The real heroes, the real celebrities, are the saints. They’re the only ones worth imitating.

“Follow the saints, because those who follow them will become saints.”
 - Pope Saint Clement I – (Died 99: also known as Saint Clement of Rome, he was said to have been consecrated by Saint Peter)

Gospel Text: (MT 5:1-12A)

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,

and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you

and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.

Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward will be great in heaven.”

“What does it mean to be a saint?

At the moment that each of us was conceived, as our parents shared in the power of God the Creator, that very God called each one of us into existence, and gave us life.

But it’s not the fact that we are alive that makes us children of God, for God could have given us any form of life He wanted. He could have made us a plant, or a lower form of animal on the ladder of created things. All these things have life, but they are not children of God.

We tend to think that it’s our gifts of personality, intelligence, social status, our salaries, or the size of our homes that makes us who we are. And sad to say, in the eyes of other people that may be true. Other people may rate us as persons according to these things. But God’s ways are not our ways.

In the eyes of God, what makes you human is your capacity to be transformed: your capacity to be transformed into something other than what you began life as. This doesn’t simply mean the ability to change form: all animals change shape and size from being an embryo, to an infant, to a youngster, to an adult. We are a human being throughout, and are the same person throughout. But to put this in a single word, human life is marked by the possibility of “transcendence”. As humans, God has given us the power to change our position on that ladder: we can climb that ladder, and reach for Heaven. 

We can approach God and become like Him with the help of his grace, if we are receptive to it.