God has a plan. We are a part of that plan. Catholic believers live with the assurance that no matter what happens, everything will ultimately turn out well. This is because God is the Master of History. Everything that happens in the world (truly everything) happens not because God willed it, but because He permitted it.
If we look a little deeper into the history of the Church, we see that during the darkest moments (crises, persecution, wars, and heresies), God always prepared a small number of faithful people. These were people who did not give up and endured everything necessary to maintain their faith to the end. Most of them are unnamed saints. We are here today because of their faithfulness, and we will one day meet them in heaven. They are people to whom we are grateful.
Korea is also a country where faith has taken root in the blood of countless martyrs. Those who testified to their faith even when the world did not recognize them—most of them were also anonymous saints. However, when we look at our society today, we easily encounter Catholic believers who are weary of their faith. People who simply endure their faith life, considering faith not as the center of their lives, but merely one area among many. “Isn’t going to Sunday Mass enough? Why do you have to be so zealous?” We hear these kinds of remarks all too often.
However, Christianity has never been a religion of “minimums.” God has not called us to a place where we merely follow rules or perform external practices, but to something far greater: holiness. As it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.”
God desires that we become saints. He invites us into a life of friendship with Him, fully immersed in His love, and sharing that love with our neighbors. This sanctification is not an abstract ideal; it is a very personal calling. God calls you and me to be saints. There’s no need to idealize sainthood. Saints weren’t people for whom everything went smoothly. They were people who struggled, stumbled, and got back up again.
Saint Thomas Aquinas said that the most important thing for becoming a saint is the will to become a saint. The first question isn’t, “What should I do?” but rather, “Do I truly want to become a saint?”
Then another question arises: What does it mean to be a saint? This isn’t an attempt to offer a “recipe for holiness” or a quick fix; such a thing doesn’t exist. Rather, through this writing, I want to reawaken the longing for God, the thirst for Him, that we all possess. The moment we realize that we are called to holiness, everything else naturally falls into place. Nevertheless, there are a few important key points.
First is a personal and living relationship with Jesus Christ. A true friendship, where Jesus becomes the center of our lives and our true friend. A relationship where we can talk to Him about everything—our joys and our worries—and entrust everything to Him. Saint JosemarÃa explained it this way: "It can be divided into stages: seeking Him, finding Him, knowing Him, and loving Him."
Everything flows from this friendship that grows in contemplative prayer. Love for one's neighbor, the strength to accept the cross, the desire to share Christ with others, and the joy and peace that come from Him are all born from this.
We seek the saints. But perhaps God is not asking you to seek the saints; rather, He is seeking you.
