Oftentimes, we are wowed by their successes. Their accomplishments are so numerous, that even when they perform poorly, it still makes headlines. And they have amassed great fame and financial wealth from their achievements. Tiger Woods has become one of golf’s premier players. Michelle Kwan has become the sweetheart of American figure skating. Jeff Gordon has dominated the NASCAR world for the past 15 years. Venus Williams, and her sister Serena are consistently at the top of the women’s tennis rankings. These individuals and many others like them have accomplished great things. But let’s be honest. This didn’t just happen. These individuals have worked from the very earliest days of their lives, to attain their success. The common denominator between all of these individuals who have achieved success in the sporting world, and many others who have succeeded in the world of music, or acting, or art, or writing, is that they have practiced what they do, from the time that they were young children. They have had a single-hearted devotion and commitment to what they do. People like this make great sacrifices in life for the chance at success, for the sake of their commitments. It’s what must be done, they tell us, to achieve that level of success.

I have friends of mine who have a daughter, who is now thirteen years old. And for the past ten years, their daughter has been in hundreds, maybe even thousands, of competitions for beauty pageants. It started when her parents thought that she was a cute baby. And she was, you know?. I thought so too. I baptized Katie. But aren’t all babies cute? Yet Katie’s parents wouldn’t let it stop at that. By the age of three, she was in first beauty pageant. I’ve got to tell ya, it’s a whole other world. We all thought it was odd when we saw those pictures of Jon Bonet Ramsey a few years ago. Let me tell you. That world really exists! Kids are drilled on beauty, poise, and charm, and dressed up to look ten years older than they really are. My friends, too, have made great sacrifices for their daughter. They call the pageants Katie’s “thing”. Will Katie be “Miss America” some day? I don’t know. All I know is such are the values that they have instilled in their young daughter, for the possibility of some success in this world. The crowns and the trophies won’t matter much a hundred years from now.

We come here today to honor a young girl who died 103 years ago this week: St. Maria Goretti, our Patroness. St. Maria Goretti had a singular devotion in her life also. It wasn’t tennis, and it wasn’t golf, and it wasn’t beauty pageants. From her earliest days, it was always Jesus. Her parents had taught her to pray, and had her baptized, and introduced her to Jesus by taking her to Mass every Sunday. But it was this young girl herself who chose Jesus. Maria Goretti had such a close personal relationship with Jesus, even as a child, that it was as though she saw Him constantly by her side. She knew God’s love in her life in a most intimate way from her earliest days, and she loved God in return with everything that she had. So many times on this Feast Day, we emphasis St. Maria Goretti’s commitment to chasity, or her extraordinary ability to forgive someone who did something so terrible to her and her family. This year, I’d like to go back to the source of her purity and her mercy: St. Maria Goretti’s whole-hearted devotion to Jesus. The last three days of the life of our Patroness were extraordinary. But yet, hers was an extraordinary life, a life of sanctity, a life of love, long before she met her attacker. St. Maria Goretti didn’t become a martyr on the day that she died. St. Maria Goretti had been dying for Jesus every day of her life, as long as she could remember. Such were the values that this young girl lived by. Following Jesus was St. Maria Goretti’s “thing”. And she did her best every day to do that in Jesus’ Church.

Certainly, the biggest source of connection to Jesus for St. Maria Goretti, was the Sacraments. St. Maria Goretti felt so close to Jesus in His Sacraments. The biggest day of her short life was the day of her First Communion. She longed for the day when she could receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. And when she did, she treasured each and every Communion with Jesus afterwards. The Sacrament of Reconciliation was a regular part of Maria’s life. And St. Maria Goretti’s Baptism and Confirmation were the source of everything for this young saint. St. Maria Goretti didn’t become a saint on the day that she died. She had lived as a saint for all of her young years. It was what was most important to her. Weren’t her values so much longer lasting than the values of our world ? She didn’t want to be a beauty queen. She didn’t want to be a tennis pro. She didn’t want to be in the movies or have a hit single. She wanted to live with God forever. Isn’t it something, that in living for God, today we remember her. Our church is named after her.

Do you think that Tiger, or Michelle Kwan, or Venus Williams, or Jeff Gordon will be remembered by many a hundred years from now? Do you think that any of them will have a church named after them?

As each of us come here today, let us ask ourselves, “What is our “thing”? What is our life centered on? Our values say it all, just as St. Maria Goretti’s values said it all about her. And what values are we passing on to our children? Do our young people know just how important Jesus is to us? And do they know it because of the way that we live out those values in our own lives?

May this Feast Day and celebration inspire all of us! Jesus is there for us too! How can we not be excited about that? How can we not be committed to Him? How can He not be our “thing”?

May God bless us on this Feast, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us !!!