On the eve of All Saints Day, I was reminded again of Saint Peter and some of the qualities that transformed him into a saint.

My favorite story about Saint Peter was when he walked on the storm-swept water with Jesus. As the wind blew around my home and the rain pelted it, I watched the local meteorologist for an hour and a half, without commercial break, talk about the progression of a nasty storm through the central Virginia region. We were under a tornado watch. Since I’ve only been in my home about 6 months, it was a bit frightening. Hearing the powerful wind, I was reminded that Peter not only asked to walk on the water to Jesus during a storm such as this, but he actually got out of the boat and started to do so! It would have to be a rather catastrophic situation for me to step outside on a night like that. I was anxious just being inside the house. 

You can say I was fearful, but I don’t think you would call Peter fearless. Saints don’t lack fear, rather they have an abundance of confidence in God. Simply put, they trust Him completely. If Jesus could walk on the water, Peter thought that he could do the same with Jesus’ permission. And he did! It was only when his focus was distracted from Jesus that he realized what a precarious position he was in, and that slip of faith caused him to stumble and sink. To be a saint means that we need to put all our trust in God, not just for a moment or for the initial decision, but for all our lives and in every situation. To be a saint also means that we may stumble at times, but Jesus is never too far away to help, as long as we reach out to Him and trust in His actions.

Another quality of sainthood is to be holy, that is to be set aside from the everyday for a sacred purpose. When we give our lives to God, and trust Him completely, we are separating ourselves so that we are in the world but not of the world — not being consumed with what is popular. Peter set aside his fishing business to be an apostle of Christ, and then to lead the fledgling church through the first years after Jesus’ Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension. The call to sainthood is  not just for the apostles, it’s for all of us to mirror the love Jesus displayed to every person we meet. To love without conditions, just as Jesus was equally kind to rich and poor. To be generous, just as Jesus was generous in laying down his life for us. Everyone in heaven is a saint.  They come from all walks of life and their actions spoke louder and more eloquently than words of how much they love Jesus.

The celebration of all the saints may have come and gone, but taking time during the month of November to think about the saints and the qualities they displayed is a good preparation for Advent. May we follow in their footsteps, through this life and into the heavenly paradise.