Sanctification: The Process of Becoming

In life there are various processes of becoming. Children are in the process of becoming adults, students are in the process of becoming professionals, but life itself can be said to be one of these processes. It is the process of becoming saints. Now as with all processes the challenge for us is constancy, fidelity, patience and perseverance. 

Here's how it happens: we set our expectations high, they’re not met, we become despondent and we bail, give up, lose hope or whatever lesser way we’ve found to cope with disappoint, discouragement or general down-in-the-dumpiness. Now, this is not an exhortation on lowering your expectations for sanctity—expect it! (in the very least, desire it ambitiously). It’s what you’re made for. Just don’t expect it in the blink of an eye or a genuflection. 

Sanctity is the culmination of a (often times long) process of becoming, and this process is the trying of our intentions and motivations—the refining of our desires. The saints were not made of plaster but of flesh; they knew their limits and embraced them. Their days went by with longing for what seemed an ever evasive ideal, and mostly they were oblivious to the transformation of their souls much like the slow unfolding of the flower goes unnoticed until suddenly it's in bloom. They were not impressed by their sanctity because they knew it was anything but theirs. They didn't think about virtues and miracles but simply went about their day with a unique disposition that says, yes. 

Remember, You need not be today who you are to be tomorrow, but today--whoever you are--be that person in God's grace, and tomorrow a petal will fall as this process of becoming unfolds unto your salvation.

+ Br. Joseph Michael Fino, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary

Newark, NJ

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