Holy Saturday - Don't Be Afraid to Become a Saint

Brothers and sisters, this is the night.

The night when the radiant light of Christ conquered darkness.

From this moment on, you belong to that victory, to the light that will never go out.

That's the meaning behind the Paschal Candle. It is the light of Christ within

us, a light that leads us, sustains us, and never fades.

And today, 12 people will be fully initiated into Christian faith.

12 people will be sent out to the world. That seems and sounds familiar.

And tonight God looks upon you as his potential new saints.

Of course, we know that every potential can be wasted or left unused.

That's why it becomes your responsibility to protect that light,

to protect Jesus Christ living in you and allow it to shine in your life.

But when that potential is directed toward God, who is almighty and all-loving,

there are no limits to how fully it can be lived.

That's what the call to holiness is, to live your full potential,

to strive daily for God's love and to grow closer to Him.

During my time in seminary, one of our pastoral assignments was to go to Miami

where Sisters of Charity have their convent.

We would help them feed the homeless.

And I have to admit that it wasn't easy for me because it was challenging to serve those people.

But something changed when one of the sisters came up to me and said,

And try to see in each of these poor and homeless people, Jesus Christ.

Serve them as if you were serving Jesus himself.

And that changed a lot. And I think that's what holiness is.

Seeing God's potential in every person. Seeing Christ in every person.

Holiness means doing ordinary things with an extraordinary intention, to do the will of God.

So we are called to do normal things with special intentions,

and those normal things might become strange or even confusing to people who don't believe in God.

In today's Gospel, we read that women's story seemed like nonsense.

And the others didn't believe them.

People may think that you are crazy, you are naive, possibly,

that you decided to receive the sacrament of baptism, confirmation,

join the Catholic Church. What is that?

Or that you dedicated your life to God. but what will hold you in your faith

and help you believe is your experience and personal relationship with God that you already have,

because somehow God brought you here.

I remember when I converted, reconverted to my faith, I went back to my friends,

telling them about Jesus, how much he loves them.

They were not ready. They started to argue with me.

They questioned the Bible. They questioned whether God even exists.

And some of their arguments made sense.

If you don't know how to respond to them, you could get confused and fall into doubt.

But my personal experience of God was too strong.

I knew he was real. I knew he exists.

He had touched my heart and showed me how much He loves me, and no argument

could take that away from me.

And that's the kind of certainty God wants to give you tonight.

He wants to touch your heart and set it on fire.

His desire for you is to become a saint, and he will help you and do everything to make it happen.

Last year, I came here for Easter and I was praying for certain graces to prepare

myself for my diaconate ordination.

At that time, I was very distracted.

I wanted to do too many things. I had too many projects and ideas in my head.

I was wondering which passion or talent I should focus on to prepare myself

better for the priesthood.

I remember sitting in the Adoration Chapel where there was an image, a new relic of St. Gemma.

I didn't know her well back then.

So I was praying, asking God for the grace to understand what I should focus

on and which gifts I should use in my priestly life.

And during that prayer, I heard in my heart that the only passion I need to

focus on is the passion of Christ.

What I didn't know at that time was that St. Gemma belonged to the Passionist's Order.

And from that moment on, I developed a deep relationship with her in my prayer.

And today each of you chose a patron saint for your confirmation,

someone who will accompany you throughout your life.

It may seem like you chose your confirmation saint, but in reality, he or she chose you.

And that saint will now help you in your life, in your fight for holiness,

in your effort to keep the faith alive, to keep that flame in your heart burning for God.

And remember, holiness isn't about being perfect.

As this whole Holy Week has shown us, holiness means allowing God to enter every

part of your life, every joy, every pain.

Every success, every failure. God wants to be with you always and to be part

of everything you go through.

And tonight you will be fully initiated into Christian faith.

What an amazing moment, what an amazing grace for you tonight.

Each one of you and all of us here, of course, are potential saints.

God doesn't want that potential to be wasted.

He wants it to be fully lived, fully realized.

So step into His love because there is no limit to it.

Don't be afraid to give your life to God. Don't be afraid to become a saint.