ALL SAINTS DAY
Sir Edmund Hillary was a very shy boy who didn’t do well in most athletic competitions.
He was born and raised in New Zealand. He discovered that he had the ability to climb
mountains better than his more athletic friends. He had the stamina to do it. After WWII he
told his family and friends that he would one day climb Mt. Everest. He knew that many had
failed, so he practiced climbing in the Alps and took up wrestling to keep up his strength. He
first went to Everest in 1951 to speak to others who had tried and to get to know the Sherpa’s
who would assist his climb.
In May 1953 a team of climbers ahead of him had to stop 300 feet from the top because
of bad weather. Hillary and his Sherpa Tenzing were able to accomplish the feat. Yet, Hillary
later remarked that he knew getting to the summit was important, but he had to make it back
down the mountain as well. He felt more exhilaration when he was finally at the base. He also
later reflected on the fact that climbing this mountain didn’t advance science. Planes had flown
over the mountain already. Within a few years hundreds of people would also make it to the
top of that mountain. So what was achieved? It was a quest, a search, a dream that was done
for its own sake and not for anything to be found or solved.
Most of us, including me, have no desire to climb Mt. Everest. But, if I did I would know
it would take practice and conditioning to make it. I would know there is a chance I might not
survive, but that if I was prepared it was possible to be a success. Most things in life are like
that. Those who get to the top of the mountain in science, athletics, drama, or any other thing
didn’t get there overnight. They practiced and tried, and sometimes failed before they made it
great.
It sounds almost like the same resume of the saints. The plan has always been before us
how to become holy and get to heaven. We know that we are called to have a clean heart
focused on God’s will rather than our own. We need to seek the way of peace and mercy
rather than hatred and revenge. We should love without counting the cost and know that
suffering and persecution are likely to happen. My guess is all of us want to get to heaven. All
of us want to be saints…in theory, but we know it requires submission of our will and that is the
hardest thing to do.
When you think of any saint: Francis of Assisi, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Damien of Molokai,
or Mother Theresa we think of people who put the beatitudes into practice on a daily basis.
They recognized that alone they would fail so prayer, worship, and service kept them attuned
to God. His grace made holiness possible. His grace forgave their sins and failures, and His
grace made saying yes possible even in the midst of suffering or defeat.
Is being a saint possible today? We might think it is only possible to popes like John Paul
II and John XXIII or to priests like Jupinero Serra, but recently the parents of St. Theresa of
Lisieux, Louis & Zelie Martin, were canonized. These were simple people who asked each day
to do the right thing, to lead their children to God, and not give up. In some ways being holy is
not hard. Being holy every day is hard! So many people settle for average instead of great. I
have no idea how many people said they wanted to climb Mt. Everest and gave up long before
they ever got to Nepal, but I would bet it was many. How many things in your life have you
imagined, but never did. Probably you never did them because the effort would be too great. I
think being a saint is like that too.
We want to be the ones waving the palm branches in the Kingdom of God. We want to
be the ones who have remained faithful to Christ in good times and bad, yet, being faithful
every day in all circumstances can seem daunting.
Sir Edmund Hillary just did it one day at a time. He made a plan each day to train for the
climb even if the weather was bad or he was tired. Do we make a plan to love each day even
when we don’t feel like it? Do we seek out God’s grace each day to live a holy life? Make that
plan today. God has great things in store both now and in eternity.