How To Become A Saint

"Find someone who has never spoken ill of another person, someone who has never judged another -- and they would qualify for immediate canonization," the pope said. [1]  This is roughly a re-statement of the proverb: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, frequently represented by three side by side monkeys. [2]  To have someone who has never spoken ill of another (never mind thinking it), he has to be mute.  To have someone who has never judged another, he has to be blind and deaf and unable to discern any fact to arrive at any kind of judgment.  He probably has to be numb without any physical sensation as well so that he cannot differentiate between a touch rooted in love and one born out of indifference or hatred and come to a judgment.

There has never been a saint that was a human vegetable. Those words from this pope were therefore meaningless and without redemptive value.  However, he was able to redeem himself with these words: "'Men and women who can't learn how to acknowledge their own faults become hypocrites.  All of them?  All of them:  starting from the Pope downwards.'" [3]  While such words on their face show humility [4] and humility is the first step toward sainthood, it alone is not sufficient for sainthood without God's blessings.  True saints [5] are not only blessed with miracles but are also instruments of miracles. They are capable of becoming "invisible" by becoming conduits of God, so that when one encounters one of God's saints, one actually experiences God.



[1] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/how-do-you-become-a-saint-pope-francis-gives-a-hint-58331/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_wise_monkeys
[3] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/how-do-you-become-a-saint-pope-francis-gives-a-hint-58331/
[4] This blogger doubts that the pope faulted himself for expounding on unrealistic and useless requirements for instant canonization.
[5] True saint are God's saints as distinguished from "political" saints -- those who were canonized due to popular demand.  The canonization of pope JP2 is an example.