Everyone must have a plan. A course of action that will invariably lead to an outcome of their liking. All existence is predicated on it. Simple or complex, it doesn’t matter. You just have to have a plan. There is no future without a plan. There is no reason to open your eyes in the morning. No purpose to unlocking the front door and venturing out into the world.
A plan means life.
If you want to be a rock star then you take up an instrument, practice and play any venue imaginable, because maybe one day you will be discovered. Or maybe one day you’ll just get lucky. So, when you’re playing Wembley Stadium, you are safe in the knowledge that this is what you wanted for your life all along. By that path goes happiness. Such is serenity. And it all starts with a plan.
Doctors, lawyers, corporate leaders all have a plan. So does the lion roaming the Serengeti Plain, or the ant toiling up a mound of earth.
I need a plan. What is that to be?
I now have my stated goal, but what next? Mine was a bold gesture indeed, but standing in front of the class I quickly realized that they were all becoming fuzzy, as if a frosted glass slowly descended between us.
This is a position I will find myself in over and again in life and it is better that I learn how to deal with it as a child. If I start young it can give me more time to develop strategies to counteract the occurrence as I grow older.
I call it ambition paralysis. The act of not knowing what to do next. There is no cure for it. No therapy can conquer this insidious malaise once it strikes. You must vanquish it yourself, for it is only you who truly knows what your plan is. So, what is it?
Any plan must start with a question. The three W’s: Who, What and Why? With these three words goes the entire universe. They have a strength about them that has withstood millennia. Leonardo asked; why can’t a man fly? Edison posed; what comes after the candle? Martin Luther raised the thought; who benefits from this church? All questions which impacted the way the world evolved.
So, I have my question. What does it take to become a saint?
What criteria are necessary?
There are rules governing the entrance into this club, but they are far from rock-solid. They in fact retain an uncongealed form, bending and shaping to one whim or another. As with many a query, they, far from resolving the matter, only breathe life to new questions.
Are six miracles required to join? Are these phenomenons to be witnessed by twelve individuals? Or ten? Or a hundred? Of the six miracles, what percentage should involve the saving of a life? Is this saving of a life a prevention of death or is it to be a resurrection of an already departed soul? Every question morphs into yet another. Just what entails becoming a saint?
The church knows, doesn’t it?
Canonization, the process used by Catholicism to create saints, has only been around since the commencement of the second millennium. Before that time, the people who knew them best, or thought they knew them, chose saints. A village or town that was touched by an individual repaid that person by deeming them saintly, therefore elevating them in society. This turned out to be a more private way of bestowing such an honour, where everyone knew the saint personally, therefore somehow elevating themselves in the process.
Such a practice led to the propagation of myths and the distortion of history, so much so that some early saints never actually existed. They were either invented outright or so intertwined with folklore that their life became a matter of fact. Anyone had the opportunity of becoming a saint, and that didn’t sit too well with the powers-that-be.
To rectify this, first the bishops took over the process, but the corruption became even more entrenched. Sainthood was sold to the highest bidder, and the regular person stood absolutely no chance of ever reaching such a summit.
Finally the Vatican became the sole arbiter for approving saints and that is where we get our lists today. The process became more organized, but no less confusing.
The late twentieth century brought sweeping changes and as a result saints are now chosen by a strict set of conventions.
Years after the death of a person, who is regarded as holy, the local Bishop investigates the candidate’s life and writings for special virtue, or in certain cases, martyrdom.
Having passed that first test, what follows is an evaluation by a panel of theologians at the Vatican. Only after acceptance by the panel is the name passed onto the cardinals of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. And only with their approval does the candidate’s name pass to the Pontiff, who proclaims the applicant venerable.
First step completed.
From there, Beatification requires evidence of one miracle, or in the case of a martyr, death is deemed enough of a miracle. One more catch in this long process is that miracles are considered proof of a person’s entry into heaven, where they are able to intercede for us back here on earth, therefore death is the prerequisite. Contrary to popular culture or publicity campaigns, there are no living saints. Not yet.
When the Pope proclaims a person blessed then beatification is complete.
You are still not a saint. One more miracle is needed, and this time martyrs must perform this miracle as well. Giving your life for another can only get you so far in the saintly quest.
The long road to sainthood has often been politicized and used by a certain camp, city or country, wishing to have their own hero recognized, thereby acclaiming themselves by association. Many an unholy man has become a saint, if just by the sheer weight of an entire city behind their beatification. At least one Borgia comes to mind.
The church, despite Pius IX’s edict, is not infallible. It bends to the will of power, just as a tree sways to the changing winds. The foremost task of the church is to survive and, after two thousand years, it has become an expert at it.
We, I include myself for I am part of it all, are able to use the whole process of sainthood to our benefit. Always ready to remind others that the church does not choose the saint, God does. The temporal process only recognizes that fact. We are the bookkeepers of the lost souls.
All saints are considered holy, but not all holy people become saints. There are thousands of saints and surely they must have done something special to become such an important signpost in history. Something noteworthy enough to warrant being written about and having their image recreated in stained glass and marble.
My self-appointed task since childhood is to discover a path that leads to sainthood. Will I ever be able to find what that special quality is, and how can I strive for such glory? Is there anywhere I can glean some measure of inspiration?
So I decided to formulate a strategy, first in my head and in later years I commit it to paper. It has become known as Joseph Roncalli’s Five Steps to Sainthood. At first I didn’t like the way that sounded, but many others did. So many in fact that millions of copies of my treatise have been printed and distributed the world over, translated into one hundred and twelve languages and dialects.
I set out on a quest to discover what it takes to become a saint. There are no adverts in the newspapers, no billboards announcing some upcoming seminar professing; Be The Saint You Know You Are! None of the programs on television help in my quest and any book on the subject invariably falls short of the mark. I have to figure it out myself.
So here it is; the five-step plan, in no preferential order.
