The protagonist in Graham Green’s novel “The Power and the Glory” is an alcoholic, deeply flawed and fugitive priest who after being on the run from Mexican authorities has been caught and is soon to be executed. As the “whisky priest” sits in his cell contemplating his life, Greene writes: “Tears poured down his face. He felt an immense disappointment … It seemed to him at that moment that it would have been quite easy to have been a saint. It would only have needed a little self-restraint, and a little courage. He felt like someone who has missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place. He knew now that at the end there was only one thing that counted—to be a saint.”
So is the whisky priest correct? Is trying to become saint what all followers of Christ should aspire to? And, if so, is it easy? I believe, yes, it should be the aspiration of all Christians, and, no, it is not easy. But if aiming for a life of holiness can be a difficult path, it is also a joyful one. Striving to trust in God’s love and to look outside ourselves to the needs of others—which is what saints do—is, I believe, our only chance for deep down peace and joy in this world.
All Saints’ Day is celebrated November First by many Christian denominations, including the Catholic and Orthodox churches and various Protestant denominations such as Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian. The purpose of this holy day is to honor the lives and examples of Christian saints. Many religions other than Christianity have saints, although they are sometimes called by different titles. As I have only a finite knowledge of these faiths, I will limit my discussion to Christian saints.
What is a saint? Generally speaking, a saint is a person who with great commitment centers their life on trusting in and accepting God’s love and following the teaching and example of Jesus. In Catholicism, the title saint is reserved for those who have gone through a formal, in-depth, and rigorous vetting process called canonization. Many Protestant denominations recognize canonized saints, but some view all the faithfully departed as saints.
A commonality among saints is that they are completely committed—completely “all-in”—to following Christ. And Jesus summed up all the commandments by saying we are to love God and love our neighbors. (Love in this sense does not mean like or agree with. But rather we are to wish the best for all people and be kind to them.) Aside from this core commitment that all saints share, these holy women and men can differ radically. Saints have variously lived in solitude and community, have traveled widely or never left their hometowns, are outgoing or introverted, learned or unschooled, have lived brief or long lives. In short, they are like us. And like the saints we all have different talents and blessings. As followers of Christ our task is to share these with others—our family, friends, coworkers, community, and neighbors, remembering that our neighbors are anyone who crosses our path, including strangers, and including those with different religious or political orientations.
For a sample of how different saints can be one can review the backgrounds of Francis of Assisi, Thérèse of Lisieux (pictured), Oscar Romero, and Hildegard of Bingen. About their only commonality was their love of God and commitment to following Christ. How they shared their wildly different gifts could not be more varied. And these are just four of the over 1,700 saints canonized by the Catholic Church. How many “unnamed” saints there have been and are currently walking the earth is known only to God. I suspect they are legion. I had the ultimate blessing of being loved by one for 21 years; and when our mother died my sisters and I experienced her returning to God. Ah, such grace. Maybe you too have lived with a saint. Or know one. Or are on the road to becoming one.
My prayer for us all is that when our time comes we do not share the whisky priest’s lament that we squandered our common vocation to love, which is the task of all Christians—saints and saints in formation. Ultimately, I believe, that is all Christ asks of us. And, blessedly, it is never too late to start.
Tim Spengler attends Holy Trinity Church in Juneau. He is a hospice chaplain and has a spiritual direction practice (spenglerspiritualdirection.com). Spengler’s novel, “Boojum Tree,” is available locally and on Amazon.
