Becoming a Superhero

Happy Feast of All Saints from St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Bernard of Clairveaux! 🥳. 

Okay, I know what you’re thinking.  Technically, St Bernard wasn’t a dog — but technically a St. Bernard is a dog (though, technically St. Bernards aren’t light brown) — but I think this costume qualifies for our All Saint’s party celebration, wouldn’t you agree?😂.

(Give me a break, people, I’m just trying to get through the days over here.)

Yes, Catholics do crazy things like have All Saints parties to commemorate the heroes that have gone before us — we call them “saints”.

We do even crazier things, like dress up like St. Lucy and carry around a plate with hardboiled eggs on them to represent her eyeballs that legend has it was plucked out before she was martyred for her faith under the rule of Diocletian.

Why ever do we do such crazy things?

Because ultimately we laugh at the attempts of the world to extinguish the light of Christ in us and in it. We laugh because we hope in the victory that has already been won by Christ and in the resurrection on the last day.

We know that beheadings, flagellations, burnings at the stake, persecutions and the like really can’t extinguish the light of Christ in us and in the world. Never has. Never will.

And so we laugh at the attempts of the world and the devil to overcome us.

We laugh because, as long as we stay close to Christ and His Church, we are going to be alright — more than alright — we will be participants in His Victory!

Which, by the way, is also why many people dress up on the vigil of All Saints Day (Halloween) and make fun of the things that the devil tries to scare us with or to honor the superheroes who have successfully defeated evil.

Fun fact:  “Halloween” actually comes from the words “All Hallows Eve” and it was the celebration that began the evening before the Solemnity of All Saints. Basically, it’s the pre-party for All Saints Day.

In other words, all the kids of the world can thank Catholics for all that candy they are currently consuming and all of the parents of the world can be grateful that Reese’s Peanut Butter cups are so easy to grab when the kids aren’t looking. 🙌🏻

Today is a beautiful day in the Church,  because it is a day dedicated to all the Saints who have gone before us — those who lived lives of heroic virtue — and especially those without their own Feast Day!

Consider today a shoutout to the sung and unsung heroes of our faith! It’s a great reason to celebrate!

It’s also a great day to get to Mass (it’s Holy Day of Obligation, people!) and to be reminded that we are all called to be saints and to never give up the fight to be better, to live a life of virtue and to love the very best we can.

It is a great day to remember that God wants to equip and prepare us to become the “superheroes” of our modern age.

What exactly that superhero is going to look like, is between you and God. The beautiful thing about our Saints is that, like snowflakes, there are no two saints that are alike.

We are all called to become our own unique kind of Saint and don’t you dare believe that your kind of saint isn’t needed in this world of ours — because it is!

God needs us to step up and begin to become that saint that He had in mind from the beginning of time. He is pouring out His grace on you and on me so that we can become the saints of our times.

So what are we waiting for?

The other day I took this picture, and I just love it because it felt like a great reminder to me to keep striving to be one of God’s superheroes — especially if nobody is looking or notices.

I have a feeling that God looks at us with the same delight as we stumble through our lives, trying our best to do the good that is before us.

He sees all the little things we do every day to love the people around us, share His truth and make our corner of the world a little more joyful.

He isn’t asking us to be “successful” in the world’s eyes — only faithful to trying our best to put love into our every day actions. 

That fidelity to the daily call to holiness and heroic love of neighbor– especially when nobody seems to see or notice — is exactly what will eventually make us better than we once were.

It is in the daily striving (and the daily asking for forgiveness in the ways that we have failed) that we will eventually become the superheroes that our world needs.

So don’t give up striving to be a “superhero” in God’s eyes — we call them “saints”. 👊🏼

And let this post serve as a reminder that God sees your efforts, even if nobody else sees them.

Not only does He see then, but He delights in them and He loves you for trying. Don’t strop trying.

Who knows, maybe one day the Church will be celebrating you on this day, too.

So never give up. Never give in. Keep striving, knowing that He will bring the work He has begun in you to completion in His perfect time.

Happy Solemnity of All Saints!

“It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”

St. John Paul II

Sharing over at Kelly’s