All Saints Day is coming up on Nov. 1. In preparation, we share a slightly edited version of this article from Life Teen. The first half was published in last week’s bulletin …
“When the Saints Seem Too Cool for You”
By Leah Murphy … From the Life Teen Blog
The saints lived incredible, heroic, nearly unbelievable moments because their love for God was just as radical in those moments as it was in the most un-incredible moments of their lives. They were able to surrender to such incredible trials, circumstances, and accomplish such feats because they resolved to love God through the most basic moments – they kept their gaze on God as they navigated their day-to-day and that allowed them to keep their gaze on Him when they were most challenged.
This meant they prayed when life was boring. They sought the face of Christ when the people around them seemed annoying. They continued to pursue God, even when it felt like it would have been way easier to abandon Him and the life He called them to. Additionally, they found joy in those ordinary moments — even when life seemed the most “blaah,” the saints, aware of their identity in God and His love for them, knew they still had a reason to be joyful.
Our Lives Don’t Need to Look Radical to be Radical
We’ll likely not find ourselves in moments nearly as incredible as what some of the saints found themselves in, but that doesn’t mean our love for God can’t be as complete as theirs. It is a radical thing to know and love God in every moment of our lives. We are all called to the radical love that the saints lived in every moment – the “share-worthy” ones and the less exciting ones.
We do this by remaining persistent in our relationship with Him – seeking Him in prayer and in the sacraments, even when it seems dull, even when it doesn’t feel pleasant, exciting, or thrilling. When we’re able to choose God, even when doing so doesn’t seem like the most exciting thing, is when we show Him how deeply we love Him.
We don’t need radical circumstances to love God in radical ways like the saints did. As long as we seek and acknowledge His presence in every moment of our lives – from the most ordinary to the most amazing – we can choose to meet Him in those moments and when we do, even the ordinary becomes extraordinary.