All Saints Day November 1,
2009
You know those little boys and girls, when they dress up in their Sunday
best, they’re decked out in nice new clothes, or dressed for First Communion,
and they fold their hands together while walking down the aisle, and we say,
“Look at the little angel or saint!” Well, it’s true! They do look like little angels and
saints! And they even act like little
saints!
And then they become teenagers and it seems like we stop calling them saints.
Why? Do they lose their sainthood when they get a little older? (Where does that
leave us who are much older?) Is being a saint a title that can come and go,
dependant upon a teenager’s behavior? Does it depend on whether they did
their chores or not? Or challenged their parents or not? Does sainthood come
and go?
According to St. Paul, the answer is no. Sainthood, or being called a saint, doesn’
t change in the way that we change our clothes everyday. For St. Paul, the term
“saint” was applied to all who were baptized into the Church of Christ. The term
“saint” was applied to all the Gentiles who left their pagan ways, and to all the
early Jewish people who came to believe that Jesus was the expected Messiah.
It was a title given to all who believed that Jesus was raised from the dead, and
that their lives would begin to reflect this new reality of life after death. People,
(believers), had to change their way of living because the resurrection of Jesus
was a new concept. As one of the saints of old wrote, “God invented the
resurrection.” And once that invention becomes centered in our lives, once that
invention of Jesus walking out of a tomb after being nailed to a cross is lived out
in hope, and once we accept that invention through baptism, then sainthood
begins.
So we have this wonderful understanding of who we are. We are saints. Are you
baptized? If yes, then you’re a saint. So an important question for us is, “What do
we do with this sainthood stuff that we carry around inside of us? How does our
sainthood get put to use, because we don’t want to waste this precious gift that
we have been given?” The answer to this question lies in seeing the whole
picture of what we commemorate
today.
In today’s celebration of All Saints Day, we celebrate the different, yet intimately
connected levels within the Communion. And there are three levels to this
Communion. In order to understand our role and responsibilities within the
Communion, we must begin with our ultimate destination, which is heaven. And
that’s where we find the first level of the Communion. This level includes all the
canonized; Mary, who was assumed into heaven body and soul, and all the saints
whose feast days and memorials we celebrate in the Church throughout the year.
These folks are the powerhouses of heaven.
On October 11 of this year, Pope Benedict XVI canonized five more people into
the top level of the Communion of Saints. And I briefly touch on the lives of two
of them in order to gain a sense of what it takes to get there, so to speak. The
first one I mention is Jeanne Jugan, better known as St. Mary of the Cross of the
Little Sisters of the Poor. She was a 19th century French saint who was
recognized by fellow members of her order as one who lived a Christ-like life. In
the words of one of her contemporaries, “The life of Sr. Mary of the Cross was an
ensemble of virtue which was far from common; humility, patience, simplicity,
respect for Superiors.” And another who said, “I believe she practiced virtue in
an extraordinary manner…She was most charitable.” That sounds like some
people we may know! In 1979Pope John Paul II declared Sr. Mary of the Cross to
be venerable, the first step to the top level of sainthood. In 1982 she was
beatified by Pope John Paul II after one miracle attributed to her intercession.
And on October 11 of this year she was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI after a
2nd miracle was attributed to her
intercession.
And the 2nd saint I talk about is Fr. Damien of Molokai. At the age of 33 as a
missionary priest, Fr. Damien traveled to the Hawaiian island of Kalaupapa, better
known as a leper colony set aside for those with that dreaded disease. He
arrived on the island in 1873, served the leprosy patients by way of building
homes, churches, and coffins. And after 16 years of working side by side with the
lepers that no one else wanted, Fr. Damien contracted the disease and died in
1889. He was made venerable by Pope Paul VI in 1977, beatified after one miracle
by Pope John Paul II in 1995, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11
of this year after the proof of a 2nd miracle.
These are only two examples of those praying for us in heaven.
Also within the Communion is a 2nd level, so to speak. These are those who are
either in heaven and not canonized, yet enjoy the blessedness of God’s eternal
glory. These are souls who will not receive earthly testimonials to the point of
canonization, but will continue, I pray, to receive earthly testimonials in our lives.
Parents, grandparents, friends, and those who have touched our lives in a
Christian way. These souls along with those who are being purified. The reason
the Church celebrates All Souls Day the day after All Saints Day is because there
exists an intimate, unbroken connection between those in heaven and the souls
in purgatory. And the fire of this connection is lit through prayer and petition to
God that their souls may be relieved of their purgation and join the saints of
heaven.
And then there’s the 3rd level of the Communion, so to speak. St. Paul’s level;
us. Our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus is a baptism into
sainthood. All believers are saints. We are intimately connected, right now, to the
Communion of Saints. We are the part of the Communion that is called the
“Church militant.” Whereas the saints in heaven are called the “Church
triumphant,” and the souls in purgatory are called the “Church suffering,”
because they are not yet in the fullness of God’s glory, we here on earth are
called the “Church militant.” Meaning that we fight for the teachings of Christ to
take hold in the present.
So what are some of the weapons we use as “Church militant?” The first weapon
we always use is the power of prayer. Prayer is sharper than any two-edged
sword. Which is why it’s so important that everyone here has a prayer life, and
why it’s so important we teach our children to pray. Remember, we more than
likely will need our children and grandchildren to pray for our souls one day. And
if we don’t teach them the importance of prayer right now, then how will they
pray for us when we are gone from
here?
One of our primary prayer objectives in our Christian faith is to pray for the souls
in purgatory. Whereas the Saints in heaven are at the top step of the ladder
praying for these souls, aiding them by reaching down and pulling them up to
heaven, we are on the bottom step of the ladder. And the prayers we lift up to
God on behalf of our loved ones and all the souls in purgatory help to push
these souls up the ladder, into the arms of God and into the presence of those
who were reaching down for them. And I’m talking about the souls of people we
have known and loved and have gone before us marked with the sign of faith,
which is baptism.
The other weapons we use as the “Church militant” are found in today’s Gospel
of the beatitudes. Poor in spirit; mourning; meekness; hungering and thirsting
for righteousness; being merciful; clean of heart; being peacemakers. And so
many more. They are the weapons we use as part of our responsibilities within
the Communion of Saints. They are the weapons of Jesus
Christ.
So, those little boys and girls we call saintly and angelic at their First
Communion? We’re still one of them, except we’re a little bit closer to reaching
the top step of the ladder to God’s glory.