The Best of All Saints (11-1-24 Feast of All Saints)

 

When I was very young, the sisters who taught me religion made it clear that God wants all of us to be saints.  Now, I am not sure if they believed that as much as they wanted to control my behavior.  Apparently, I was not there yet.  Either way, they motivated me to fully embrace that idea.  I wanted to be the best of all saints. 

As I got older, however, I came to understand that the word “saint” literally means holy, and holy in one sense means dedicated to the service of God.  Thus, we are all saints because we are all holy because we are all children of God.  Our baptism provides a more formal acknowledgement of our status as the saints we are from the beginning.  Among our Jewish brothers and sisters, the term “zaddik” applies to all the righteous and saintly persons who are deeply pious and generous in their service to others.

This devotion to serving God inspired the early Christian communities to use the term “saint” in reference to all those who believed in Jesus Christ and were devoted to his teachings.  These were considered the holy ones of God.  This is the reason St. Paul often refers to the addressees in his epistles as the saints of a particular city. 

For example, Paul addresses the Ephesians “as fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God” (Eph 1:1; 2:19).  He salutes the Corinthians as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Cor 1:2); and those in Rome as “God’s beloved…who are called to be saints” (Rom 1:7).  These and other references show that, in the early church, “saints” were those so transformed by Christ and his gospel message that they were considered holy saints.

Over time, however, the word “saint” applied more narrowly to those venerated as holy after their deaths by the members of their local church.  The Christians in the region where these people lived were familiar with their good deeds, and therefore bestowed on them the title of “saint” after their death to honor their memory and good example.  In 1234, Pope Gregory IX established a formal process through which such venerable persons could be recognized as saints by all.  These are known as canonized saints, and we celebrate their feasts throughout the year, usually on the date of the saint’s death.

This great feast of All Saints, however, is a celebration of not only those persons formally recognized by the Church as saints for their holiness and good works.  This feast also celebrates the countless anonymous saints known only to God (Rv 7: 9).  These holy persons, who come from every part of the world, devoted their lives to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They literally consumed themselves out of love for God and neighbor in giving material and spiritual aid to those in need. 

This group of anonymous saints is also an important part of the communion of saints—that great assemblage of all the faithful who are pilgrims of Christ on earth as well as the blessed ones in heaven (Paul VI, CPG § 30; CCC 946).  From this perspective, a saint is simply someone through whom we catch a glimpse of what God is like and what we are called to be—fully human in love with God, his children, and his creation (Lumen Gentium, Chp 5).  Saints in essence are very ordinary persons who live very ordinary lives.  The liturgy for today focuses on the holiness of such ordinary faithful servants.  Their lives show that the way of holiness is open to all of us. 

Jesus shows us a special way to live holy lives through the beatitudes.  In recounting these principles, Jesus uses the word “blessed” in the sense of consecration to God.  When Jesus calls the poor, the hungry, and the marginalized blessed, he declares their consecration to God.  He declares that God takes the poor, the hungry, and the marginalized under his wing.  God has a special love and concern for their welfare and he will not forget their suffering.  Indeed, God intends to reverse their suffering.  They will receive their fill; they will laugh; they will be satisfied.  God himself has blessed the downtrodden and they will be happy.

The beatitudes were benchmarks for those saints whose feast we celebrate today.  They followed these principles as a daily guide to their love and concern for others.  Despite their trials, doubts, and personal failures, their everyday practice revealed the truth of these words.  As a result, they discovered the future glory and joy of God's kingdom here on earth already present in their daily lives.

To put it more briefly, we can say that sainthood is a universal call to be fully human by expressing the attitudes and values of the beatitudes in everyday life (Mt 5:48).  This is why St. Paul urges us to live in a manner worthy of the calling that we have received, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4:2-3; 1:4).  In the spirit of the dear sisters who taught me so long ago, applying the beatitudes in ordinary life is how we all manifest the sainthood we already have.

(additional source:  “Solemnity of All Saints,” John Paul II, 11-1-00).

An Unexpected Event (Lk 12:35-38)

 

Jesus frequently describes his return in terms of an unexpected event, with an added warning that there is work for us to do in the interim.  For this reason, Jesus also emphasizes an urgent need for vigilance and active participation on our part in that regard.  The question is, why should we be concerned about his unexpected return, and what exactly does Jesus expect us to be doing until then?

As to our concern about his return, several times Jesus warns his disciples to “stay awake and keep watch, for you do not know on which day your Lord will come; be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Mt 24:42-44).  The urgency in this instruction suggests that things will not go well for those found negligent and inattentive in keeping watch upon his return.  But what does it mean to keep watch?  What did it mean for the disciples of long ago, and what does it mean for us today?

The answer has to do with bringing about the kingdom of God.  This is the work Jesus expects us to be doing upon his return, and the key in that regard is service to others.  Our calling is to serve others.  We bring about the kingdom of God by doing good works.  The followers of Jesus are faithful servants who renew their commitment to serving others each day.  Jesus makes it clear things will go well for those found carrying out this expectation when he returns.

Jesus speaks this way not only in reference to his second coming, but also to those times each day when he comes to us through our families, our neighbors, and our communities.  Serving others is especially critical for those living in the second and third watch where the expectation of his return is least.

We know the kind of service Jesus has in mind—feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit the isolated, promote peace and justice, show mercy.  These instructions echo the words of Isaiah, who says we should learn to do good, seek justice, redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, and defend the widow (Is 1:17).

According to St. James, doing good works is precisely what it means to be a religious person (Jm 1:27).  This is how we show our love for God and neighbor.  When and how often is also clear—as often and for as long as the need is there.  Seven times seventy times is one way Jesus characterizes our role in that regard.  The greater the need, the more necessary the service on our part.

Through his own life and mission on earth, Jesus provides many examples of what it means to be great by serving others, especially those close to us.  We can do no better than to follow his example.   

 

 

 

Collaborative Anonymous Travel (Lk 10:1-12)

 

Jesus is the master storyteller who provides few details in his stories.  The sending of the 72 disciples is a good example.  In this story, Jesus gives the 72 some general direction and a few rules to follow, but he does not provide them with a specific how-to plan.  They had to fill in the details.  They knew Jesus well enough to know, however, that they were to carry out his mission on their journey.  His mission was to proclaim the good news and spread the kingdom of God.

Short as it is, their story provides us with three lessons.  The first lesson is that spreading the kingdom of God is a collaborative effort.  Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers, yes, but Jesus did not send the 72 alone.  He sent them in pairs.  He also asked many others to help him in his mission along the way, and he asks the same of us.  Like the 72, Jesus does not expect us to go alone.  We are in this life together.  Our mission is to care for each other in a collaborative, caring manner.

The second lesson is that we can expect to remain anonymous.  We never learn the names of the 72.  In fact, they go among wolves rather than among those who want to learn their names.  Likewise, most of us will do our part in promoting the kingdom of God in our ordinary way in ordinary circumstances, and few will know us.  Even though the world may not know us, Jesus will know who we are and what we did for him.

The third lesson is that we must travel lightly.  Do the work.  Wish others peace and good will.  Then, move on.  In a practical sense, that means we must rid ourselves of those things that hamper our relationship with God and with others.  We must rid ourselves of all unnecessary baggage.  For some, this includes ridding ourselves of the psychological burden of guilt over past mistakes and errors of judgment.  Guilt is a heavy burden that slows us down and restricts our unconditional love.  To be spiritually free, we must shake off the dust of past mistakes and replace our guilt with wisdom learned. 

Spiritual freedom allows us to do the right thing, to imitate Christ in our daily lives.  We imitate Christ best by meeting people where they are in the ordinary circumstances of their lives.  As we become aware of their needs, the love of Christ empowers us to give the appropriate response.  This is the good news that we bring to others.

At times, imitating Christ is a difficult challenge, especially when loving others means sacrificing our own interests—the greater the sacrifice, the greater the challenge.  However difficult the task, the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to bring about the kingdom of God by bringing the love of Christ to those we meet in our daily lives.

Missed Opportunity (B 28 Sun 24; Mk 10:17-30)

 

The parable about the rich man is a story about missed opportunity. The man in the story might have been the 13^th apostle had he met the challenge proposed by Jesus.  He begins to squander his opportunity with his very first question—what can I DO to inherit eternal life.  Putting it this way suggests that he wants eternal life on his terms.  He prefers his way of doing things.  Not to be put off, Jesus answers with a gentle reminder about keeping the commandments. 

The man remains unconvinced and presses for more instruction.  We might expect a rebuke from Jesus since the man did not accept his first response.  Instead, Jesus acknowledges that indeed there is one thing more that the man lacks.  Notice, however, that Jesus never explicitly identifies what that one thing is.  Rather, he proposes that he sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow him.  In effect, Jesus wants him to rid himself of those things that tie him down and hamper his freedom.  Then, he can follow Jesus wherever the journey leads. 

Following Jesus with such abandon would have led to a different kind of life, eternal life.  Although Jesus cloaked his proposal with mystery, he offered a gift of love.  Accepting love always requires trust and abandon, and this is what the man lacks—a willingness to trust Jesus and abandon his own way of life.  Thus, he missed an opportunity to be yet another apostle.  His story, however, provides us with at least three good reasons to follow Jesus. 

First, Jesus appeals to our natural fondness for adventure in inviting us on a journey of love.  This is the whole point in asking the man to exchange his love of wealth for love of others.  Jesus wants the man to journey with him, who is love itself.  Jesus invites us to go on the same adventure of love.  He is fully aware that accepting his invitation means that we abandon our fear of the unknown and trust in him.  He also knows how difficult following him can be at times.

Second, Jesus appeals to our natural fascination with mystery.  We like the mysterious.  This is what makes Halloween and ghost stories so much fun.  Jesus tells the man to follow him without saying where they shall go or what they will do together.  Jesus makes this same appeal to mystery in asking us to follow him.  His invitation comes without details.  We do not chart the way.  We do not decide when to rest and when to go on.  We do not even know what the experience will be like along the way.  We simply answer his call and follow him. 

Third, Jesus appeals to our natural desire for community.  The invitation is to voluntarily associate with Jesus and his followers.  Living in community provides the most fundamental way we experience love, especially in our families and faith communities.   In community, we can learn how to love. 

These three elements—adventure, mystery, and community—are the heart and soul of the proposal that Jesus makes to us.  With these elements, Jesus aims to show that the journey of love, however mysterious, is an adventure that leads to eternal life.  That adventure begins with a genuine attitude of trust and abandon.  Our choice to follow Jesus calls for us to think about our lives in comparison to how Jesus invites us to live—seeking peace, honoring justice, showing mercy, and above all, loving others in our community without bias and judgment.  We have nothing to fear on this adventure when we trust the Holy Spirit to show us the way and to provide the necessary grace to walk the path (2 Cor 12:9). 

 

Word, Faith, Love (Lk 11:15-26)

 

The German theologian, Rainer Albertz, argues that “monotheistic religions become dangerous when their adherents use their cherished beliefs about devils and demons to label others as “children of the devil” (Albertz, 2011).  The danger comes from the way this label creates the illusion of an enemy who must be defeated in any way possible.

This is the path followed by the Pharisees in their claim that Jesus derived his power to drive out demons from Beelzebub, the prince of demons.  The Pharisees behaved this way because they had first embraced the lie that Jesus was a child of the devil.  In other words, they used their cherished belief in the devil to demonize Jesus.  He then became their enemy, and they aimed to kill him.

Jesus responds to the lie by turning their accusation into a dilemma.  On the one hand, if the Pharisees are correct, then Satan is a house divided against itself and thus on the verge of falling.  If they are wrong, on the other hand, then Jesus derives his power from God and the kingdom of God has arrived.  No matter how they unravel this dilemma, Jesus concludes that “whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

The Pharisees lied about Jesus because they embraced the influence of Satan, who is the father of lies (Jn 8:44).  Lying is how Satan derives his power to influence behavior.  A lie works to influence behavior when it appears to satisfy some physical, psychological, or spiritual need we have.  We conform our behavior to the lie when we embrace the possibility that the lie will satisfy the need at stake.  This raises a question of how to distinguish a lie from the truth.

Jesus shows us how to identify a lie in his encounter with Satan in the desert.  At the end of his 40-day preparation in prayer with the Father, Jesus faced three temptations presented by the “tempter” (Mt 4:3).  The devil uses each temptation as an appeal to a physical, psychological, and spiritual need that all humans share at one time or another.

The first temptation by the devil to turn stones into bread is an appeal to physical hunger.  Jesus responds that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mt 4:4).  The devil then appeals to a common need for safety and security in tempting Jesus to test God by jumping off the parapet.  Jesus responds with a command to have faith and trust in God rather than test him (Mt 4:7).  The third temptation that offers kingdoms to Jesus is an appeal to worship a false God.  Jesus responds that worship belongs to the true God, who alone is the one to serve (Mt 4:10).  His life and mission show us that we worship God and serve Him best by loving what He loves—his children and his creation.        

The response that Jesus gives to each temptation—Word, Faith, and Love—reveals the tools that we too can use against the devil in time of temptation.  These three tools give us hope to overcome all temptation (1 Cor 10:13).  They also intensify the power of our prayer (Jm 5:16).  In the words of St. James, resist the devil (with Word, Faith, and Love) and he will flee (Jm 4:7).