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Homily
at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Hanceville, AL
November 1, 2009
—
Solemnity of All Saints
The great
Feast of All Saints is about celebrating all the canonized saints and
all the uncanonized saints as well. Of course, we are very familiar
that the canonized saints are those we celebrate throughout the year.
Those that we know about after reading their biographies or learning
about them from sermons, homilies or other means. These are the saints
whom the Church proclaims explicitly and publicly and without error that
they are in heaven. They have finished the race; they have
fought the good fight. They are victorious and enjoying the Beatific
Vision of the Blessed Trinity now.
But there
are many more saints in heaven than we can count or find in our
liturgical calendar
—
many more than the number of saints found in both the Ordinary
and Extraordinary liturgical calendars put together. St. John the
Beloved told us what he saw. He saw a vision of “a great multitude
which no one could count from every nation, race, people and town”.
Most likely there are many more uncanonized saints in heaven than there
are canonized. That’s why we have today’s great Feast of All Saints
—
to honor not only the canonized but also and especially the uncanonized
saints today.
Mother’s
personal thought is that the saints who are canonized may be the very
least in the Kingdom. We don’t know this. She doesn’t know this,
either, but this is her guess. But it is probably a pretty good guess.
There are more uncanonized saints than there are saints, and possibly
the canonized may be the very least in the Kingdom. Mother thought that
some little old washerwoman who had a tremendous love for God may be
greater than St. Augustine up there. She thinks we are going to have
many surprises when we get there. I think she might be right in
this area.
Although
no one can count how many saints there are in heaven, the saints come
from various nations, races, people, and tongues. And though they have
different personalities, characteristics, and backgrounds, there has
to be some kind of unique characteristic that’s common to all of
them. What’s this unique characteristic common to every saint?
It is
certainly not intelligence. We have saints who have great intellectual
gifts but you do not have to be a genius to be a saint. We know that
this is not the characteristic common to every saint. It literally took
a miracle for St. Joseph of Cupertino to pass his theology exams for his
ordination. Mother often taught us not to worry about getting all of
those letters after our names. She taught us to worry about getting at
least the “st.” in front of our names. This is what all of us are to
strive for and to keep our focus on.
The
unique characteristic common to every saint is not about their good
looks, either. St. Rita of Cascia, as many of you know, bore the wounds
of Christ on her forehead. The wounds are from one of Christ’s crown of
thorns. She bore the open wounds on her face for the last decade of her
life. It was said that it was ugly and smelly. Some saints were
described as having ugly faces while on earth. Some may have had a nose
that was too big, or whatever else is wrong with their looks. Good
looks are not the common denominator of every saint.
What
about a great personality? Having a great personality is not a common
thread, either, and is not found in every saint. St. Padre Pio, who had
a true Italian temperament, was harsh and demanding at times even when
he was hearing confessions. The first thing we were taught in the
seminary in the practicum of confession is that there are three rules
that you must follow: Be kind, be kind, be kind. This is the first
thing taught when dealing with penitents in the confessional because it
is so very important. Again, St. Padre Pio was very harsh and very
demanding at times when he was hearing confessions.
Having
wealthy success or worldly success is not the common thread, either,
found in every saint; we have hermits and beggars. So the unique
characteristic common to every saint is not any one of these
—
intelligence, good looks, great personality, wealth, worldly, or
religious success.
It is
rather their ability to be joyful and peaceful in the midst of trials
and difficulties of their lives. This is common to every saint. This
is a very typical pattern we find in the life of every saint. St. John
tells us in the Book of Revelation that ”these are the ones that have
survived the time of great distress”. Great distress doesn’t always
mean red martyrdom; it could be white martyrdom where there is no blood
shed for the faith, but just dealing with unjust treatment
—
all those types are what Bishop Sheen would call white martyrdom. These
are very common in the lives of every saint. This is what our Lord
means when he said that those who are poor, mourning, persecuted
—
they are blessed. This is the common road the saints go through in
their lives. Of course, it seems endless. It seems that there is not
going to be any end to this treatment when they went through it and we
know that, too, when we ourselves go through it. We ask “when will this
end?” “When will there be justice?” It seems endless when we go
through it.
The
saints tell us that this is nothing in what we are going through on
earth
—
no matter if it’s the most horrible tragedy any of us experience here
(religious or non-religious) it is nothing compared to the glory that
the Lord is preparing for us. Nothing. Holiness is a mature
friendship with Him so deep and strong that it allows us to experience
the joy of eternal life even while still on earth
—
even in the midst of these trials
—
the most painful battles of our earthly exile. This is the common
thread we find in every saint: their ability to deal joyfully,
peacefully even in the midst of life’s trials and difficulties. Of
course, what makes it possible for them to do this is because of their
fidelity and union with Jesus Christ, their Best Friend
—
the One who would never betray. They know that they have nothing in
this world, even considering what they had. Some saints were very rich
and provided for the poor and for others who may have needed their
assistance. But considering even what they had, these possessions were
nothing in comparison to have Jesus as their Best Friend. Again, the
common thread we find in every saint is their ability to deal with
life’s trials and difficulties even with peace and joy in the midst of
these challenges. This is because God is their portion. He is their
inheritance and their total focus. They know God loves them and they
love Him and they love their neighbor no matter what. This is what
Mother said, too: “A saint is someone who loves God above all things
and loves his neighbor with that same love
—
with a holy, deep, persevering love.” Mother said that “being a
saint is being who you were meant to be: a frail human being keeping
the commandments. It is loving when you are not loved in return. It’s
being patient when you want to hit someone on the head. It is loving
your family as they are, not as you want them to be. It is not letting
the disappointments in your life crush you. The challenge of
Christianity is having fortitude in times of suffering and to stand for
the truth even if you stand alone. It is to be undeterred by
obstacles. It is to know that there is a big world out there and you
are a weak, little person. But God is looking for weakness so that His
power can be manifest. He needs you and me to manifest His power and
glory.”
Our Holy
Father said that “holiness demands constant effort, but it is
possible for everyone because rather than a human effort it is first and
foremost a gift of God.” Holiness is a gift from God. Then he
asked “how we can become holy like these saints when they were living
their life on earth.” Our Holy Father said “to be a saint
requires neither extraordinary actions or works nor the possession of
exceptional charisms. Those are not required to be holy. First of all,
it is necessary to listen to Jesus and to follow him without losing
heart when faced by difficulties. Like the grain of wheat buried in the
earth
—
those who trust and love Him sincerely accept dying to themselves.
Indeed he knows that whoever seeks to keep his life for himself loses
it. Whoever gives himself loses himself and in this very way finds
life.” He goes on by explaining the Church’s experience in
history. History shows that all forms of holiness, even if it follows
different paths: the path of the priesthood, the path of the
consecrated life, contemplative life, the married or widowed life
—
it always passes through the way of the Cross. It always goes through
this way of self denial. This is the common thread that I’ve been
talking about. He said the biographies of the saints described men and
women, who docile to Divine Plan, sometimes faced unspeakable trials,
sufferings, persecution, and martyrdom
—
white or red. They persevered in their commitment despite all these
challenges in life.
If we give
our lives to our Lord by following wherever He leads us, by doing
whatever He asks, by accepting or embracing what He offers us in our
life as hard as it may be, He will transform us into the saints He meant
us to be. He will teach us the experience and joy of those who trust in
God. Because only He can give that true joy that the world cannot
give. May all the saints inspire and strengthen all of us to be the
saints we were meant to be.
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