India, Léonie W. Luternman  |
Introduction:
How awesome is the invitation to become ‘holy’, to become one with God, to be a saint. “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Lev. 19:2) Today, we celebrate the Feast of all Saints which gives us a moment to reflect on the secret and the desire of the saints.
Music: Father, Make Me Holy (From: God of Life, by Michael Talbot)
Reading: (Extracts from: Magnificat, November 2003, Vol. 5, No. 9)
According to Peter John Cameron, O.P, “the saints become like God by first facing the fact of their own humanity. They acknowledge that to be human is to be alive with longing — the longing to be happy. In fact, this yearning for happiness permeates every dimension of life. Every choice, every decision (they) make, aims in some way at fulfilling (their) expectation of happiness... Through the dynamic of desire, saints realize that they need something beyond themselves in order to attain the happiness that is their destiny. More precisely, (they) need some One — the very One who imbued (their) souls with these infinite desires in the first place.... They know that they are made for a ‘You’.
“... Saint(s) understand that all their desires lead (them) to the One who delights to give (them) what is needed to complete (them). The process of letting love carry us out of ourselves into the heart of the Beloved is what we call holiness....
“... Saints accept the simple fact that to be human is to depend.... Our freedom consists in recognizing that dependency is ‘who we are’.
“... Saints are those who experience the Presence of Jesus Christ as an unending event that changes their life moment by moment, and that transforms them more perfectly into the likeness of God.... They encounter Christ... in the face of everyone they meet.
“... The essence of sanctity consists in cultivating friendship, companionship, belonging. For in that intimacy, Jesus himself becomes the center of the saint’s human affection and freedom.”
Silent Reflection: (10 - 15 minutes) Suggestions below:
- What is the challenge for you in the above reading?
- In a sentence or two, how would you describe a ‘saint’?
- Reflect on a moment of stress, pain or difficulty in the past month.
If you asked yourself: “How would I like to have been in that moment?” what would your response be now? Would it be different from the actual moment?
Instrumental Music, if desirable
Sharing
Reading: Road of my Desire, by Frank Houghton (1894 - 1972)
(From: Christian Poetry: Collection, compiled by Mary Batchelor, p. 185)
O thou who dost direct my feet
To right or left where pathways part,
Wilt thou not, faithful Paraclete
Direct the journeying of my heart?
Into the love of God, I pray,
Deeper and deeper let me press,
Exploring all along the way
Its secret strength and tenderness.
Into the steadfastness of one
Who patiently endured the cross.
Of him who, though he were a Son,
Came to his crown through bitter loss.
This is the road of my desire —
Learning to love as God loves me,
Ready to pass through flood or fire
With Christ’s unwearying constancy. Pause.
Music: Beatitudes (From: Touch the Earth, by Kathy Sherman, CSJ)
Closing Prayer: “The Seven Steps of Morning” (from Out of the Ordinary, by Joyce Rupp, p. 182)
If praying with a group, all form a circle and face clockwise, moving in that direction. One small step is taken after a word is announced. Then the word ‘gratitude’, ‘love’, etc. is repeated quietly several times by the leader. Take a minute with the word before the next step is taken and the new word is announced and repeated.
