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Feast of All Saints

All-Saints

Today, we celebrate All Saints Day.

Why do we celebrate this day? Why is it important? Do Catholics worship saints? And why is it a holy day of obligation? Good questions! Let’s try to sort things out.

First, and this is important, the saints don’t need us.

Preaching in the 12th century, St. Bernard said, “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.1

Second, it’s not about the saints, not really.

It’s about Jesus Christ – period. I don’t mean to oversimplify things, but the stories of the lives of the saints offer us insight into ways in which we can live out our call to holiness in the circumstances and states of life we find ourselves – clergy, consecrated religious, man, woman, child, whatever your state in life, there is a saint out there who’s life might help you see through the darkness and find Jesus Christ. This is why it’s important to remember and to honor the saints – especially on All Saints Day. It’s not for the saints’ benefit. It’s to help us grow in holiness and love for Jesus Christ.

Ok, so what is a saint?

The Catholic Church believes that saints are ordinary and typical human beings who made it into heaven. How does the Church come to believe they are in heaven? Well, the Church teaches that we cannot know for sure who is in hell, but the Church insists that we can come to know who is in heaven. We call these people saints.

So how does the Church come to believe someone in particular is in heaven? Well, the Church employs a process called canonization which analyzes various kinds of evidence; reliable testimony to the person’s extraordinary holiness in this life; indications that the person’s life has drawn others closer to God; and carefully documented miracles occurring after the person’s intercession has been sought. Miracles provide evidence that the person can offer assistance because he or she is now with God in heaven.

How is that even possible?

By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ conquered death. Death no longer has the power to separate those who are in Christ from one another. For this reason, we the living can help those in purgatory through our prayers and sacrifices. Also, those in heaven can help us on earth through their prayers. St. Paul tells us that, “we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ,” (Eph 4:13). We are one body, the body of Christ. So the intercession of the saints is just one way in which Christ’s body reaches out in love: from the living to the living; from the living to the dead; and from the dead, specifically the saints, to the living.

Do Catholics worship saints? Absolutely not! Catholics venerate the saints.

Adoration, from a Christian perspective, is the act of giving ourselves to God as the One to whom we owe the source of our existence. It is an act of absolute submission to Him. He alone, then, is to be adored, to be worshiped.

Veneration is paying honor to a creature of God who deserves such honor. We remember the saints. We honor the saints. But we do not worship saints. Period.

Showing honor is a normal part of human life. We honor the founders of our countries. We name cities after them, we write books about them, we make statues of them and place them in public spaces. We paint and print pictures of them. We speak reverently and gratefully of them on patriotic holidays.

We also honor great scientists, leaders of social movements, artists and musicians. Why? Because it’s a matter of justice to recognize their gifts and contributions to our society, to our culture. These are examples of ways we venerate people in our various communities. Is it really shocking that the Catholic Church venerates the great heroes of our Faith?

Do other cultures honor saints? The short answer is yes. The journalist, Kenneth L. Woodward, points out in his book, Making Saints, that other cultures honor people not unlike Catholics. “The Buddhists venerate their arahants and their bodhisattvas, and, (among Tibetans) their lamas. Hindus revere a bewildering range of divinely human an humanly divine figures, including their personal gurus or spiritual teachers. Muslims have their awliyā’ Allāh (close friends of God) and their revered Sufi masters. Even in Judaism, whos rabbinic leaders have never encouraged veneration of human beings, alive or dead, one finds popular devotion to figures such as Abraham and Moses, assorted martyrs, beloved rabbis, and other tsaddikim, (“just men”), (15-16), (italics and spelling his).2

Why is today a holy day of obligation?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that a holy day of obligation is a day set apart by the Church to worship God. Sundays are holy days of obligation, but there are other days as well, like today (CCC 2185).

So on holy days, we are called to refrain from work and distractions so that we can focus on worship. You know, that idea of slowing down a bit is wildly important more now than ever, I think. On a holy day, the Church is asking us to get off the hamster wheel for a little while: to think about the things we have done wrong and ask forgiveness; to worship God to whom we owe everything; to celebrate the gifts we have, beginning with His Word and His Eucharistic presence; and to share the gifts we have received with other people.

Does that sound familiar? In business, how often do we stop and ask ourselves: what was our goal; how did we do; what do we need to do to execute our goal; and then we go do it. A similar model is at the heart of Christian life. We use words like “examination of conscience” and “discernment” to describe this process, but it is essentially the same. That’s why it’s important to honor all holy days of obligation beginning with participating in the mass every weekend.

I hope this provides a basic idea about All Saints Day, sainthood and holy days of obligation.

Let us pray. Loving and generous Father, the lives of your saints have given testimony to your Son, Jesus Christ. Through their example may we draw closer to him. We ask this with loving hearts and in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. +Amen!

Notes

  1. Saint Bernard, abbot, sermon (Sermo 2: Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc. 5 [1968], 364-368).
  2. Woodward, Kenneth L. Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesnt, and Why. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.

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What distracts us from the vineyard?

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grapes

Mass Readings

Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2018
Reading 1 – Acts 9:26-31
Psalm – Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
Reading 2 – 1 John 3:18-24
Gospel – John 15:1-8

To listen to the homily recorded during mass, click here.1

Isn’t it funny how we easily we can become so easily distracted. We can be distracted by technology, by social media, binge-watching shows on our favorite streaming channel. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I step away from these things, I say to myself, “Whoa! I just burned a lot of time! Where did the time go?” These things can keep us distracted from the big picture, or to us today’s imagery, they can keep us focused on the branch and lose sight of the vine.

But that distraction is not just limited to our toys. We can become distracted in our faith life too. There are people who can become obsessed with the latest novena. I actually heard this the other day. Someone said to me, “Don’t break the chain or we won’t win the lottery! I’ve even heard people say, “if you don’t pray the rosary every day, then you’re not as good a Catholic as I am.” If you don’t go to adoration, then you’ll never develop this special connection I have with Jesus.

But there’s a problem with that kind of thinking. Pope Francis has talked about this often. He wrote all of us a letter this past March, called Rejoice and be glad (Gaudete et Exsultate or GE) – it’s a great letter and I encourage all of you to read it. Pope Francis reminds us that this kind of thinking can lead us to an ancient heresy called Gnosticism, (GE, 36-46). We think we have access to some secret dimension of Jesus because we follow this particular canon law, or we insist that you go to adoration or we insist that you attend the Latin mass or we insist you receive the Eucharist on your tongue.

Those aren’t bad things, but they can be a sand trap! The problem with this sort of thinking is that we can become so obsessed with the action that we lose sight of Jesus Christ.

It’s difficult to get into the head of someone from almost two thousand years ago, but I really think that Paul before his conversion was suffering from a similar type of religious distraction. Paul was so obsessed with the Law that he became a brutal persecutor Jewish Christians. He lost sight of the purpose of the law which of course was to give glory to God. It takes the radical act of Jesus knocking him off his high horse to get him to open his eyes so that he can see the entire vine. Is it any wonder that Jewish Christians were afraid of him when he comes to Jerusalem in the first reading? They weren’t there at his conversion, so they weren’t sure.

But Paul’s conversion is complete and peace prevails. St. Paul sets an example for us that if we want to live a life of connected to Jesus the vine, then we need to do what we heard in the second reading today. John tells us that to live a life of discipleship, we should love one another as he commanded us to.

What are Jesus commandments all about? Well, spend time in the Gospel according to Matthew. In Matthew 5 at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us the beatitudes that set the stage for what thinking like a disciple is all about. But the beatitudes are not an end unto themselves. Jesus will tell us in Matthew 25 how those beatitudes should manifest. Now this is really important for all of you “type A” personalities, or double a’s or triple a’s – you know who you are out there. Those of you who try to make data-driven decisions, you want metrics, you want the bottom line, then here it is. Read Matthew 25. Jesus tells us if you don’t feed the hungry, if you don’t give drink to the thirsty, if you don’t clothe the naked, If you don’t visit the sick and the imprisoned, he will say, “go away,” (Mt 25:40).

In Matthew 7, Jesus says you can do all of these things in my name – you can even do miracles in my name, but without love, when you get here, I will say, “I don’t know you,” (Mt 7:23).

Whoa!

That should keep us up at night. It has kept me up before on those nights when I do an examination of conscience and reflect on one of these passages from Matthew. They challenge me. I have to ask myself am I living the Gospel of Jesus or am I living the gospel of Rudy? And there’s a huge difference – huge difference, right?

James picks up this idea and will tell us faith without works is meaningless. And without works, our faith is meaningless, (James 2:14-18). So how do we find expression for our faith? We have to love like Jesus loved.

How? We have to love like Jesus loved.

How did Jesus love? Look at the crucifix.

Picture of the Crucifix at St. John Vianney, Round Rock, TX USA
The Crucifix during the Easter season at St. John Vianney, Round Rock, Texas

Reread Luke’s account of the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was hesitant. He cried so intensely that he shed tears of blood (Luke 22:44), and said, “Father, let this cup pass.” But in the end, he said, “okay,” and he willingly went to the cross to save you and to save me. Pope Francis says that’s what true love is all about.

So if we are to love like Jesus commanded us, then we should love one another just as fiercely as he loves us.

Is any of this easy? No. That’s why Jesus gives us the Church and through His Church he gives us Scripture and the sacraments. We are not alone! Being part of the community helps prune those elements of our life that are not helpful. Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, “A branch cannot bear fruit on its own.” If we want to live a life as disciples, then we need to remain in Jesus so that we can bear the fruit of hope, and the fruit of love that this world desperately needs.

Homework! There are two things I ask you to consider:

First, what things in my life distract me from Jesus?
Second, how can I do a better job at keeping Jesus’ commands?

Don’t just think about these questions academically. List them. Make an action plan. Pray about them and try with God’s help and the help of the community to live a life of discipleship firmly connected to the vine.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, may we bear much fruit through Jesus. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Notes:

  1. If for some reason the link does not work or stops working, in your browser search for St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Round Rock, Texas, and click the link. Once there, in the search bar type “homilies” which should take you to a list of all the homily recordings archived on our website.
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On Gaudete et exsultate

Cover of the booklet Gaudete et Exsultate

My brothers and sisters, I have wonderful news! Pope Francis wrote us a letter. You can read it here for free or you can purchase a copy here! I enjoyed it and I highly recommend you read it!

So, what’s this all about?

Well, Pope Francis gets right to the heart of what it means to be a disciple: we are called to holiness. Wait, me holy? Yes! Keep reading.

What is holiness? To be holy doesn’t mean you need to wear a monastic habit and swoon in mystic rapture (96). Pope Francis tells us that holiness is faithfully living the life God created for you and for me. He warns us not to get stuck in a bland, mediocre existence or a life marked by hedonism and consumerism (1, 108).

But I cannot be holy! Look at me! Look at my life! Pope Francis reminds us that we are all sinners. In a 2013 interview with the editor of Civiltà Cattolica, he was asked, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” After a rather pregnant pause, he replied, “I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”

We are all sinners, but by the grace of God, we experience forgiveness and healing and yes, we can live a holy life. You see, the Easter story is the story of God who does not give up us despite everything we’ve gotten wrong, we get wrong and we will get wrong. The Easter story is about a God who stubbornly pursues us despite our sinfulness. Through the Incarnation, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God restores creation – He sanctifies creation. Easter is a reminder that God looks at you and me and says, “yes!”

To understand how to be a Christian, how to be holy, Pope Francis tells us we needn’t look any further than the Gospel (63-94). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12; Lk 6:20-23) which are a portrait of the Father whose love and mercy we are called to reflect in our own lives.

But how can I tell if I’m living a transformed life that emulates the Beatitudes? Jesus tells us that too. In Matthew 25 (vv. 31-46), Jesus gives us the metrics for living a holy life, what Pope Francis calls “the great criterion” (95). “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me,” (rsv-ce vv. 35-36).

It is love that holds the power transform our lives into holy lives. It is love that transforms our piety into holy action. It is love that reflects the love of the Father and helps us to see Jesus reflected in the faces of those around us. Without a lived faith marked by love, we risk Jesus saying to us, “I never knew you,” (Mt 7:23).

Don’t panic! Keep it simple. Holiness can be found all around us and very often right next door. Pope Francis tells us that holiness is found in, “parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile. In their daily perseverance I see the holiness of the Church militant. Very often it is a holiness found in our next-door neighbours, those who, living in our midst, reflect God’s presence,” (7).

But Pope Francis warns us about some of the great challenges that undermine our encounter with the risen Jesus – forces that strive to distract us and to prevent us from living lives transformed by God’s mercy. He tells about the two ancient and ever-present enemies of holiness – modern versions of the heresies of Pelagianism and Gnosticism, saying that these lead to “false forms of holiness” (35).

In the modern form of Gnosticism, he said people believe that faith is purely subjective and that the intellect is the supreme form of perfection. This can lead Catholics to think that “because we know something, or are able to explain it in certain terms, we are already saints,” (45).

In the modern form of Pelagianism, he said the common error is to believe that it is by our own effort that we achieve sanctity. This can lead Catholics to forget that everything in fact “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy,” (Rom. 9:16), (48).

The pope reminds us that “the Church has repeatedly taught that we are justified not by our own works or efforts, but by the grace of the Lord, who always takes the initiative,” (52).

He goes on to remind us that spiritual warfare is real. Jesus equips us powerful weapons for battle: faith-filled prayer, meditation on the word of God, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, sacramental Reconciliation, works of charity, community life, and missionary outreach (162). But he warns us that worship and prayer alone or following certain ethical norms are not enough to give glory to God. He writes, “It is true that the primacy belongs to our relationship with God, but we cannot forget that the ultimate criterion on which our lives will be judged is what we have done for others,” (104).

To cultivate our spiritual growth, he encourages us to persevere with patience and meekness (112-121). He encourages us to experience joy and to face life with a good sense of humor (122-128). He encourages us to live our Christian lives boldly and passionately (129-139). He reminds us that we are not alone and that real growth in holiness happens within community (140-146). He also encourages us to develop an active prayer life in which we not only speak with the Lord, but we also listen (147-157).

What does he mean by developing a “spirit of prayer” (147)? He recommends we develop the Scriptural habit to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:16-18) and gives us examples from the lives of the saints. He goes on to say that through a prayerful study of Scripture we find Jesus in the Eucharist, “where the written word attains its greatest efficacy, for there the living Word is truly present,” (157).

Finally, he teaches us that our spiritual growth is aided by discernment – to understand whether something is coming from the Holy Spirit or from the devil (166). To put it simply, discernment is a prayerful and thoughtful spiritual exercise to determine whether something comes from God or from the devil (for more information see “Introduction to Discernment of Spirits”).

Am I blessed? Do I find consolation: courage, strength, inspiration, joy, peace (echoing St. Paul’s fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, (Gal 5:22-23))? Or do I feel desolation: anxiety, sadness, fear, restlessness, dryness or emptiness? To learn a little more about consolation and desolation, read my post “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord!”

With so many technological distractions consuming all of our time, it is more important than ever to develop the practice of discernment.

Central to discernment is a daily examination of conscience (169). An examination of conscience is not just about reflecting on my shortcomings today. That is important of course, but a daily examen is also about trying to see God’s presence in our lives. Pope Francis teaches us that, “Discernment, then, is not a solipsistic self-analysis or a form of egotistical introspection, but an authentic process of leaving ourselves behind in order to approach the mystery of God, who helps us to carry out the mission to which he has called us, for the good of our brothers and sisters,” (175).

Gaudete et exsultate is a powerful reminder that we are made for so more! We are all called to a life of holiness! Can we get there? Yes and no. On our own, we could never accomplish it. Only by the grace of God are we capable of such an undertaking in this increasingly secular world. As Jesus reminds us, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” (Mt 19:26).

So what are you waiting for?

Jesus, I trust in you!