Thank you to Father Wotherspoon for posting the article by Garry Wills for Sunday, July 14th in which Garry Wills comments on popes making other popes saints.

Who is a saint? I spoke in a previous blog about this topic and I am revisiting the issue for Sunday, July 28st.

St. Paul the Apostle and Evangelist tells us that we are "saints" by virtue of our baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. (paraphrased) He does say that we must live a life worthy of our vocation, being obedient unto Christ in all things. (paraphrased)

St. Teresa of Avila says that a "saint is someone who does the Will of God perfectly." Doing the "Will of God Perfectly" would be an echo of St. Paul saying that we are to be "Obedient to Christ in All Things."

Who is to be the judge of someone "Doing the Will of God Perfectly"?

Only God.

The scripture tells us that "Only God Knows What is in the Heart of Any Man or Woman" .(paraphrased) It is well and good and only proper that it is God who decides anyone's eternal destiny. What is the measure of sanctity, do you think, for God? Our best clue is probably when Jesus says, "If you had even a mustard seed of faith, I could have done something with you". In the case of the upcoming sainthood by the Church of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, it can look, on the surface, at least, from the perspective of some, like Garry Wills, that Pope John Paul II came dangerously close to being a papal disaster and that John XXIII might have been seen as an unparalleled papal success for making room for Vatican II. However, we do not know what was in these pope's hearts. This knowledge is for God alone and we might be extremely surprised to know what really happened when they met God face to face.

Therefore, deciding who is or is not a saint, is a decision rendered by God. I am baffled as to how anyone, even a pope, thinks, they have any "authority" to declare someone a saint, a Doctor of the Church, maybe, but, a saint? No, all divine appointments are made by God and are done so, when we leave this earthly domain.

Oh, yes, the Vatican thinks it has a full proof procedure of identifying a saint when the candidate for sanctification is prayed to for a miracle. Really? It seems this is another secretive and suspect process of the Vatican! I wouldn't take it to the Vatican Bank!

As well, that decision by God, is made when we draw our last breath and we have surrendered our earthly temple. No amount of our doing will change that mortal's fate. "If you have the Son, you have life" "If you do not have the Son, you have no life" and that ultimately is only known by God. It is well worth remembering that "angels of light" might well be "imposters for the dark", therefore, God is the only one who can know who's who and so "who's who" receives their just reward by God.

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