"A person can be as truly a saint in a factory as in a monastery, and there is as much need of them in the one as in the other. ~Robert McCracken

On Sunday Pope Benedict XVI canonized five new saints. None of these new saints are still living but their lives were deemed worthy of sainthood through the process created by the Roman Catholic Church centuries ago. To become a saint is a two step process. First is beatification, an honor bestowed after the Vatican has evidence of one miracle attributed to someone. After beatification if an individual performs another miracle the person can be declared a saint.

The church has a language all its own. Beatification. Not a word we use very often. When one searches out its definition, it is clear that it finds its root in 'beatific', an adjective meaning to make blissful, showing happiness, blessed. The noun becomes beatification and is clearly meant only for church circles as a formal investigation to decide whether a deceased person should be publicly declared to be in heaven and worthy of public veneration. Somehow there is a disconnect for me but if it all leads to sainthood, who can argue?

Here is my hope….that those people who show us happiness…. that leads to bliss…. which helps us know we are blessed….. will honored as saints while they are alive. I want them to revel in the glow of the gifts they bestow. I want them to know heaven on earth for the connections of compassion they make while they have breath. I want to name the miracles that come my way every day through the care and attention and the grace of ordinary people living ordinary lives with great love. One miracle is really enough for me but I'll take all I can get. How about you?

So here's to the beatific ones…..those walking toward sainthood every day. The three year old boy next door who runs to the window each time my car hits the driveway, knocking on the glass, face smiling, hands waving,welcoming my prodigal body home. The robin who sang a night song this past week soothing me to sleep when worries crowded my head and who woke me with an even more beautiful song when the sun rose. The man in our church community who continues to call us to the miracle of Creation held in the wings of all the feathered ones urging us to see the face of God in those who connect earth and sky. The cherry bush blooming in our front garden, soft, pale pink petals bringing the beauty of new life to gray days.The woman who continues to write me kind and gentle messages of affirmation in her tiny, beautiful script that always arrive just when I need them. So many……

The pope has his work to do. But, I believe, we do as well. There is canonizing to be done today. Look for the miracles, name them, bless them. There are saints among us…..and they are alive!