Of Saints and Souls

If I think about it with intentionality, like I have this week following All Saints and All Souls Days, my life is often blessed with beatitude. How often do I forget that the Christian life is characterized by the saintly in my midst, and the souls I care for. So often I miss the blessing!

First, the saints -- aren't we as Catholics ALL called to be saints? Or at least saints-in-the-making? I witness ordinary saints in my life all the time... the friends who call to say "howzitgoing?" or the ones who help me coordinate a carpool. They are the ones who "come through," especially in emergencies. Like the husband who interupts his workday to bring a gallon of gas when I am stranded on the side of the road.

Then there are the unnamed, unknown saints who hold doors, use manners, smile at people that they don't know, let your car in at a merge, or agree to do a disagreeable chore and do so with the utmost integrity, and so on. It's beatitude-in-action.

I know a few high-caliber saints too: priests who offer their physical suffering up for others without complaining, as they offer the Mass; parents of disabled children or children of special needs; survivors of sexual abuse, or abuse of any kind, who have gone on to help other victims; the sick who will never get well but who live valiantly each day; caregivers of the dying, and the dying themselves. Each living the beatitudes every day, even every hour.

I am trying to live beatitude, by being attentive to my, uh, attitude. So that, one day, my ordinariness may reflect saintliness, whether I am scrubbing a toilet, making someone's lunch, answering the phone or receiving communion. I long to see all people with the eyes of Jesus, and receive all people with the heart of Jesus. But this is also just where I see my failings most of all. It is the wrestling of doing a saint's work in a sinner's soul.

The souls I care for are my family and the those beyond my doorstep.

This week was an incredibly difficult one for my husband, who was one of the sole survivors of a corporate layoff. Now I am praying that his soul survives the turmoil that follows. Unemployment is circling us like sharks in the water, and our family boat is bobbing as we ride out this storm. What is the beatitude in all of this? How can we best meet the needs of those in need? What would Jesus do, and will we, can we, do it?

Then there are the children: two beautiful teenagers and a wannabe. When they were little, it was easy to understand how I must tend to their souls as a mother... the way is less clear for me now. I know that I am still a guide and gatekeeper, but there is soooo much letting go! What would Jesus do, and will we, can we, do it? How can I live the beatitudes when I'm dealing with so much Attitude? (Including my own!) How can I show them that sanctity is their calling too?

I know and have been taught that the soul of each person is of inestimatable value, and because of that dignity, I should serve each person as I would approach Christ. Therein lies my challenge and the dark side of my life... failing to recognize the face of Christ even in those I love the most. Beatitude is learning the walk of a saint while I am still stuck in a sinner's shoes.

So what to do with this conundrum of being called to be a saint, while being stuck in the muck of sin and selfishness? In the end, the Gospel gives us the flicker of hope. It shines light on even the most resistant sinner because of the work of Christ.

Jesus has already done it all. His dying. His resurrection. He is the True Beatitude.

That is why we have saints in the first place: because they have gone ahead of us understanding the gift of soul. It is the gift of beatitude--the blessing that is hidden within the struggle, and the blessing that will remain long after the struggle fades. In the end, we are promised to be soul survivors: otherwise known as saints.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:3-16.)