Homily

What are the three greatest events in our lives, the most dramatic, the most important? The first one is our birth, which we never had a clue that it was going to happen, so we couldn’t think about that when we were in the womb, and what a surprise when that moment arrived. Another second event is one we generally do not want to think about, and that would be death. Then there is a third event for us that is even more important than these other two, and that is the day we were baptized, the day we became adopted children of God and were given a share of His own divine life. And because of our baptism we are given a vocation by God Himself to fill in that time between our birth and our death. We are given the vocation to become saints. To grow in holiness, and to love God and neighbor—these form our job description as children of the living God.

At every baptism the person is given a lit candle signifying the light of Christ which he or she should carry with them from that point on. And the priest says: “Receive this lighted candle and during your entire life strive to be enlightened by the light of faith and good deeds, so that when the Lord comes, you may be able to meet Him gloriously with all the saints and enter unhindered into the court of His heavenly glory and reign with Him throughout eternity. Amen.” That’s the work of saints—to be faithful and to do good as we are enlightened by Christ as we live, and that we carry His light with our lives. We’re called to be saints but I suspect we never seriously think that is the case. I mean do you really think your life is meant to be a saintly life, or aren’t we more likely to think we are called just to be good persons, and thankfully we’ve already pretty much achieved that goal and all our family and friends will testify to that, right? (Well, they’re not that perfect either.)

We probably don’t think that we’re supposed to be saints just because we were baptized. It might be nice, but probably that’s a job best left to other people. When I was a young boy there’s no question that when I heard or read about the lives of some saints, I was very impressed. Saint Laurence the deacon was roasted over a fire. Saint Isaac Jogues was brutally tortured and then he was beaten to death with an axe. Pretty brave and faithful service but I could not imagine myself giving up my life in those ways and hoping it would never have to come to that. But even as an adult, could I see myself going out into the streets of Calcutta and picking up dying people off the streets as Mother Teresa did? Or taking care of lepers on a quarantined island as Father Damian did? Or live on top of a 30-foot pillar as Saint Simon did? So often this is how we think of what it means to be a saint. Maybe sainthood is best left to the professionals, right?

No, of course that’s wrong. Most likely we think sainthood is for others, but in truth we are called, as we were told at baptism, to live a life enlightened by faith and good deeds. We are called to be saints. Our job is to be saints, our duty is to be saints, and, in fact, we were born to be saints, not by our own will alone but supported by the grace of Jesus Christ. Maybe we will not grow in holiness to the same degree as some of the martyrs and great men and women who suffered and sacrificed so much for their love of Christ. Maybe we are not called to be like them. But it is not a competition. Our sainthood will not be judged versus what other saints said, or did, or suffered, or sacrificed. Our sainthood will not be judged against them (and remember only saints will enter into heaven—there are not any trainees or wannabes in the heavenly mansions.) We will not be judged by them but rather by our own desire and our own labors to live a life of faith and holiness. We will be judged on our own merits, on our own willingness to live as Christians. Many people today seem to believe that the blessed eternal life is gained simply by dying—but I think that is an insult to Christ our Lord Who willingly became a man, suffered and died for us. We are not holy simply because we live. We do not find a place in heaven simply because we die. We are holy in so much as we strive to embrace holiness. And we’re not all on our own! As we choose to live as faithful sons and daughters of the living God, and not by our own self-centered wills, as we choose that, we are given the grace to do that, insomuch as we are open to accept that grace.

My one grandmother suffered much in life and was a woman of great faith and prayer. I believe she is a saint, even without any dramatic deeds or life-style changes, or threats of torture and death. I believe she is a saint because she put her mind and her heart to Christ. I can do that. We can do that. But we must constantly choose to do that, over the self-centered desires and the apathy that seeks to control our lives. We can do that. We can do that. We can choose, embrace and live for Christ—not in some sloppy, come as it may fashion, but in a desire that should be renewed every day—for you Lord, not for my weakness, not for myself, but for you, because I am only complete in you.

We are sinners, yes. We have our weaknesses, yes. But so did all the saints, except the sinless Mother of God.

Let’s not fool ourselves with the status quo and let’s not allow the daily cares and problems of life in this world to distract us from our calling. Our calling is to be lived out in those joys and sorrows, in our work, in our families, in our recreation and in our worship that’s where we live out our vocation. My friends, let us think about this and make a willful desire to become saints, and then let us trust in grace as we go out to live as saints, and put that desire into daily practice. I pray this for all of you today, and for myself as well.