Be A Saint, Be Yourself

Praying to the saints is one of the many beautiful teachings of the Catholic Church. Saints inspire us, uplift us, and help us draw closer to Christ. Saints give us an ideal to strive for--they help us understand that we too can become like Christ.

More often than not though, we fall into the trap of thinking only certain people can be saints. “In order to be a saint I must be a priest. I have to have a vocation to religious life, or sell all of my possessions, or move to India to be a missionary, or…” the list goes on. We do a good job of assigning sainthood to a particular type of person.

News flash: we’re called to be saints right now. Whether it’s school, work, religious life, single life, or marriage, whatever your vocation is, now is the perfect time for you to begin working towards sainthood. You don’t have to be Saint Paul or John Paul the Great—you need to be you.

I work as an Executive Officer for Infantry One Station Unit Training (OSUT)—this is basic training as well as Infantry specific training all in one location. (The goal with OSUT is to save precious tax-payer dollars!) With my job, I have the opportunity to get to know the Soldiers throughout their 14-week training cycle. It’s very satisfying to see their transformation from civilian to Soldier.

One Soldier in particular found his way to my office via his Drill Sergeant (It’s no secret I’m Catholic—I have prayers posted in my office and a crucifix on my desk). This Soldier explained to me he needed to get out of the Army so he could go to Africa to be a missionary. He also explained his desire for mission work came from dreams he experienced at night in the barracks.

Many times trainees will try to find a way out of the Army. Upon entering OSUT, they realize the Army is very different from the ideal they had when they originally signed the dotted line. However, this Soldier sincerely believed his call was to Africa for mission work.

The details of our conversation will remain between the two of us, but our conversation resulted with this Soldier realizing he could be a missionary at OSUT. He realized his time as a Soldier could prepare him for future missionary work in Africa if that truly was his call.

I was very proud to see him march across the parade field on graduation day.

You don’t have to spread the Gospel to a lost tribe (though that is a nice thing) in order to be a saint. Start with doing the dishes or raking the yard. Tell your spouse you love him or her. Speak a kind word to someone. Offer every small act up to Christ. For as Christ tells us in Matthew 25:23: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.”

Be simple, be yourself, be a Saint.