We are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We have the good news of knowing we don’t need to do anything or be anything other than what we are to be a child of God. It’s part of our DNA! St. John says that we don’t know “what we shall be” but that’s not entirely true. When we look at the saints we at least see something of what we shall be. The saints are interesting because of their diversity. Some saints were pious, in church all the time; other saints lead armies into battle. Some saints lived alone in caves; other saints preached to thousands. Some saints dressed in rags and lived on bread and water; other saints lived in palaces and dined on silver plates. What the saints have in common was that they knew it wasn’t about them. The saints all pointed beyond themselves toward God and what God is doing in them and in the world. Our own call to sanctity does not require us to be anything other than what we are. Yes, we have faults and failings, we have limitations and disabilities. The most cursory examination of the lives of the saints shows they shared in humanity’s foibles. But we too can become a saint when we, like those who have gone before us can recite the psalm: “Not to us, but to God be the glory.”
