"A great longing to be like them"
For the Solemnity of All Saints, here is a homily given by Benedict XVI on November 1, 2006.
Saint Raphael Meditation: Holiness and the Power of God
A meditation (guided prayer) for the feast of All Saints. Contemplating the great multitude of saints in heaven, we realize God's power to change and purify us.
“We have to toil away each day with Jesus”
How happy when they die must be those who have lived heroically every minute of their life! I can assure you it is so, because I have seen the joy of those who have prepared themselves for many years, with calm impatience, for this encounter. (Furrow, 893)
"All our fortitude is on loan"
Tender, soft, flabby...: that's not the way I want you. It's about time you got rid of that peculiar pity you feel for yourself. (The Way, 193)
“This is the Will of God: your sanctification”
It would not be worth giving oneself unless it were to build up a great work which is very much for God - your own sanctity. That is why the Church when canonizing saints proclaims the heroism of their lives. (Furrow, 611)
“God in his providence is continuously leading us forward”
As long as there is struggle, ascetical struggle, there is interior life. That is what Our Lord is asking of us: the will to want to love him with deeds, in the little things of every day. If you have conquered in little things, you will conquer in big ones. (The Way of the Cross, Third Station, 2)
“Do you really want to be a saint?”
Do you really want to be a saint? Carry out the little duty of each moment: do what you ought and concentrate on what you are doing. (The Way, 815)
“God is not removing you from your environment”
"God is not removing you from your environment. He is not taking you away from the world, or from your condition in life, or from your noble human ambitions, or from your professional work... But he wants you to be a saint ‑‑ right there!" ("The Forge," 362)
“Fight against that weakness”
You are lukewarm if you carry out lazily and reluctantly those things that have to do with our Lord; if deliberately or 'shrewdly' you look for some way of cutting down your duties; if you think only of yourself and of your comfort; if your conversations are idle and vain; if you do not abhor venial sin; if you act from human motives. (The Way, 331)
"A person who loves God gives his very self"
Time is our treasure, the "money" with which to buy eternity. (Furrow, 882)