"S" is for SAINT

This is week 19 of the Blogging Through the Alphabet Challenge by Through The Calm and Through the Storm and Adventures With Jude.  This week our letter is "S" and I chose the word "SAINT".

First here is the definition of SAINT according to the Miriam Webster dictionary:
     -one officially recognized especially through canonization as preeminent for holiness
     -one of the spirits of the departed in heaven
     -one of God's chosen and usually Christian people

I want to begin by saying that according to 1 Corinthians 1:2 if we call on the name of the Lord we are all saints. There are actually 68 references to the word saint in the Bible.  67 times it is the plural saints and only once is it singular saint.  We don't have to wait and have that title conferred on us by a human entity, if we are in Jesus, God has made us holy and acceptable-a saint.

That being said I have found encouragement in reading stories of some of the Catholic saints (those are individuals who have been set apart or canonized for meeting certain qualifications; one is performing a miracle).  While I don't agree with the teachings of the Catholic church on sainthood, I do find encouragement in their faithful service to their Lord.  That being said, I just wanted to post some favorite quotes by some of the saints.

"Simply believing in the existence of God is not exactly what I would call a commitment. After all, even the devil believes that God exists. Believing has to change the way we live."-Mother Angelica

"The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing: because the Lord is great, but He is well-pleased only with the humble;He always opposes the proud."-Mary Faustina Kowalska

"A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps."-Saint Augustine

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you."-Saint Augustine

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."-St Francis of Assisi

"Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied."-Saint Jerome

"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."-St Francis of Assisi

"Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily"-St Frances de Sales

"And it is the Lord, it is Jesus, Who is my judge.  Therefore I will try always to think leniently of others, that He may judge me leniently, or rather not at all, since He says: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged."-Therese of Lisieux

I could keep going, but will spare you.  If you would like to read more you can find them here:
http://www.azquotes.com/quote/1070412

I also have a book I enjoy entitled "Saint of the Day" by Leonard Foley.

Saints challenge me to become a better person, but no one influences me more than my Lord, Jesus Christ.  He is the best example of all and the fact that He gave His life so that I could also call myself a saint truly boggles my mind.  I cling to the promise of 2cCorinthians 3:18 "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."