Living Like the Saints

By: Sophia Novak

Most of us have grown up with the knowledge of saints. The way that they dedicated their lives to

Christ and how they did those small or great deeds throughout their lives for His will. Saints are such an amazing blessing that I believe have created the Catholic Church the way it is. But many people, including myself, forget about this amazing blessing we have been given. God has given us all the breath

of life and the goal of becoming the best versions of ourselves, striving to become saints ourselves. These

holy people of Christ truly motivate the whole community to strive to be more like Jesus, which is

something we can all do more of. And why we should learn more about their importance. The first and most obvious reason why the lives of the saints are so important is that they serve as role models for everyone, Catholic or not. These people went above and beyond to imitate Jesus. Everyone in the world needs people to look up to, because if we don't have those people, we can feel like we will never be able to improve ourselves. Each saint shared their walk with Christ, along with all the hardships and blessings they had on their paths.

Another thing the saints do is remind us that holiness is possible. We live in a world full of sin

and temptation, and it is so easy for everyone to fall into these paths because it is just the way we have

begun to live, and it feels familiar to us. But these people did the brave thing and went against what the

world wanted them to do. They showed us how to remove ourselves from the world and detach ourselves

from those leading us away from a holy life. Having these people to look up to and see how they handled

the struggles they were given can really help us as a community to try and overcome our own struggles in

life. That is why it's so important to hold on to the lives of the saints and learn from all of the things that

they faced during their lives.

Something else that is such a gift from the saints is their ability to intercede for us. They can take

our prayers, worries, and alms up to Christ, giving them even more grace and power. Consider the passage from James’ Letter, “The fervent prayer of the righteous person is very powerful (5:16).” Saints are here to make our lives easier. To help us fill the darkness of our lives with God and, when we give our prayers up to the saints, it really benefits us. Also, connecting our prayers to the patron saint of that topic is such a beautiful thing that I believe we get to do, whether it's a prayer for family and giving it to Saint Joseph, or for help with a technology issue and giving it to Saint Carlos Acutis. These people live our struggles and are only here to make our lives more God-filled.

And lastly, these people are some of the people who founded this religion. They wrote prayers,

books of the Bible, created Scapulars, Miraculous Medals, and so many other things that help us to feel

protected out here. These people listened to what God wanted from each of them and showed how much

they benefited from it through Christ's undying love.

All of these saints have lived admirable lives. And the importance of them does not lie in what

they accomplished, but in what they have left behind. They remind us that if we have faith, love, and

courage, we can overcome any trial and hardship we face in our lives. And they will be with us every step

of the way.