Twelve Tips for Sainthood from Servant of God Michelle Duppong

Elizabeth Leon shares practical wisdom from Servant of God Michelle Duppong that can help us in our journey to become saints.  

I first learned of Michelle Duppong three years ago when the cause for her canonization was opened on November 1, 2022. My daughter Maggie was a FOCUS missionary at the time and was thrilled to share that a former FOCUS missionary, Michelle Duppong, was being considered for sainthood.   

Maggie joined FOCUS in 2020 and never knew Michelle, but many of Maggie’s team or regional directors in the organization knew her personally. It was inspiring to be so close to people who had known someone officially beginning the path to becoming a canonized saint.   

Servant of God  

Michelle Duppong’s life bore witness to supernatural joy and heroic Christian suffering. She was passionate about inviting others to be transformed by the love of Christ. Michelle spent her adult life devoted to evangelization as a FOCUS missionary and a diocesan formation director in the Diocese of Bismarck. She was diagnosed with cancer on December 29, 2014, and died on Christmas Day the following year.   

I was able to view Radiating Joy, a documentary on Michelle's life, and was moved by her simple, unwavering love for Christ and dedication to making sure every soul she encountered could experience his love through her joy. I learned more about Michelle’s story after hearing her parents speak at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July 2024.  

Finally, on All Saints’ Day this year, I was privileged to be with her sister, Lisa Gray, as speakers at the Beloved women’s conference in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, three years to the day Michelle’s cause was opened.   

Lisa is a kind, funny, humble woman who has stepped into the calling of helping her kid sister become a canonized saint. She shared “Shelley’s” story with humor, gratitude, and peace — marveling at the works of the Lord who moved Michelle to faithfully spread Christ’s love on earth and then magnified her mission through her heroic suffering and death.   

We Can Be Saints Too  

I cried many times listening to Lisa speak, but I was also inspired. We are all called to be saints. The only thing standing between me and sainthood is … me! If you are like me and also desire to reach sainthood, I found wisdom for the journey through Lisa’s talk.  

Michelle, a Servant of God, was also just an ordinary, funny, silly, pesky daughter, sister, and friend. Listening to Lisa’s stories, I gathered these 12 bits of wisdom from Michelle’s life that may help all of us on our journey to be saints.   

1. Have a powerful, abundant mindset.  
2. Be on the lookout for the BEST in others 
3. Choose trust and persistence even when it seems like doors are closed.  
4. Live like souls are on the line … because they are.  
5. Have expectant hope. 
6. Your joy is an offering of goodness for others. 
7. Run so as to win!  
8. Pray for heroic acceptance.  
9. Offer yourself in heroic friendship. Everyone needs to know about Jesus, and it is saintly to encourage others to be saints!  
10. Expect miracles.  
11. Do everything with humility and a missionary spirit.  
12. Stretch yourself for Jesus the bridegroom because His love wins.  

May our final encouragement be from Michelle herself. She wrote these words in her column, "Run to Win," from the Dakota Catholic Action newspaper on April 1, 2014:  

The Christian life is tough work. You have to constantly choose to follow Christ. There are so many enticing distractions trying to divert us from the narrow path. Oftentimes, when we face particularly difficult trials and temptations, we ask ourselves, “What’s the point? Is this worth it?” 
 
Right now, I want to grab you by the shoulders, look you in the eyes, and say, “HECK YES, IT’S WORTH IT! Eternity is worth the fight! Don’t you dare think of giving up!”  

You can learn more about Michelle Duppong and her cause for sainthood at MichelleDuppongCause.org.  

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