I Could Be a Saint

In church one Sunday the Priest referenced a lady who had heard the voice of God while she was alive and post-humously (as is always the) case became a saint.  It occurred to me that perhaps one day I would be a candidate for sainthood.

So, according to dummies.com here are the steps:

First - it must be proven that I lived a virtuous life, had faith, and had support from God.  Additionally, some miracles as evidence that God worked through me.  So, what is virtuous?  I don't have any of the traditional vices - smoking, drinking, gambling, etc.  I have always been faithful to my husband.  But I have lost my temper from time to time.  I have been less than patient with my children and occasionally to a random stranger.  Perhaps I'm out of the running already - or maybe God understands that we are all human after all.  Obviously I have faith.  Support from God - also check!  Don't we all get this on a daily basis - whether we recognize it or not?  Miracles that God worked through me - nothing as big as water into wine, but there have been times when God has done some cool stuff with me as His hands and feet.

Next - I should be dead for at least five years and then my pastor should make a case.  So, yes, at some point, I will have been dead for at least five years.  But will my pastor raise my name up to archbishop?  I know my pastor recognizes me and probably could tell you where we sit at which mass and how often.  But does he even know my name?  Much less how God has been working through me?  Perhaps someone else will have to bring this up.  So then right away I would be a "Servant of God".

Then a group at the Vatican would determine if I had lived a life of "heroic virtue".  Heroic virtue doesn’t mean a person was perfect or sinless, but that she worked aggressively to improve herself spiritually and never gave up trying to be better and grow in holiness. 
Okay, I think I'm still in line.  "Aggressively" could be a little tricky.  I'm not aggressive like a rabid dog.  I'm more like the tortoise - slow and steady wins the race.  But I definitely have never given up trying to be better and grow in holiness.  Just like I've never truly given up on dieting and losing twenty pounds.  Sometimes I count calories and measure portions but mostly I just keep trying day after day.

Once I am "venerable" then I can become "blessed" if it is determined that I performed a miracle.  A miracle, by definition, is an act that only God can perform.  As far as I'm concerned, only God can predict the future.  One of my favorite Bible verses is in Job, "God speaks to us through dreams and visions in the night".  I considered it miraculous when God told me through a dream in the late 1990s that someone I loved in Brazil was leaving my life (my host-father died unexpectedly within the week).  I considered it miraculous when God told me through a dream in 2002 that my co-worker would have a serious shoulder injury (indeed it had occurred that evening but I, naturally, had no knowledge of it until arriving at work the following morning).   I considered it miraculous when God showed me a vision of my mother-in-law clothed in white satin and lying on a round bed with sheets of white satin a few hours before she was admitted to the hospital for a heart attack.  But can these miracles be confirmed since the dreams were only in my head and I didn't fully understand the message until after the event occurred.  Probably not a strong case for confirmation.  However, with this blog and my frequent pronouncement that God has told me something big, possibly my death, will occur on July 12, 2017, I would think that when that event occurs it can be confirmed that I had prior knowledge - directly from God.

After becoming "blessed" it takes one more miracle to become a Saint.  That may be trickier.  Although, one could argue that if one of the students I mentor graduates high school it would be nothing short of miraculous.  Or maybe I'll have a miraculous recovery from the cancer that I don't have yet.

The dummies page lists some other criteria including,

• Proof that no one has proclaimed or is already proclaiming and honoring the person as a saint before it’s been officially declared

thus the careful title of this post including "Could Be".

Finally, "Miracles need to be documented and authenticated, so eyewitnesses alone are considered insufficient. Medical, scientific, psychiatric, and theological experts are consulted, and evidence is given to them for their professional opinion. If a scientific, medical, or psychological explanation exists for what had only appeared to be a miracle, then it isn’t an authentic miracle. Only immediate, spontaneous, and inexplicable phenomena are up for consideration as authentic miracles."

So, some pretty tough criteria but - with God, anything is possible.  Not that it will matter to me - I'll already be dead.