Instead of having a Halloween party, a group of young adults decided to have a “Saints Extravaganza.” Everyone was encouraged to dress as his or her favorite saint. There were plenty of folks in brown robes as St. Francis of Assisi, a few Discalced Carmelites for St. Teresa of Avila, and even a man with arrows taped to himself as St. Sebastian. However, one young adult showed up in a track jacket, blue jeans and tennis shoes. I thought that he had forgotten his costume, but he quickly informed us, “I’m Carlo Acutis. After all, saints are just normal folks.” He certainly was the most comfortable at the party, but perhaps he also had it most correct. We are all called to be saints, and the universal call to holiness is very real.

Our late Pope Francis would have loved the Carlo Acutis impersonator’s response. Pope Francis once said, “(The saints) are like us. … They are people who, before reaching the glory of heaven, lived normal lives with joys and sorrows, struggles and hopes.” The challenge at times is getting people to believe that the struggle for heaven is worth it. When I was in the seminary, a Catholic elementary school student asked me what heaven was like. I tried to tell him that it was a place of joy and peace where you get to see God. “You get to look at God?” he asked dubiously. “Well, how long do I look at God?” When I told him that you look at God forever, he promptly responded, “Well, that stinks; I want to play baseball and go to Dairy Queen!” I tried to convince him that this was even better than eating a Blizzard or hitting a double, but he would not believe it. I am still hopeful that something will change his mind, be it the Holy Spirit or lactose intolerance.

Pope Benedict XVI alluded to this in his 2007 encyclical Spe Salvi (“In Hope We Are Saved”). He wrote, “Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. To continue living for ever — endlessly — appears more like a curse than a gift” (No. 10).

I used to think, like Juan Ponce de Leon, that finding the Fountain of Youth would be a wonderful thing. However, after experiencing vicariate meetings, finance councils and youth sports banquets, I am more inclined to agree with the British rock band Queen: “Who wants to live forever?” Eternity, though, is not like this world; it is a place of complete fulfillment in the presence of our God. Heaven is worth it. God’s eternal love is worth it. Our obligation is to help other people see that and strive for it as well.

The saints are people who lived courageously for heaven in spite of trying circumstances. Many faced great persecutions and martyrdom, such as Maximilian Kolbe or Oscar Romero. Some lived with debilitating diseases, such as Margaret of Castello or John Paul II. Others had to fight injustice, such as Elizabeth Ann Seton or Josephine Bakhita. Nevertheless, these saints knew that it was worth it, and that God was greater.

“I like the saints who struggle,” a man told me once. “I realize then I have to keep fighting too.” C.S. Lewis, in “Mere Christianity,” wrote about the attractiveness of the saints: “Sameness is to be found most among the most ‘natural’ men, not among those who surrender to Christ. How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerers have been; how gloriously different are the saints.” So many people today like to stand out with wild hairstyles, tattoos and piercings. “It looks like the circus is in town!” my grandma would say. How great it would be if we could stand out for our love for Christ.

Costume parties are not really my thing, but those young adults were right. The more we put on holiness, the more we live for Christ. There are no style points for holiness; the mundane and ordinary count just as much as the heroic and fantastic. That should give us hope, and keep heaven on our minds. 

FATHER MICHAEL ACKERMAN is the pastor at Resurrection Parish, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and chaplain at Seton LaSalle Catholic High School in Pittsburgh.