Homily for the week of November 1, 2009

ALL SAINTS DAY, 2009

Every 7 years All Saints Day comes on a weekend like this one. On this all Saints Day we are reminded of our connection with a great crowd of believers of every age and generation who have been called holy persons and who have been given the name of saint. They show us ways of responding to God and Jesus that we would never think of by ourselves. Their single minded focus on the will of God shows us parts of ourselves that we haven't had the nerve to look at.

The feast of All Saints also provides us an annual reminder that there are many more saints in heaven than the relatively few who have been officially recognized by the church. For every St. Francis of Assisi or St. Rose of Lima there are thousands of unknown and long forgotten mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors, co-workers, nurses, teachers, manual laborers, and other individuals in various kinds of occupations who lived holy lives that were consistent with the values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I often met persons, who, perhaps jokingly say there is no way I’ll become a saint. Many people think there is no way they can become a saint. They are not Mother Teresa nor do they want to be Mother Teresa. They do not want to spend a life of poverty caring for the destitute. Many admire St. Francis of Assisi, but at the same time they do not want to or are not able to renounce all earthly goods in order to live a life of austerity.

The feast of All Saints began as a way to honor those who died because of their religion. Then it was extended to all those people who live with God in heaven yet do not have a special ''saint's day'' on the calendar.

Not every saint lived a life of complete faithfulness and holiness. In fact, some did not acknowledge God until the moment of death, such as the prisoner who died on the cross with Jesus and simply asked that Jesus would remember him. Though he was a sinner he still possessed a faith that recognized holiness when he saw it.

The saints were ordinary persons who gave God the chance to form them into his own likeness.

Some of them were women and some were men

Some were teachers, spiritual directors and heads of religious orders

Some were teenagers

Some were peace workers, journalists, farmers, human rights activists

Some were labor organizers, baby sitters, athletes, scientists

Some were married, some single, some were priests, nuns and brothers

Some died young and some died old

Some have the word Saint in front of their name like Elizabeth Seton, and others don’t like Dorothy Day, Mahandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, Teresa of Calcutta. Some of them, as mentioned in our reading today from the book of Revelation, have washed their robes in the blood of Lamb because they lost their life because they refuse to follow the crowd, and some did not. Saints are like us, ordinary persons, who tried to live as they thought God wanted them to live.

I just finished reading a list of 9 ways by which Jesus tells us we can be happy. They ways are called the Beatitudes. The beatitudes give us a blueprint for living right. Saints are persons who took the beatitudes seriously. And because of this all saints have been poor in spirit, merciful, and peacemakers. Through the beatitudes Jesus issued a Bill of Rights for those who would follow him and want to be holy.

All Saints day is also a day when we celebrate the union we have with all the saints in heaven and on earth. All of us were made a saint at our Baptism. Being a saint is not so much something for us to gain, but it is something for us to lose. Trying to live as God wants us does not isolate us from hardship, but it can make us happy.

The Catholic Church has an important tradition of honoring men and women whose holy life has been and inspiration to others. These are the official saints of the Catholic Church, and there are hundreds of them. At our Baptism our parents gave each of us a name. Often this name relates to a member of our family by that name, but our name also relates to a person whom the Catholic Church has declared a saint. That is known as our patron saint. On this All Saints day find out a little more about your patron saint and let that saint be a model for your life. Those of you with young children can tell your children the story of the life of their patron saint and why you gave them this name. Tell them the story of your patron saint.

Also, take one of the beatitudes which you feel you live out fairly well, and then continue to live it out in your life. Then, consider the beatitude which you find has been the most difficult for you to live out. With all honesty, promise yourself today that you will give it a try.

In memory of today personally talk to God and tell God that he can

USE YOU to tell the poor you love them.

USE YOU to light the darkness of despair.

USE YOU to breathe a gentle word of peace.

USE YOU to show someone that you love them.