OF SAINTS, SINNERS, AND THE DIVINE MERCY

A couple of years ago, I saw an animated film titled RIO 2, which proved to be pretty
insightful. It was about Blu, a domesticated macaw bird from small-town Minnesota, who alter
years of domestication started believing that he was a ground being. Even though he knew he
was a bird and not a man, he would rather walk and run. He had convinced himself that he
could not fly. Until one day, he met a fiercely independent fellow bird named Jewel, who not
only catapulted his heart to the heights of romance but also opened his eyes to who he really
was - a being of flight.

Success is only half determined by capacity, the other half by self-identity. Blu's capacity for
flight has always been there. He only needed to claim and own his real identity. With the
help and inspiration of Jewel, he raised his consciousness to his true calling - a bird meant
to soar high up in the heavens.

On April 27, 2014, two of the most: beloved popes of modern history, Sts. John XXIII and John
Paul II, were canonized. The saints, in like manner, are "Jewels" to many of us who have
become like Blu. Believe or not, every Christian is called to be a saint, to soar high into
heaven. Ingrained in our spiritual DNA is the call and capacity to be one. But like Blu, we
have been "domesticated" by our weakness. We have been conditioned to think that we
should walk rather than fly. We need someone like Jewel to rekindle and reawaken the
goodness in us. Quite literally, the saints arc the Jewels that shine within the community of
believers.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic
virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of
holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as
models and intercessors." (CCC 828)

In one of my friend's posts, she called the saints "spiritual post-its". Saints remind us of our
daily battle against spiritual mediocrity. The saints are simply people who believe that their
weakness do not define who they are. One of my favorite quotes about the saints goes:
"There is no saint without a past; no sinner without a future."

Let us be "Jewels", "spiritual post-its" to one another. In the meantime, tell yourself, "I will take
recourse in the Divine Mercy. I will be patient with my own falls and failures. I won't distance
myself from the Church of Christ. I will keep plodding on in this community of sinners trying its
best to become saints. I will look at the Mary
Magdalenes, the Pauls, the Simon Peters, the Augustines, and the countless sinners of
salvation history who are now saints."

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1.) How do I see or appreciate the saints?

2.) Is there a particular saint I am drawn to or wish to imitate?