Unlike the Saints, however, we still look to the future as we set before ourselves the hope of sharing with them the sight and Presence of God and of enjoying for ever “...the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints…” (NRSV, Ephesians 1:18).  Heaven is our true home towards which we should nightly pitch our moving tent.  The way is narrow and steep, its surface rough and broken and only by courage and perseverance can its end be reached.  It is no road for the spiritual loiterer or backslider, and that is why Our Blessed Lord has warned us, that we must, not just seek, but strive and struggle.  “Strive” he said, “to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (RSV, Luke 13:24, our emphasis).

The crown is for those who have fought and won the battle against their temptations and their sins and their lower selves.  It is not, and never can be, for those who have taken the line of least resistance and have been content to think and speak and do much as they pleased.  

Let us then take as our example the Blessed Saints who have won through by using the life of God and the “…immeasurable greatness…” (NRSV, Ephesians 1:19) of his power which he so freely gives within the Church to all who are determined to struggle on and upwards in their steps.

References

1. Attwater, D. (1965) The Penguin dictionary of saints, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

2. Watkins, Dom Basil (ed) (7th edition) (202) The book of saints, London: A&C Black.

3. Farmer, D. (5th edition) (2011) Oxford dictionary of the saints, Oxford: Oxford University Press.