Slate Magazine has an provocative piece up by James Martin in which he makes some observations occasioned by the process of canonization presently underway for Pope John Paul II and the attendant controversy:

Link: Being holy means being human, not perfect. – By James Martin – Slate Magazine.

All these men and women were holy, striving to devote their lives to God. They were also human. And they knew it, too. Of all people, the saints were the most cognizant of their flawed humanity, which served as a reminder of their reliance on God.

Unfortunately, well-meaning hagiography often tries to dial down the saints’ human side to make their lives seem more virtuous. So, the modern-day conception of Francis of Assisi ends up depicting him as a kind of well-meaning peacenick, rather than the complicated man who was something of a hothead. (Francis once clambered atop the roof of a house his brothers built and began tearing it apart—he felt it was not in keeping with their life of poverty.)

Martin’s point is that we do ourselves a real disservice when we remove a saint’s humanity. Doing so makes it much less likely that any of us normal folks will believe that we have the will or ability to emulate them. And deciding that we don’t causes us to lose sight of the whole reason that the Church’s liturgical year celebrates the Saints; so that they would be lifted up a salutary examples for us all…