I’ve found myself encouraged by the recent canonizations of St. Pier Giorgio and St. Carlo. I work with middle school and high school boys, and I am hopeful the newly minted saints will bear witness to the adventures of holiness. Both young men, Frassati and Acutis, lived passionately and desired to grow closer to the Lord. They both suffered terminal diseases, but in their agony, they sought the Lord.

In his work Saints for Today, author Jerome Williams writes that “the saints are those who rise with Christ; they are examples of the kind of transformation possible for those who are willing to take the Divine Doctor at his word, and who are ready to follow his prescriptions.” Holiness is not a product of some hum-drum experience spent in solitude and everlasting boredom. Holiness stems from a glorious relationship with the loving King through the Holy Spirit.

The question is not whether we are called to holiness or not. We are. Jesus desires for us to be set apart. The question is whether we will allow the Divine Doctor to love us. Will we ask for grace to be open to his love? Will we ask for the strength and courage to follow his lead? The Christian way is narrow, but it is worth it. It demands we give everything, but in return, it provides eternally more. May we always remain passionately in love with our King.