"Do not be afraid to become the saints of the new millenium!"
- Pope St. John Paul II
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The quote above is from one of the Catholic Church's most recently canonized saints (and a personal favourite of mine), Karol Wojtyła -- otherwise known as Pope John Paul II. He was speaking to a crowd of young people in Rome at an event he helped start called World Youth Day and was encouraging them to pursue holiness with such zeal that they will become the Church's modern day saints. The Church teaches that we are all called to sainthood -- whether or not we are officially canonized by the Church. The essence of becoming a saint is that we pursue Christ with our lives and in so doing, reach heaven after our earthly sojourn is finished. To become saints, we must live lives of holiness and virtue. It does not mean that we must be perfect, but that when we have failed, we turn back to God again and again and again. Following Christ's example and repenting when we fail in that are at the heart of what it means to become a saint. That said, to become a canonized Saint is something that is both the same and also slightly different.
