Light of the Saints

The saints reach out to us across the centuries to remind us of two things: (1) we need God (which is what it means to be “poor in spirit,” as Fr. Meinrad noted at mass today), and (2) we are deeply loved by God. These two beliefs are like a thread of golden light that connects us to all the holy ones who have come before us and will follow us.

As early as 419, the monk and theologian John Cassian wrote in his Conferences that the mantra “O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me” is an ideal prayer, no matter our condition—when we are in distress, it reminds us that we are in God’s hands, and when we are successful, it helps us avoid pride by reminding us that God is the source of all good. All saints know that they need God, and it is this understanding that helps them be faithful and allow God to work through them.

Further along in human history, around 1395, mystic and theologian Julian of Norwich wrote her book Revelations of Divine Love, which confirmed God’s ever-present love for humans and infinite capacity for forgiveness. All saints have had some type of intimate experience of God’s love for them, which leads to trust and the desire to transmit that love to others.

When we are able to integrate into our lives the beliefs that we need God and we are deeply loved by God, we likely will not minister to the dying in the slums of Calcutta as Mother Teresa did or found a new religious order as St. Francis Xavier was called to do. However, like all holy men and women, we will respond to the needs of our own times and manifest God as only we in our uniqueness can do, using the light of the saints to guide us.