“All” Call
May 4, 2018
O’Cebreiro-Triacastla
The day started at an elevation of 1300m, still on
mountains with commanding views. I was
gifted with a glimpse of sunset before bed and the early sunrise breaking over
the mountains. Spring is erupting here
in such soothing, emerald greens. The
guidebooks for the Camino claim that O’Cebreiro is distinctly similar to Celtic
lands of Ireland and Scotland. If so,
both own a piece of heaven on earth.
There were two nasty breath-stealers that ran at
sharp grades upward for 8km until reaching Alto (Mt.) Poio. It was a spectacular view worth every gasping
breath to reach the top. From there it
was a 15km descent into this old medieval village named so because it once had
three castles located here. No sign of them today.
What I did have roll through my reflections today
was a bit of a surprise for me. It was a
recollection of some of the lives of the saints. Spanish churches have lavish sacred art
depicting saints. Many include our (and especially my) Camino hero, St. James.
Quite frequently the art captures saints in the moment of torture for the
faith. We often see St. Sebastian who
was killed by a firing squad of arrows. He is depicted in a statue with
multiple arrows piercing his body. Another common sacred art depicts St.
Bartholomew who was flailed alive. He is
portrayed as an older man with his hands tied to a post while his executioners
work their knife on the tissue on his arms and chest. Of course, there are so
many saints who refused to deny the faith and accepted persecution in love of
God.
As my feet and mind rolled on, saint after saint
rolled on in my memory. Each made the complete sacrifice of their life for the
love of the One who loved them. I recall
rare conversations with friends about the topic of saints. They are people who
love the faith, most, myself included, shutter with admiration and dismiss this
as something not for our lot in life.
Deeply embedded in the secret of ourselves lingers whether we could
truly face torture for love of the faith. Could I suffer torture, pain, agony
for my faith? God only knows.
The more that is learned about the lives of the
saints reveals that they were quite ordinary people. They had life work they were dedicated to,
and many, many lived badly behaved lives. Yet God called them in His unique
way. Before sainthood, they looked and behaved
like you and me. But how did God penetrate their ordinariness, their naughty
lifestyles.
A reminder of something Saint Mother Theresa of
Calcutta said answered this for me today. She said, “Give God permission.” This
was true in the lives of all saints. God
extended an invitation to do or be more in relationship with Him; they gave Him
permission do the next thing-whatever the next small thing was. They did not go
from invitation to martyrdom. God moved
in their heart for them to give a little bit more, to serve a little bit more sacrificially,
to surrender a little bit more of their way for His way. In most saint stories,
sainthood evolved in a life of allowing God to have more and more of their free
will.
Ok, this is where it hit me. Am I not called to be a
saint? Are we not all called to be saints? Saints are those who live what Jesus
said in Matthew’s gospel, “To love the Lord with all of your heart, with all of
your soul, and with all of your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”
Maybe my third grade kind of thinking is too simplistic, but Jesus gave us at
least of good starting place for a sainthood job application in that gospel
message. True?
The more I reflected upon this the more I came to
believe that, of course, I want to be a saint. I truly believe you want to be a
saint as well. And I am sure that all believers want to be saints. How could we
not? Otherwise we’re saying to God, “Yes, Lord, I want you, and I want to be in
heaven with you, but I’m hoping to slip into eternity less than the saint you
wanted me to be.” This is like hoping to enter heaven through a side door.
This added more to my contemplation. I may not
believe that torture and martyrdom is what God has called for me, but am I not
called to sacrifice for the faith? The
sticky point in this whole sainthood challenge came to me from one word in the
gospel calling. It was and is the word: all.
Ouch. Saints gave their all, in complete
surrender. Their lives are an example
for me to move from whatever portion of “all” I’m giving until I’m “all in” for
Him. This was my challenge and perhaps one you might find a challenge in as
well. How “all in” am I? How “all in” are you?
Again, Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta response can
help. That is, “To give God permission.”
Whatever the next opportunity to love like Him is, I hope to go deeper into giving
it “my all.” I’m convinced these opportunities will present themselves in
simple ways in our ordinary life events.
In these, I can give God permission to draw me “all” the more closely to
Him.
I believe God is shouting our His “all” call for
saints. The reward is eternity with the
One whose love is an “all” in deal. We can get there by giving God more
permission to make us into the saint He sees in You and Me.
Fondly, Deacon Willie
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