As we celebrate the great Solemnity of All Saints’ Day, I am reminded that none of those the church venerates as saints likely started their lives thinking they would one day be honored throughout the world. It is good to remember that the likes of St. Anthony of Padua, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Therese—and the many more we hold dear—were real people with real difficulties, hopes, joys and fears. 

Bishop John N. Tran

This is not to dismiss the saints whom we call upon daily in life and work. My point is to say that we sometimes sanitize the saints, especially those who lived long ago. Their stories of holiness and virtue can seem out of reach for us ordinary humans. However, in truth, most of them struggled mightily. Read their stories and you will see that no path led straight to sanctity. Life was not easy for them, and it’s not easy for us. The saints were ordinary humans who endured, who fought the good fight and kept their eyes focused on Christ.  

We are all called to do the same; we are all called to be holy, to be saints, even though the journey is long and arduous. On All Saints’ Day, we honor those who have gone before us, showing us the ladder of virtue that leads to our heavenly home. Although they are our models, we are not called to be another St. Francis of Assisi or St. Catherine of Siena or St. Maximilian Kolbe. We are called to be the saint God asks us to be, right here in our own place and time. That means something different for you than it means for me; God has his plan for each of us.  

In his general audience at the Vatican last March, Pope Francis said that it is wrong to think of the saints as “a kind of small circle of champions who live beyond the limits of our species.” Instead, he said that saints are “those who fully become themselves, who realize the vocation of every person.” 

All Saints’ Day is a time to honor every saint—those known and unknown, those canonized by the church and those recognized only by the Lord. There are many people I believe could be called saints, people who led lives of exemplary holiness, who put on the mind and heart of Christ. There are ordinary people such as those who care for the lonely and the poor out of love, without expectation of recognition. There are extraordinary people such as the late Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, who was imprisoned by the Communists in Vietnam for 13 years, nine in solitary confinement. Instead of losing hope, he spread hope through his writings and his forgiveness. 

I have no doubt you could name some models of virtue in your life as well. These are among the saints we honor and call upon on All Saints’ Day and every day. They have shown us the path to true holiness, how to be completely the person the Lord has fashioned us to be. In the end, after all, it is God’s dream that we are all called saints. Let us ever strive to make God’s dream come true.