Solemnity of All Saints
Today's Scripture
I am going to begin this homily by sharing my grandma, Sarah Antony’s story. She died recently at the age of 93. Grand ma had a hard life. She was a widow for 63 years. Grand pa died when she still had a suckling baby in her arms. She worked hard at the farm to provide for the needs of her children. When her oldest son was getting to the age where he could support the family, she lost him. He died from a reaction to a flu shot. She never really got over that. About five years before she died she buried her youngest daughter who died from cancer at the age of 59. For the last two years she had gotten extremely weak. The last two months were perhaps the hardest. She spent these two months in the hospital and gradually faded away. However, it was her and death and the events that followed that are incredible. Because she was in a Catholic hospital, my mother who stayed with her was able to attend mass each day at the hospital. Mom prayed hard that her death may be peaceful. One such morning, mom had just come back from mass and within moments, drawing three small breaths, grandma passed away ever so peacefully. My uncles were all present as well. For them, those few moments of peaceful death, as it were, made up for sixty-three years of pain. But it got even better. When I reached India for the funeral, it had been raining for days because of the monsoon except of course, from ten in the morning to about five in the afternoon the Wednesday of the funeral. Because there are no funeral homes in India, the family takes the body to the church in a coffin. Any rain would have made this impossible. But on that day, just for those hours we had clear blue skies with the sun shining brightly over us. It started raining again that evening and it hadn’t stopped till I left on Friday morning. The peaceful death and the clear skies communicated to us the presence of God. God’s presence at the moment of her death and her funeral made up for sixty three years of hardship and challenges.
Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints and tomorrow we celebrate All Soul’s day. Along with the many of you who will gather for either or both of these celebrations, I want to believe that the ones that have died and those of us who continue to live on earth are invited by God to participate fully in God’s own life. I want to believe about my grandma that she is both a saint and that she now shares fully in God’s life.
The confidence we have in God is God’s work. Today’s scripture reading exude tremendous confidence. The first reading from Revelation offers us a glimpse into life with God. Dr. David Barr, in his talk here last week on the book of revelation, referred to the number “one hundred and fourty-four thousand,” as meaning, all God’s people. Yes, it is God’s will that all God people should find themselves in God’s life-giving presence. St, Paul in today’s second reading says, “Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.” (1 Jn 3:1). That is why we are saints - because we are God’s children. And to those who consider themselves God’s children, those who are poor in spirit, and meek and peace loving, they are offered the very Kingdom of God. The gospel message could not be clearer – those who seek God are offered God’s Kingdom as well.
Let me offer three practical implications for today.
1. Our beloved are in the hands of God. Each of us has buried people who we love very much. Some of them perhaps have been more saintly than others. I have personally experienced the peace of burying someone whose life has been a shining light. But then, I have also buried those whose lives have been far from exemplary. And it is not uncommon that we are anxious for them. But Christ did not come to save the exemplary. He came to save sinners. Because of Jesus, all of us - sinners and saints - are called the children of God. Today, in peace and confidence on God’s love entrust our loved ones into the hands of God.
2. Today’s feast is an invitation to become part of the Kingdom of God. Scripture does not limit sainthood to those who have died. A saint is any person who tries to live the life of God here on earth. Of course the Church honors some Saints officially because they are exceptional models of Christian discipleship. But that is from the human perspective. From God’s perspective each of us is a prospective saint – a saint in the making. Each time we do right the thing, each time we love beyond measure, each time we forgive unconditionally, each time we act in favor or justice, each time we feed the hungry, or protect the vulnerable, or take our relationship with God seriously, we are getting that much closer to sainthood. Sainthood does not happen when we are dead – sainthood is for the living. We can only be saints when we died if we are saints in the here and now.
3. How can I be a saint? Today’s gospel is a roadmap to sainthood. The beatitudes can be a simple guide to Sainthood. In fact, my word for a saint is a radical disciple. Saints or disciples ares poor in spirit, they mourn at the misfortune of others, are meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, are merciful, are clean of heart, are peacemakers, are ready to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and are ready to pay the price of discipleship. To such people, Jesus, says, “The kingdom of God is yours.” The beatitudes is the way to sainthood
I suggest that we end this homily with a prayer. It is the parish prayer for the grace of radical discipleship or sainthood. You will find this prayer in the back cover of your red hymnals.
God our Father,
Your Son Jesus called his disciples and said,
“You did not choose me, but I chose You.”
I thank you that you consider me worthy to be a disciple of Jesus.
Transform me, Father, into the image of Jesus
Just like Jesus,
Make my heart long for you in poverty of spirit.
Make my heart mourn at the misfortune of others.
Make me meek and humble of heart.
Make me hunger and thirst for what is right.
Make me merciful and overflowing with compassion.
Make me clean of heart and share in your holiness.
Make my life an instrument of peace and reconciliation.
Make me bold to face the consequences of discipleship.
.Grant me the grace, Father, so that
I may think like Jesus, act like Jesus, and talk like Jesus,
for in this is Radical Discipleship.
I make this prayer in the name of Jesus,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
©Fr. Satish Joseph, 2009