Cardinal Tobin: We are all called to be saints
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
During the first two days of November, the Church calls our attention to what the Second Vatican Council termed “the universal call to holiness.” We Catholics believe that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God, and all of us—no matter who we are or what our personal history may be—are called to be holy.
What does it mean to be holy? According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “the desire for God is written in the human heart” (#27). We human beings are meant to search for God, to find him and to become united with him—both here on Earth and in our heavenly home.
Holiness is the quality of our union with God, the indication of our closeness to him. Holy women and men are close to God. That’s why we call them “saints,” which comes from the Latin word sanctus or holy.
In his homily for the canonization of two young saints, “Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati and Saint Carlo Acutis: a young man from the early 20th century and a teenager from our own day, both in love with Jesus and ready to give everything for him” (see selection below), Pope Leo XIV recalls the conversion of another young man, Saint Francis of Assisi:
Jesus appeared to [Francis] along the way and asked him to reflect on what he was doing. Coming to his senses, he asked God a simple question: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
We know that the Lord answered Francis saying, “Rebuild my Church,” and that the young man gave up everything to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and help revitalize the Church in his day.
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