Homily

Our job—our duty, our privilege, our vocation—is to become saints. It is to live, to work and to pray, growing ever more completely into the Divine Life that was given to us at baptism so that we may stand in the all-loving presence of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for all eternity in heaven. We know that, but we probably don’t think about it very much for several reasons. In today’s letter to the Hebrews, among other things, St. Paul says the saints, the holy ones, suffered mockery and stripes, chains and prison, being stoned, sawed in two, killed by the sword. They lived as ascetics out in the deserts, caves and mountains, destitute, distressed and afflicted. It doesn’t sound like the kind of life we will have to embrace, nor does it sound like the kind of life we would want to embrace, so that kind of saintly living doesn’t seem to apply to us. Besides, most of us wouldn’t look that good wearing goat skins.

Then there are saints who did not suffer at the hands of others nor did they live lives of great harshness. For example, St. Isidore the farmer of Spain and his wife St. Mary de la Cabesa, who led simple lives of holiness. Or Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. They were regular people who lived out their faith with great dedication. But most of the saints we know of were martyrs, or those who suffered greatly for faith, or they were bishops, or priests or nuns, and you don’t fall into any of those categories, although I suspect that sometimes you may feel like living martyrs, and you serve your torturers breakfast on a daily basis.

So it doesn’t seem like sainthood is on your bucket list, that it’s not the vocation that is suited for your life, nor is it the goal you are reaching for because sainthood is for all those other types of people, but not for me. That’s why we have this Sunday—to remember and celebrate all the saints, all those men, women and children, followers of Christ, who have found their home in heaven. And the only way one gets into heaven is by the grace of God and being a saint. There are no civilians in heaven, no people who got there simply because they died, and nobody is there by accident. Everyone in heaven is there because they are saints. They may not be extraordinary saints like St. Simon Stylite, who lived for many years on the top of a 65-foot pillar as a monk. Or St. Katherine Drexel, born into an extremely wealthy family in Philadelphia in 1858, who saw the suffering and hardship of many Native Americans in her travels and eventually founded a religious order dedicated to serving the needs of Indians and African-Americans. Heaven may not be filled mostly with people who lived dramatically rich and outwardly impressive lives of faith, but we can be sure it is filled with people who loved and served the Living God. They are the simple saints, but they are still saints.

It’s great and inspiring to read the life-stories of the extraordinary saints. So I ask you to consider today who do you personally know who may not be exactly yet a full-fledged saint, but someone who is, let’s say, “saint-ish”? Who do you know who shows a great deal of faith, or hope, or loving charity? (Not counting me.) Who do you know who seems to have a deeper love for Christ, a greater trust in the Lord, a heart that is more willing to serve their neighbor, a stronger desire for prayer and worship? Who do you know that is saint-ish? Please, really think about it, because those qualities that he or she or they may hold are also qualities that you and I can hold if we seek to, if we desire to. As they are saint-ish, so too we can also see ourselves as saint-ish and growing more into saintly life. The extraordinary kind of saintly life may not be for us and maybe we will never have a specific day to celebrate our memory on the Church Calendar, but that doesn’t mean we cannot become saints. We have to, we must become saints if we desire eternal happiness and peace.

We might also think of those who have already left this life but we can look to them as well for signs of saintliness. Both my grandmothers were great, kind and generous women but my one grandmother was particularly pious and often thought of and reminded us of the loving presence of God. I believe she had a great influence on my own faith while I was growing up. You may also know relatives or others now gone from this life who were saint-ish as well, and let us be sure that we can also strive to grow in their virtues not as super-saints but as regular people who love the Lord. And let us pray for those who have fallen asleep in Christ because it is the duty of those who want to be saints to help others enter into heavenly joy. So pray for your relatives and friends who have died, for that is a saintly deed.

Pray not only for those who have died but also those yet alive, relatives, family and friends that they too may grow in holiness.

Dear friends, today is a great day to think about the saint-ish qualities and virtues of the people we know, whether living or dead, and to really stop and think about them, because if they can do it so can we. If she was generous, so can I be more generous. If he was forgiving and kind, so can I be as well. If she spent good time in prayer, if he controlled his temper, if she had great trust in the Lord, if he is persevering in the face of hard times, if she is sharing her faith with others, if he shares a spirit of joy, if she loves to worship, if he is a teacher of the faith, let us think about those we know or those we knew and their saint-ish gifts and practices, and let us try to imitate them in their good actions, because we so often complain about the bad deeds of others.

We need not be miracle-workers, martyrs, missionaries or monks to make it to heaven, although they offer us great examples of Christian life. We have good examples of saint-ish thoughts and deeds among some of the people we know or have known.