11/5/17 “The Profile of a Saint” by Nancy Petty

Text: Matthew 23:1-12

“We celebrate those saints who have never been called by that name, who have been excluded from the sainthood because our vision of God’s community is too limited.”

These words that we spoke earlier in our prayer begs the question: What shapes our imagination of holiness? Or a different way of framing the question is: What or who comes to mind when you hear the word saint?

We’ve all said it? She’s a saint for living with him. Or, he’s a saint for living with her. Or here at Pullen, she’s a saint for living with her and he’s a saint for living with him. Those individuals who endure hardships, who preserve with patience the cantankerous spouse or boss or parent or child, who sacrifice their own comfort and needs for others often shape our imagination of sainthood. And of course, deeply imprinted in our psyche are those images of the likes of Mother Teresa and Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who was assassinated for speaking out for the poor and social injustice in his country.

Have you ever wondered how one does become an official saint? Yes, I actually find these things interesting. In my research, I learned that the process of becoming a saint is a five-step process.

Step one: wait five years, or don’t. The process to make someone a saint cannot normally start until at least five years after their death. This allows time for emotions following the death to calm down, and ensure that the individual’s case can be evaluated objectively. Some have to wait a long time before they reach Catholic sainthood. Saint Bede, the theologian, died in 735 but had to wait 1,164 years before he was declared a saint. The waiting period can, however, be waived by the Pope. For instance, John Paul II dispensed with the five-year period for Mother Teresa, beginning the process less than two years after her death.

Step two is: “become a servant of God.” In this phase, evidence is gathered on the person’s life and deeds, including witness testimonies. How you doing so far? If there is sufficient evidence, the case is accepted for consideration and the individual can be called a “servant of God.”

Step three: show proof of a life of “heroic virtue.” This step scrutinizes the evidence of the candidate’s holiness, especially noting the work and signs that people have been drawn to prayer through their example. How’s your prayer life?

Verified miracles are the focus of step four. A miracle needs to be attributed to prayers made to the individual after their death. The prayers granted are seen as proof that the individual is already in heaven, and therefore able to intercede with God on others’ behalf.

Canonization is the final step in declaring a deceased person a saint. To reach this state, a second miracle normally needs to be attributed to prayers made to the candidate after they have been beatified. Martyrs, however, only need one verified miracle to become a saint. That’s a relief!! Seems martyrdom is the way to go.

Seriously, I wonder how the universal church might be different today if the process of making someone a saint followed that prayer we prayed earlier:

“We celebrate those saints who have never been called by that name, who have been excluded from the sainthood because our vision of God’s community is too limited.”

What if the saints are those who are living who teach our children? What if the real saints are those among us who feed the hungry at our community soup kitchens? What if the saints are those who visit the saints and sinners in our prisons and jails? What if the saints are those who quietly visit those who are sick and confined to their beds? What if the saints are those who bathe and feed those who are sick and confined to their beds? What if the saints are those who speak truth to an institutionalized religion that cares neither for the poor or the marginalized or the outcast? What if the saints are those who never darken the door of a church or speak of God but who live generously and compassionately and lovingly toward all?

If we turn the first ten verses of Matthew 23 upside down and inside out, as Deborah Steely would instruct us to do, we begin to get a profile of a saint. Allow me to re-imagine for us those five steps toward sainthood.

• Step one: a saint is someone who practices what they preach. In the vernacular, “they walk the talk.”

• Step two: a saint is someone who lifts the burdens off the shoulders of those burdened—heavy laden by pain and loss and the injustices of our world. These people understand love and faith as a verb and their lives give witness to feeding and clothing and visiting and marching and praying and lifting the burdens off the shoulders of those burdened.

• Step three involves a right heart and spirit. For the saint, her love, his faith is never for display. It is for the saint as Thomas Merton said: “Saints are what they are not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everyone else.” Harry Truman said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

• Step four of sainthood: C.S. Lewis names step four the best. He writes: “Sainthood lies in the habit of referring the smallest actions to God.” Matthew 23 says it this way: “for you have one God…one instructor.” For the saint, God is always at the center.

• And finally, step five toward sainthood: “The greatest among you will be your servant.” The saints are those among us who understand that faith and love and following the way of Jesus is about servanthood. The kind of servanthood that makes us wounded healers. The kind of servanthood that washes feet. The kind of servanthood that seeks the common good for all.

“We celebrate those saints who have never been called by that name, who have been excluded from the sainthood because our vision of God’s community is too limited.”

In the end, wisdom teaches us that, “a saint is not a person who does not sin; but a sinner who never stops doing good.” (Bangambiki Habyarimana) And wisdom also teaches us that “one century’s saint is the next century’s heretic…and one century’s heretic is the next century’s saint. It is as well to think long and calmly before affixing either name to any [person].” (Ellis Peters, The Heretic’s Apprentice)

Whether your aim is that of a saint, or a sinner, or a heretic life is more meaningful when you do all the good you can, make love and faith verbs, walk the talk, lighten the burdens of others, live with a right heart and spirit, serve your fellow human being, and make it a habit to refer the smallest of actions to God. In so doing, you may never make it to official sainthood status, but you will experience the blessings of a God who sees each of us as beloved. Here in this church, may our vision of God’s community of saints remain unlimited!