By Father S. Peter Donatelli
(Solemnity of All Saints; 2009; all Biblical quotes from the New King James Version)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 – Bible Study
Saturday, November 7th, 2009 – Youth Group
JOKE:
What did one ghost say to the other? Do you believe in humans?
INTRO:
We’ve all heard the allegations. Halloween is a pagan rite dating back to some pre-Christian festival among the Celtic Druids that escaped Church suppression. Even today modern pagans and witches continue to celebrate this ancient festival. If you let your kids go trick-or-treating, they will be worshiping the devil and pagan gods. Nothing could be further from the truth. The origins of Halloween are, in fact, very Christian and rather American. Halloween falls on October 31 because of a pope, and its observances are the result of medieval Catholic piety. It’s true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival on Oct. 31 — as they did on the last day of most other months of the year. However, Halloween falls on the last day of October because the Feast of All Saints or “All Hallows” falls on Nov. 1. The feast in honor of all the saints in heaven used to be celebrated on May 13, but Pope Gregory III (d. 741) moved it to Nov. 1, the dedication day of All Saints Chapel in St. Peter’s at Rome. Later, in the 840s, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere. And so the holy day spread to Ireland. The day before was the feast’s evening vigil, “All Hallows Even” or “Halloween.” In those days, Halloween didn’t have any special significance for Christians or for long-dead Celtic pagans. In 998, St. Odilo, the abbot of the powerful monastery of Cluny in Southern France, added a celebration on Nov. 2. This was a day of prayer for the souls of all the faithful departed. This feast, called All Souls Day, spread from France to the rest of Europe. Why is any of this important?
POINT ONE:
What we do this morning at Mass is a preparation for our work as saints in the Heavenly Kingdom. Has anybody ever asked you to pray for them? Are you going to stop worshipping God or praying for your friends when you die? It is an essential conviction of our Faith that we understand that this life is a precursor to our eternal walk with God, the Angels, and the Saints in Heaven. Knowing that with absolute certainty we prepare to be worshipful, prayerful, and obedient citizens along with the others standing around us at the Throne. So why do people get bogged down when we ask the Saints to pray for us? Let’s start with the Bible to get some insight. Revelation 7: 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: ”Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 3 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” A question I am asked is “Why do we pray to the saints sometimes, why not just pray directly to God?” We pray to the saints because they can help us on journey to Jesus. They are now gathered around the throne of God and they can intercede for us and help us. And we know that they do intercede for us and help us because so many people claim to have received favors through praying to a particular saint. And indeed for anyone to be beatified or canonized a major miracle inexplicable by natural means must have taken place. So praying to the saints is powerful. They are our brothers and sisters from every country and from every generation and they can help us on our path to God. We have one ultimate goal in praying to the saints, that through their prayers we may join with them one day in heaven by sharing in God’s victory as they have done. We ask them to help us allow Jesus’ victory over evil on the cross to be reproduced in our lives as it has been in theirs. We pray to them that what John saw may at some future times be true of us also, “These are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.” Therefore as the conclusion to our second reading from John stated, “Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.”
POINT TWO:
The Bible’s insight is to help us to grow in this life and actually to participate in the next life, in other words be a saint on earth as it is in Heaven. St. John teaches us that a good step to doing this is to think purity. 1 John 3: 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
We are also instructed in Scripture and through the early Saints that we can participate in Kingdom living through sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. In Psalm 116 it tells us, “16 O LORD, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows to the LORD Now in the presence of all His people, 19 In the courts of the LORD’s house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.” What we do this morning as we pray, praise, and partake allows us to participate with the same Heavenly celebration we will be participating in Heaven! There’s a nice song on the radio by Mercy-me, “I can only imagine what it will be like when I walk by your side. I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me. Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus or in honor of you be still? Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah; will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine when that day comes when I find myself standing in the Son. I can only imagine when all I will do is forever, forever worship You.” Though it’s a nice song, I can only advise the composer, “Man where do you go to church?” I don’t need to imagine this because the mystical banquet is right before me. I not only see Jesus standing by side, but I consume Jesus into my body so I can become part of THE Body. I not only am surrounded by His Glory, I am worshipping with all the Heavenly Saints and Angels and they are worshipping with me. I am washed by the same Blood and I find it surging through my veins as I place the chalice to my lips. I don’t need to imagine if I have enough faith. We need to believe with all our hearts, with all our minds, and with all our souls, that what Jesus has taught, what Jesus has instituted, what Jesus has created, is true, real, and present. The Kingdom is not imaginary, it really exists and as beloved children created in the Mind of God, we need to purge ourselves to the point of really connecting to our divine nature.
POINT THREE:
We can share in the divinity of Christ if we participate in His deeds. I love Pope John Paul II’s commentary on today’s Gospel. “Today’s liturgy speaks completely of holiness. But to know what is the way to holiness, we must go with the Apostles up the mount of the Beatitudes to draw near to Jesus and listen to the words of life that come from his lips. Today too he says to us again: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! The divine Teacher proclaims “blessed” and, we could say, “canonizes” first of all the poor in spirit, that is, those whose heart is free of prejudices and conditionings, and who are therefore totally disposed to the divine will. Their total and trusting fidelity to God presupposes renunciation and consistent self-detachment. Blessed are those who mourn! This is the blessedness not only of those who suffer from the many misfortunes that belong to the mortal human condition, but also those who courageously accept the sufferings that result from the sincere profession of Gospel morality. Blessed are the pure in heart! He proclaims blessed those who are not content with outward or ritual purity, but seek that absolute inner rectitude which excludes all deceit and duplicity. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! Human righteousness is already a very lofty goal, which ennobles the heart of whoever pursues it, but Jesus is thinking of that greater righteousness which lies in seeking God’s saving will: blessed above all are those who hunger and thirst for this righteousness. For Jesus says: “He who does the will of my Father who is in heaven shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 7: 21). Blessed are the merciful! Happy are those who overcome their hardness of heart and indifference, to recognize in practice the primacy of compassionate love, following the example of the Good Samaritan and, in the last analysis, of the Father “rich in mercy” (Eph 2: 4). Blessed are the peacemakers! Peace, the sum of all messianic blessings, is a demanding task. In a world marked by tremendous antagonisms and barriers, fraternal harmony inspired by love and sharing must be promoted by overcoming hostilities and conflicts. Blessed are those who dedicate themselves to this most noble endeavor!”
CONCLUSION:
I know this sermon is rich in saintly quotes so here is my conclusion. From “The Importance of the Saints And Devotion to Them” by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, he says, “Why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this feast day mean anything to the saints? What do they care about earthly honors when their heavenly Father honors them by fulfilling the faithful promise of the Son? What does our commendation mean to them? The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning. Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints. But our dispositions change. The Church of all the first followers of Christ awaits us, but we do nothing about it. The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them. Come, brothers, let us at length spur ourselves on. We must rise again with Christ, we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory. When we commemorate the saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we may one day share in his glory. Until then we see him, not as he is, but as he became for our sake. He is our head, crowned, not with glory, but with the thorns of our sins. As members of that head, crowned with thorns, we should be ashamed to live in luxury; his purple robes are a mockery rather than an honor. When Christ comes again, his death shall no longer be proclaimed, and we shall know that we also have died, and that our life is hidden with him. The glorious head of the Church will appear and his glorified members will shine in splendor with him, when he forms this lowly body anew into such glory as belongs to himself, its head. Therefore, we should aim at attaining this glory with a wholehearted and prudent desire. That we may rightly hope and strive for such blessedness, we must above all seek the prayers of the saints. Thus, what is beyond our own powers to obtain will be granted through their intercession.”


