Extracted and modified from Elizabeth Rzepka’s article in RM Website 2023
In the spring of 2012, I left my life in Michigan to relocate to North Dakota. Leaving a beloved job and home, I had to trust God’s plan. My new role in the youth ministry involved traveling through small towns. At regional meetings, I met Michelle, a FOCUS missionary turned diocesan coordinator. Her love for Jesus was contagious, and we became fast friends, sharing car rides and prayer.
In 2014, Michelle was diagnosed with cancer and passed away on Christmas Day 2015. Her loss was devastating. But in 2022, Bishop David Kagan announced her cause for beatification. My friend could become a saint!
As Catholics, we treasure our friendships with our heavenly brothers and sisters. We rely on them and their prayers. We find hope in their witness that we too can finish the race and make it to our eternal home. But do we ponder our own eternal destiny or that of the people around us? Do we daily have our hearts fixed on heaven? Do we live in such a way that when we die, we too might be saints? Do we recognize that every person we encounter will one day be in either heaven or hell?
We need to recognize that while becoming saints requires a supernatural grace, it’s also normal and possible because it’s what we’re made for. St. Paul tells us, “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thes 4:3). And St. Peter tells us, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:3-4).
The Saints were once what we are now. We sometimes perceive them as distant and other than us, making a chasm between us and them that doesn’t need to be there. If we are really living for heaven, we probably know saints-in-progress now. Our day-to-day lives do not happen in isolation; they impact other people. And each of us is able to impact people for heaven.
When I moved to Minnesota, I wondered where I was going. It was to a place where I’d grow in holiness, form life-changing relationships, and help others on their path to sanctity. Now, I hope that my destination will always be heaven, where I can be with friends like Michelle. Let’s pursue sainthood together. I can’t wait to be with you all in heaven.
Rzepka, E. (2023, August 21). Sainthood: It’s what we’re made for. Renewal Ministries. https://www.renewalministries.net/sainthood-its-what-were-made-for/
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