Nov 1st celebrates the feast of All Saints in the Catholic Church. From the men and women who walked along Jesus more than two thousand years ago to the recent deceased who faithfully have lived outstanding lives in the light of the gospel. Peter and Paul, Felicity and Perpetua, Francis of Assissi, Benedict of Nursia, Augustine of Hippo, the Gregory the Great, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila to Terese of Lisieux, what did all these men and women had in common?
Many people look for greatness when it comes to sainthood, after all, the Catholic Church designates this title as the highest measure of holiness in the Church. It is to no surprise that the ideal of sainthood is misinterpreted and misunderstood as a result. Sainthood is not a highest rank, a medal or an award. In fact, while it has to do with greatness--its relation with it is one that usually is misunderstood by people. We measure greatness in totalitarian terms most of the time. Automatically we designate holiness by the measurement of how effective a person was. How many lives did he or she touched? In how many humanitarian causes was he or she involved in? In other words, how successful was this person? But, what of those saints who lived secluded in monasteries and in the eyes of the world accomplished nothing? What of Jesus Christ whose death at the time was seeing as a total failure?
Sainthood has to do with greatness but not in the way many people understand greatness. What made this people special was the authenticity in which they lived their lives. The standard and values that they had for themselves were not only counter cultural most of the time, but were in fact great, beyond great--they were holy. Sainthood is a declaration of authentic living. To live a life that resembles the highest ideals, in fact, is great.
The Church reminds us that we are all called to be saints, not to greatness in the standard of how many people understand greatness, but in the standards of the gospel. The correlation here is that to live an authentic life, one must be fully oneself, and to do just that--one must get rid of the false self which alienates us from living the gospel fully. Ironically, when we are ourselves fully--is that we are must successful. After all, a preacher in Galilee was able to start a movement in the billions with twelve men not having ever to write a single word. Francis of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola, Augustine of Hippo and Benedict of Nursia started movements now in the hundreds of thousands by first simply living a life of complete prayer and devotion. Terese of Lisieux became patroness of all missioners without ever having to leave the convent herself.
All these men and lived their lives radically. They accepted fully the true self within them. A true self that they knew most of the time was not in agreement with the world. A true self that demanded to strive for great ideals--those of the gospel and they accepted living this type of life.
Authenticity then is the mark of greatness, is the mark of sainthood. As I walk in twenty-first century Chicago I am still amazed and perplexed to see so many people living authentic lives. Many will never be ever recognize in a public forum or have a text written about them, least be officially recognized by the Church as saints, but I know that they participate in the greatness of this tradition of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that they partake in the body of Christ and that they share in the communion of saints.
