Shortly after he converted to
Catholicism in the late 1930s, Thomas Merton was walking the streets of New
York with his friend, Robert Lax. Lax was Jewish, and he asked Merton what he
wanted to be, now that he was Catholic.
“I don’t know,” Merton replied, adding simply that he wanted to be a good Catholic.
Lax stopped him in his tracks.
“What you should say,” he told him, “is that you want to be a saint!”
Merton was dumbfounded.
“How do you expect me to become a saint?,” Merton asked him.
Lax said: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you will consent to let him do it? All you have to do is desire it.”...
Thomas Merton knew his friend was right. Merton, of course, would go on to become one of the great spiritual thinkers and writers of the last century. His friend Bob Lax would later convert to Catholicism himself -- and begin his own journey to try and be a saint.
But the words Lax spoke ring down through the decades to all of us today. Because they speak so simply and profoundly to our calling as Catholic Christians.
You should want to be a saint. And to be one, all you need is to want to be one.
Of course, if you only want to be a run-of-the-mill, average Christian, that’s probably all you’ll ever be. Every one can do just enough to get by. It’s not hard.
But the message Christ sends to all of us is an invitation to be something more. In the words of the old Army recruiting ad: be all that you can be....
A great path to sainthood – the Rosary
“I don’t know,” Merton replied, adding simply that he wanted to be a good Catholic.
Lax stopped him in his tracks.
“What you should say,” he told him, “is that you want to be a saint!”
Merton was dumbfounded.
“How do you expect me to become a saint?,” Merton asked him.
Lax said: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you will consent to let him do it? All you have to do is desire it.”...
Thomas Merton knew his friend was right. Merton, of course, would go on to become one of the great spiritual thinkers and writers of the last century. His friend Bob Lax would later convert to Catholicism himself -- and begin his own journey to try and be a saint.
But the words Lax spoke ring down through the decades to all of us today. Because they speak so simply and profoundly to our calling as Catholic Christians.
You should want to be a saint. And to be one, all you need is to want to be one.
Of course, if you only want to be a run-of-the-mill, average Christian, that’s probably all you’ll ever be. Every one can do just enough to get by. It’s not hard.
But the message Christ sends to all of us is an invitation to be something more. In the words of the old Army recruiting ad: be all that you can be....
A great path to sainthood – the Rosary
“Continue to pray
the Rosary every day.”
Our Lady of Fatima to Sister Lucia
Our Lady of Fatima to Sister Lucia
“If you say the Rosary faithfully unto death,
I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins, ‘you will receive a
never-fading crown of glory’ (1 St. Peter 5:4).”
Saint Louis de Montfort
Saint Louis de Montfort
“The
greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.”
Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Francis de Sales
“One
day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world.”
Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic
“The
Rosary is THE weapon.”
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
“You must know that when you ‘hail’ Mary,
she immediately greets you! If you greet her, she will answer you right away
and converse with you!”
Saint Bernardine of Siena
Saint Bernardine of Siena
“The
Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is
the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish
peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.”
Pope Saint Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X
Special thanks to Deacon Greg Kandra for information about Thomas Merton!
