Throughout the Church year, we celebrate events in the life
of Christ, such as the birth of Our Savior at Christmas, His Passion on Good
Friday, his Resurrection on Easter; we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit
at Pentecost, we venerate Our Blessed Mother, and celebrate her Immaculate
Conception, her “yes” to God’s plan at the Annunciation, her Assumption into
Heaven at the end of her earthly life.
And we also celebrate feast days of the saints throughout the
year: Saint Joseph, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Mary Magdalene, the Holy
Apostles; martyrs like Saint Stephen, Saint Polycarp, Saint Sebastian, Saint
Joan of Arc, consecrated religious like Saint Francis, Saint Dominic, Saint
Clare, Saint Therese of Liseaux. Popes
who were saints, farmers who were saints, monks who were saints, widows who
were saints.
Today, we raise our eyes to heaven, to the whole great cloud
of witnesses in heaven—those saints whose names we know, and those we don’t,
those saints who have specific feast days during the calendar year, and those
that don’t. We raise our eyes to heaven
in thanksgiving to God for the Saints who pray for us constantly, who teach us
by their example, instruct us by their preaching, who are our companions in our
difficulties, who encourage us to remain faithful to Christ.
And we do so with joy.
When a family member wins an award we are joyful. My little sister was into gymnastics and
cheerleading, And I was happy when she
performed well. Or when our countrymen
come win the gold at the Olympics, we are filled with delight.
Well something greater than Olympic gold is being celebrated
today. The saints, our brothers and
sisters in Christ, have won the glorious and imperishable crown, and we rejoice
in their glory, especially because we know that they continue to help us be
like them and to reach the same heavenly destination.
Down in the school this week, in talking of the Saints, I
also showed them a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is a familiar image. His heart, entwined with the crown of thorns,
burning with the fire of love for His father and for mankind, shining with the
light of God’s Truth and Divinity, to be a light for the world. The saints while on earth seek the
transformation of their hearts into his.
Their love for God is not lukewarm, not mediocre, but burning on fire
with love-enkindled by prayer and the sacraments and a life of charity.
The saints’ hearts are transformed into the heart of Jesus,
willing to accept suffering for the sake of the kingdom of God and the spread
of the Gospel, and by their example teach us to seek that same
transformation.
The saints also encourage us, that though this earthly
pilgrimage has many pitfalls, with God’s grace the faithful Christian can reach
pilgrim’s end in heaven. It is possible,
just as Christ promised.
Yesterday, at his weekly audience from Rome, Pope Francis
spoke of the journey of faith. He said,
Trials and doubts are part of everyone's faith journey "even mine" he
said. Bbut Christians know they can get through the hard times with help from
God, other Christians and those in heaven. "Who hasn't experienced
insecurities, losses and even doubts in the journey of faith?" the pope
asked. "It's part of life. It should not shock us because we are human beings,
marked by fragility and limits."
In times of difficulty, the pope said, "it is necessary
to trust in God through prayer and, at the same time, it's important to find
the courage and humility to open yourself to others in order to ask for
help."
"All the baptized here on earth, the souls in purgatory
and the blessed souls in heaven form one big family," And just as we so often turn to family
members in times of difficulty, we should learn to turn to the saints, our
brothers and sisters in heaven.
Down in the school one week, I was discussing the Saints with
the students. “Please raise your hand,”
I asked them, “if you wish to go to heaven.”
All of them raised their hands. “Very good”, I said, “I would hope
so.” Then I asked, “Raise your hands if
you wish to be a saint.” There was a
little bit of hesitation, and only about half of the hands went up. I detected there was a bit of confusion.
Why would they hesitate?
Why did only half of the students raise their hands? When you hear the
word saint, what do you think of? A
statue, a fanatic, a figure in a nice story? Maybe they had never made the
connection, that God is calling them, personally, to be a saint. Vatican II reaffirmed Church teaching that
all of us are called, not to mediocrity, but to holiness. The life of Faith is not merely a dimension
of our life among others, but the center of our life which is to direct all of
our activity.
“Dr. Peter Kreeft one of my favorite Catholic Philosophers
once said, “One of the truest and most terrifying sentences I have ever read is
this: "If you will look into your own heart in complete honesty, you must
admit that there is one and only one reason why you are not a saint: you do not
wholly want to be. That insight is terrifying because it is an indictment. But
it is also thrillingly hopeful because it is an offer, an open door. Each of us
can become a saint. We really can. What holds us back? Fear of paying the
price. What is the price? You whole life…giving God a blank check.”
To desire to be a saint is to desire to become who God made
us to be—to be filled with the love of God, to be set on fire with love of God
in his service. Do you want to be a
saint? I hope you do!
Today’s feast reassures us that God transforms our lives as
we strive for spiritual perfection, that with his help, we can come to that
place prepared for each of us in heaven, that striving to become like Christ,
even in our suffering for the sake of the Gospel, we have the help of our
brothers and sisters in heaven and can be filled with peace and joy for the
glory of God and salvation of souls.
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