honestly, I was kind of hoping it would have been St. John the Baptist. Nothing at all against the other John, but I was thinking more about my vocation at that point and loved some things about St. John the Baptist, who said about Jesus: “He must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
I loved how John viewed himself as not the Messiah but someone preparing the way for Jesus. And I love how St. John the Apostle writes in his Gospel about St. John the Baptist saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
St. John the Baptist knew his purpose was to “prepare the way of the Lord” and then, in a sense turn, things over to Jesus. That, to me, summarizes the role of a priest. A priest is called not to be God but to prepare a path for others to see, know, and believe in Jesus. I hope that I have done that all these years, helping Jesus increase in those around me as they increasingly sense the Lamb of God in their midst.
I have affection for multiple women saints as well. My first assignment was at Little Flower, so I think of Therese of Lisieux. Before that, my first assignment as a deacon was at St. Jane de Chantal, who had such a great love for Jesus and started the Visitation sisters, where I still help a couple times a month with Mass on Saturdays.
The Blessed Mother and her “yes” to God have always moved me. As you may know, one of my principles in life is to say “yes” whenever I can, and Mary’s yes to the angel Gabriel is the ultimate example of that – agreeing to God’s plan even if she couldn’t understand.
Now for my second question: Do you see yourself as a potential saint? I think a lot of us would say, “No, I’m not like all those saints.” And yet, we are all called to be saints. There are saints formally canonized by the Church, but there are many more saints who are with God in heaven. They are the “communion of saints” mentioned in the Apostles’ Creed.
Years ago, I was at one of the local schools on All Saints Day. It was an all-boys school, and I remember asking the boys who among them wanted to be a saint. Not one hand went up. But then I asked, “Who wants to go to heaven?” All the hands went up.
The two aren’t mutually exclusive. Anyone who goes to heaven is a saint. They are examples to us of ordinary lives lived in extraordinary ways, as Mother Teresa, St. Teresa of Calcutta, said. They could be your spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, neighbors, priests or anyone else. They remind us we have a call to holiness and that we aim to join them when we are called home to God. We aim to be saints.
Think about your favorite saints, whether they are officially recognized by the Church or loved ones who are with God. Learn about them and why he or she speaks to you and what you can emulate in your own journey. And don’t be afraid to pray to them and ask for their help.
Also think about your own journey to sainthood. It may seem hard to believe, but you are a saint in the making. Embrace God’s love and call and think about how you are or are not living the life God created you for. Most of us will not be formally canonized by the Church, but we will be known by those who love us, whose lives we touch, and by the God who gave us life and will one day welcome us home with those who have gone before us.
(Msgr. John Enzler serves as the mission advocate of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a chaplain at his alma mater, St. John’s College High School in Washington. He writes the Faith in Action column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)
