During this month of November, we remember in a special way all the saints who have gone before us -- known and unknown, named and unnamed. The saints remind us of what we are made for, of our hearts’ greatest longings and desires. Their example shows us the possibility of true happiness and peace in the kingdom of heaven.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once said, “The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” The world promises us that the way to be happy is to have everything easy and comfortable, not to be bothered by anybody, to be able to live however we want to live -- in short, to be mediocre. But this is not the promise of the Gospel. Rather, the Gospel promises that when we die to ourselves and our superficial desire for comfort and ease, we will rise to new life with Christ in joy. Jesus calls us to a greatness, a holiness, a “being-set-apart” that will lead us to a life of true happiness and peace, both now and for all eternity.

The greatness for which we are made does not consist so much in what we do as in who we are. Do we let who we are as sons and daughters of God Himself shape everything we are, everything we have, everything we do in each small moment of our lives?

The saints are people who opened themselves up to receive God’s love and to let it transform their lives. They did not answer their call to greatness only at the moments of big decisions or glorious tasks. Rather, every moment of their lives was so permeated with love for God that they accomplished even the simplest of tasks out of the greatness of that love. St. Therese of Lisieux said, “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.” In each moment of their lives, the saints lived the call to greatness we have all received. To be a saint is certainly not to be mediocre or content with seeking mere ease and comfort in our lives.

As a teacher, I have noticed that when I “preach” to my students about not being content with mediocrity, I seldom notice a change. But when I stop accusing them for not reaching their potential and start recognizing their virtue and giving them additional opportunities to live for greatness, they rise to the challenge in ways far beyond what I could have foreseen.

Recently, one of my students, who, as a typical middle school boy, does not like to wear pants to school even in the winter, was going to be reading at a school Mass. When I asked him to wear pants instead of shorts, because he was reading, my request was, predictably, initially met with resistance. But when I asked him to “do it for the Lord,” he was immediately willing. While seemingly a rather small and insignificant event, this student’s willingness to die to himself in this small way and to live for the Lord exemplified being made for greatness of love even in small things.

May we always seek to follow his example and that of the saints in living out our calling to the daily greatness that leads to the joy of heaven!

---

Sr. Mary Martha Becnel is a member of the Ann Arbor-based Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.