St. Ignatius of Loyola
The Primary Purpose of man on earth
is to know God, love God, and serve God in this short life so as to be happy
with him forever in heaven. This is a clear and unequivocal truth taught in the
Baltimore Catechism.
St. Ignatius of Loyola in the
Spiritual Exercises, in Principle and Foundation, expresses the same truth but
using slightly different words: “Man is
created to praise God, reverence God, serve God, and by means of that to save
his soul. “ (Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, # 23)
Many today live in a perpetual
identity crisis as to who they really are, what their ultimate destiny is and
how to arrive at their ultimate and final destiny!
Another approach to this existential
problem and the answer to it is expressed in the fifth chapter of the Dogmatic
Constitution of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen
Gentium--- the universal call to holiness.
In the most concrete of expressions: All are called to become
saints. None other than Jesus Himself
taught this in the Sermon on the Mount. (Mt. 5—7) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
holiness, they will be filled.” (Mt. 5:6)
Then a little later: “Be holy as
your Heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt. 5:48)
St. Paul, in his letter to the
Thessalonians, reiterated the same message:
“This is the will of your Heavenly Father, your sanctification.”
The saints are unanimous in their
teaching as well as their having lived out this call to holiness. No surprise,
the reality that they indeed are saints!
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
expressed an unchangeable condition for entrance into the Missionaries of
Charity--- the ardent desire to become a saints. She asserted with firm conviction: “Holiness
is not the privilege of the few, but it is the duty of all.” This
is simply another way of expressing the
concept of Vatican II of the Universal
call to holiness.
The recently canonized saint, founder
of Opus Dei, Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer lamented over many modern
crises. Viewing the world at large full
of crises, he stated that the biggest and most serious crisis was the lack of
saints!
St. Maximilian Kolbe
In catechism classes frequently I
challenge children, teens as well as adults to pursue holiness of life and an
ardent yearning for sanctity. I ask the
simple question: “How many of you want
to go to heaven?” All hands shoot up
immediately! Then the following question
is: “How many of you want to become
saints?” Very few hands, if indeed any at all, spring to the air! Pursuing the concept, I point out that God is
in heaven, Mary is in heaven, the angels are in heaven, as well as the saints
are in heaven. The conclusion follows:
to make it to heaven all of us have to become saints--- no exception to the
rule is permitted! Of course it must be
explained that most saints are not canonized but anonymous, but still they are
saints.
Therefore, starting today, why not
make a firm commitment: I will strive with all of the energy in my soul and
with the help of God’s grace to become a saint. May Our Lady, “Mary most holy”,
the Queen of all of the angels and saints, intercede for me and help me to
become the saint that God indeed has called me to become!
Mary, the Mystical Spouse of the Holy Spirit
