All Saints Day 2006
Happy All Saints Day
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
We are celebrating today all the saints, not just the saints whose names are mentioned in the Mass texts, not just those were canonized saints by the Pope, but all those who enjoy the happiness of heaven, whether canonized or not and we hope that our loved ones, relatives and friends are among the saints of heaven.
A saint is this: a human being who belongs to God, who has been set apart from the world by the Blood of Jesus Christ, shed on a cross and received in the Holy Communion. Nobody else is a saint, and there is no other qualification. We are holy because of God’s action in our lives, or we are not. Every member of the Church in heaven is a saint; and every member of the Church on earth whose broken heart is faithful to Jesus Christ, who puts his trust in Jesus Christ and in nothing else, not even in himself, is just as much a saint right now. And dear brothers and sisters we all are called to be saints.
As we reflect today on those who have gone before us into everlasting life and the communion of saints, we rejoice with all of those who lived the fullness of life with God. But we also understand that we, too, have begun to live that life. So we are filled with a sense of joy and peace but also with the determination and the courage to live now the way of the reign of God, to make sure we live out what we believe. Remember what St Paul said in Ephesians 2.
"So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2: 19-22).
The saints whether famous and canonized or unknown and not canonized are an example to us. We could apply this verse from the letter to the Hebrews to the saints,
“With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross disregarding the shame of it and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne.” (Heb 12)
We may doubt “Why do we pray to the saints sometimes, why not just pray directly to God?” We pray to the saints because they can help us on journey to Jesus. They are now gathered around the throne of God and they can intercede for us and help us. And we know that they do intercede for us and help us because so many people claim to have received favors through praying to a particular saint. And indeed for anyone to be beatified or canonized a major miracle inexplicable by natural means must have taken place. So praying to the saints is powerful. They are our brothers and sisters from every country and from every generation and they can help us on our path to God. We have one ultimate goal in praying to the saints, that through their prayers we may join with them one day in heaven by sharing in God’s victory as they have done. We ask them to help us allow Jesus’ victory over evil on the cross to be reproduced in our lives as it has been in theirs.
Yes dear brothers and sisters, if we know who we are, we will know how to act. The elephant doesn’t know how huge it is that is why it obeys the mahout. The Solemnity of All Saints today reminds us of who we are and what a bright future can be ours. As we celebrate today all the saints, both those canonized and those who are unknown, we are joyful that they have reached the goal of life, heaven. They remind us to keep our sights fixed high, to remember who we are and the glorious possibility that God offers us. Who are we? St John answers that beautifully in our second reading (1John 3:1-3);
We are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
How do we follow the footsteps of the Saints and live a saintly life? Jesus is giving us the shortcuts to become saints in our Gospel today. The Sermon on the Mount starts off with those beautiful sayings that we call the Beatitudes. They are so paradoxical because they seem to contradict what we think of as common sense: Blessed are the poor; those who live simply are the ones blessed. Blessed are the gentle, the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the peacemakers, those who are always reconciling and forgiving. You live in the reign of God with those values.
To be poor in spirit is not having any money. One could have lots of money and be poor in spirit. Being poor in spirit is admitting that we are sinners in need of God’s grace and help.
Jesus meant when he said “happy are those who mourn” is “happy are those who are sorry for their sins and the sins of others.” When we see the almost daily murders in our country now we mourn as we watch the news. One of the Psalms says “Tears stream from my eyes because your law is disobeyed.” (Ps 119:136) That is an example of someone mourning because the law of God is broken. We know that many good people in countries around the world mourn because their countries have introduced laws allowing babies in the womb, who could be a saint, to be killed.
A footnote includes us in the Beatitudes: "You, too, when you are abused and persecuted, when you are 'bucked and scorned' and lied about on account of the name of Jesus. Take everything as a compliment, and know that you are in good company. "
The definition of Saint is one who is baptized and tries to do the will of God. That's Jesus -- the model of our own sainthood. He was baptized into that project, and so are we. The only tragedy is not to be a Saint. God’s grace will lead us to the company of saints. Today we ask all the saints to pray for us, so that we too will join in their company.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
We are celebrating today all the saints, not just the saints whose names are mentioned in the Mass texts, not just those were canonized saints by the Pope, but all those who enjoy the happiness of heaven, whether canonized or not and we hope that our loved ones, relatives and friends are among the saints of heaven.
A saint is this: a human being who belongs to God, who has been set apart from the world by the Blood of Jesus Christ, shed on a cross and received in the Holy Communion. Nobody else is a saint, and there is no other qualification. We are holy because of God’s action in our lives, or we are not. Every member of the Church in heaven is a saint; and every member of the Church on earth whose broken heart is faithful to Jesus Christ, who puts his trust in Jesus Christ and in nothing else, not even in himself, is just as much a saint right now. And dear brothers and sisters we all are called to be saints.
As we reflect today on those who have gone before us into everlasting life and the communion of saints, we rejoice with all of those who lived the fullness of life with God. But we also understand that we, too, have begun to live that life. So we are filled with a sense of joy and peace but also with the determination and the courage to live now the way of the reign of God, to make sure we live out what we believe. Remember what St Paul said in Ephesians 2.
"So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2: 19-22).
The saints whether famous and canonized or unknown and not canonized are an example to us. We could apply this verse from the letter to the Hebrews to the saints,
“With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross disregarding the shame of it and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne.” (Heb 12)
We may doubt “Why do we pray to the saints sometimes, why not just pray directly to God?” We pray to the saints because they can help us on journey to Jesus. They are now gathered around the throne of God and they can intercede for us and help us. And we know that they do intercede for us and help us because so many people claim to have received favors through praying to a particular saint. And indeed for anyone to be beatified or canonized a major miracle inexplicable by natural means must have taken place. So praying to the saints is powerful. They are our brothers and sisters from every country and from every generation and they can help us on our path to God. We have one ultimate goal in praying to the saints, that through their prayers we may join with them one day in heaven by sharing in God’s victory as they have done. We ask them to help us allow Jesus’ victory over evil on the cross to be reproduced in our lives as it has been in theirs.
Yes dear brothers and sisters, if we know who we are, we will know how to act. The elephant doesn’t know how huge it is that is why it obeys the mahout. The Solemnity of All Saints today reminds us of who we are and what a bright future can be ours. As we celebrate today all the saints, both those canonized and those who are unknown, we are joyful that they have reached the goal of life, heaven. They remind us to keep our sights fixed high, to remember who we are and the glorious possibility that God offers us. Who are we? St John answers that beautifully in our second reading (1John 3:1-3);
We are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
How do we follow the footsteps of the Saints and live a saintly life? Jesus is giving us the shortcuts to become saints in our Gospel today. The Sermon on the Mount starts off with those beautiful sayings that we call the Beatitudes. They are so paradoxical because they seem to contradict what we think of as common sense: Blessed are the poor; those who live simply are the ones blessed. Blessed are the gentle, the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the peacemakers, those who are always reconciling and forgiving. You live in the reign of God with those values.
To be poor in spirit is not having any money. One could have lots of money and be poor in spirit. Being poor in spirit is admitting that we are sinners in need of God’s grace and help.
Jesus meant when he said “happy are those who mourn” is “happy are those who are sorry for their sins and the sins of others.” When we see the almost daily murders in our country now we mourn as we watch the news. One of the Psalms says “Tears stream from my eyes because your law is disobeyed.” (Ps 119:136) That is an example of someone mourning because the law of God is broken. We know that many good people in countries around the world mourn because their countries have introduced laws allowing babies in the womb, who could be a saint, to be killed.
A footnote includes us in the Beatitudes: "You, too, when you are abused and persecuted, when you are 'bucked and scorned' and lied about on account of the name of Jesus. Take everything as a compliment, and know that you are in good company. "
The definition of Saint is one who is baptized and tries to do the will of God. That's Jesus -- the model of our own sainthood. He was baptized into that project, and so are we. The only tragedy is not to be a Saint. God’s grace will lead us to the company of saints. Today we ask all the saints to pray for us, so that we too will join in their company.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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