Saints of , pray for us…

Visiting classrooms and asking the children who might be their favorite saint?

St. Francis of Assisi and the newly canonized St. Teresa of Calcutta were the most popular.

Pope Francis has been in for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant . In his homily today in Malmo, Sweden he said: “If there is one thing typical of the saints and the reason they stand out, it is that they are genuinely happy.”

“The saints are blessed because they were faithful and meek and cared for others,” said.

At the end of an ecumenical trip to Sweden, Pope Francis celebrated the feast of All Saints Nov. 1 with Mass in a Malmo stadium. He highlighted the lives of Swedish saints Elizabeth Hesselblad and Bridget of Vadstena, who “prayed and worked to create bonds of unity and fellowship between Christians.”

The best description of the saints — in fact, their “identity card” — the pope said, is found in the Beatitudes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which begins, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

And, he said, as Christian saints have done throughout the ages, Christ’s followers today are called “to confront the troubles and anxieties of our age with the spirit and love of Jesus.”

New situations require new energy and a new commitment, he said, and then he offered a new list of Beatitudes for modern day Christians:

— “Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart.

— “Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness. — “Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him.

— “Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.

— “Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.

— “Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.”

“All these are messengers of God’s mercy and tenderness,” Pope Francis said. “Surely they will receive from him their merited reward.”

We too, by virtue of our , are called to be saints. Strengthened by the Eucharist and the sacraments we live out our baptismal calling in our day to be faithful the ordinary things of life that become extraordinary. Christ is seen then in the love expressed through our heart, the compassion revealed through our spirit, the kindness displayed through our actions, the blessing received through our lives.

Saints of God, pray for us all!