Over the weekend, we had a bit of warm weather that, at least for the Northeast, made it feel like spring was just around the corner.
I was able to get outside with my kids and play catch. My son is particularly excited about this season, asking questions like:
“Dad, do you think I’ll be great? Do you think I’ll be the fastest? Do you think I’ll have the best arm?”
He’s eight years old. He really just wants to have fun with his buddies.
But there’s something in those questions that points to a deeper truth.
In sports, the all-time greats didn’t want to just be good. They wanted to be the best. They wanted to be at the top.
And here’s the lesson for us as followers of Christ: It’s not enough to want to just be a good person.
We have to want to be a saint.
We have to want to be at the top—not in a prideful way, but recognizing that’s what it takes: that desire, that fire.
Most people aim to be decent. To be fine. To be basically good.
But that’s not the call. The call is holiness. The call is sainthood.
The saints had the fire. The desire. The relentless pursuit of holiness.
Do you want to be good? Or do you want to be great?
Do you want to coast? Or do you want to be a saint?
The all-time greats in any field didn’t settle for good enough. Neither should you.
Let us pray.
Lord, give us the fire to want to be saints. Make us relentless in pursuing You, like the saints who came before us. Grant us that desire. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
