By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily Oct. 31, 2014, at a sung Mass on the vigil of All Saints Day. The Mass was celebrated at St. Patrick Church, Miami Beach, and the FIU Concert Choir and Symphony Orchestra, along with St. Patrick’s choir, sang Mozart’s Missa Solemnis, K. 337.
Almost every day of the
year the Church celebrates a saint – we celebrate them because they are role
models for us, heroes that should inspire our imitation. Some saints are more
famous than others. There’s St. Patrick, of course – the patron Saint of this
parish. There were two famous saints who visited Miami: one was Blessed Mother
Teresa of Calcutta, she came several times and her sisters work here with the
homeless. And Pope Saint John Paul II came here in 1987. Mother Teresa is
called “Blessed” – when the Church recognizes the virtues of someone and
recommends them to us as models of holy living, they are first beatified; that
is given the title Blessed– and then after another miracle or two they’re canonized
or given the title Saint as Pope John Paul II was earlier this year.
In Haitian Creole, the word for “Saint” is translated “Zanmi Bondye” – a friend
of God. To be a saint is to be a friend
of God, to walk with Jesus on our life’s journey as his friend. That walk begins with our Baptism, the
Sacrament through which we become children of God and heirs to the Kingdom of
Heaven.
But we all know people
who are – or who were when they lived among us – saints: people of great faith
– friends of God - who inspired us by their good example as they walked with
Jesus on their life’s journey. Think of perhaps a grandparent – now with the
Lord – who never thought about himself or herself, who lived for others, who
struggled to do the right thing. Well, these good and holy people – by the
grace of God and their perseverance in doing good – are also saints – and today
is their day.
And in remembering all these saints today, we remind ourselves that each one of
us is called to be a saint. That’s the vocation each of us has received in our
baptism. And if God wants each of us to be a saint, to become a citizen of
heaven – then the only real tragedy in life is not to become one. Our life’s task is to become what we have
been made in Baptism. Of course, that
requires no little practice on our part – perhaps, that’s why we are called
“practicing Catholics” – because this life is our one time chance to practice,
practice, practice until hopefully we get it right.
You know that how anybody becomes good at anything – through practice. Look at the great sport stars- they might have lots of natural talent but they only become great through practice – and any great sport player (and here I could mention Lebron James, formerly of the Heat) knows that to be good at the game you can’t ignore the rules of the game. You practice so that the rules become second nature to you. You practice so that playing by the rule looks easy. Since we are called to be saints in Baptism, we too have to learn the rules – the 10 Commandments for starters – and we have play by those rules – and keep practicing until it looks easy. Mediocrity doesn’t win in any sport – and it doesn’t win in the game of life.
Also, we see how nations spell out the rights and the duties of their citizens. For example, in the United Stated, our constitution tells us that we have the right of free speech, of assembly, the right to religious freedom, etc. but we also have duties: we have to pay taxes and, if need be, bear arms to defend our country. And, of course, next Tuesday, as good and faithful citizens, we all should all exercise our right and our duty to vote.
In today’s gospel reading, which is taken from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we could say that Jesus is giving us, as it were, the Magna Carta or the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven. .And, he spells out for us the rights and duties of those called to be saints, to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. As saints, we will have the right to see God, to known his mercy, to be comforted, to inherit the Kingdom of God; but if we are to become saints, we must also fulfill our duties: to be peacemakers, to be merciful, to be clean of heart, to suffer persecution for the sake of the Gospel.
Today, we honor those who have won the prize in the great game of life, those who have done their duty as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven– we honor all the saints in heaven. We ask them to pray for us, to cheer us on so that we can become the persons that God has called us to be.
They were people just like us – and we are called to be just like them. And we can be, with God’s help and a lot of practice on our part.
And as Jesus tells us in today’s gospel reading that is the way for us
to be really happy, to be truly blessed.