Friends, Not Comparisons
I was reflecting on this passage from the Catechism this morning. It reminds me that the saints are not distant figures of perfection but friends on our journey to holiness who help us by their intercession and prayers.
The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were “put in charge of many things.” Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world. CCC 2683
Do you ever read about the lives of the saints and think, “I could never measure up to their life, live like they did, sacrifice like they did”? We have a tendency to constantly compare ourselves to others. The temptation to compare is embedded in the story of salvation. Consider Cain and Abel. Cain’s comparison of Abel’s offering to his own consumed him with jealousy. Or Peter at the close of the Gospel of John when he asks Jesus, “Lord, what about that man?” Or the laborers hired early in the day complaining about the master’s generosity to those hired late.
This constant comparing steals from the soul. Whether it ends in envy, insecurity, and self-condemnation, or in pride, comparison shifts our gaze away from God and the path He has set before us. The lives of the saints and all those we deem holier than ourselves are a call to leave the narrow life of comparison behind. They are not meant to provoke envy or discouragement but to be a sign and witness of what God can do in a soul open to grace. Their very example should stir us to seek their intercession, asking them to pray for us before the throne of God.
© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.