Canonisation isn’t something that happens to ordinary folk like you and me. To become an official saint you have to go through lots of steps. Firstly you have to be dead and other steps include having a miracle attributed to you. So, how about becoming an unofficial saint?
Well, not so “unofficial”, it seems. Many times in his letters Paul refers to the members of the Christian churches as “saints”. Romans is an example: “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints,” he says in the opening lines. Towards the end he says he’s going to Spain, but first, “I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints.”
As Christians it seems we are called to be saints. Someone “holy”, perhaps – another word that we might not be too keen to apply to ourselves. Perhaps because we have a vision of a “holy Joe”, on the street, Bible in hand, shouting salvation to all the passers by.
In English the word “holy” is related to three other words: wholeness, health and healing. So you could say that becoming a saint and growing in holiness is a healing journey. A journey we can undertake every day.
Chris Dawson