Today in A Year with the Church Fathers, we hear from our old friend St Basil, the man who made a joke in our recent reading. Today he tells us about becoming saints.
He says that people who are intent on becoming holy should not be surprised when they suffer. It comes with the territory, he tells us through many examples. But who is making "becoming holy" their goal in life?
Well, we all should. Because we are all called to be saints. Did you know that? Only saints go to heaven, so we're all called to become saints. That brings up an important question: how do you become a saint?
A woman once asked this question in the presence of one of the most intelligent and holy men who ever lived, St Thomas Aquinas. You might expect that his answer was full of Latin proofs and that it laid out a twelve step program for overcoming sin and incorporating love into our lives. But no. His answer, believe it or not, was only two words!
Will it.
When the lady asked one of the smartest men who ever lived how to become a saint, he said, "Will it." In other words, make it your goal. Desire it first and foremost. Want it. But I'm elaborating on something that, really, is most effective when most simple: Will it.
Do you will it? If not, ask Him to help you will it. Because that's what it's all about.
God, thanks for making things simple for people like me. And help me to will it.
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