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I suppose that
throughout our lives that there are many different groups
that we might really like to be a part of, but for one
reason or another, we weren’t or aren’t. Maybe we’d all
like to be included in the list of Nobel Prize winners. Or
maybe we’d all like to be on the Forbes list of richest
Americans and billionaires. Or maybe we’d all like to in
the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, or the NFL Hall of Fame, or
the Hot Dog-eating Hall of Fame. Or maybe you always wanted
to on the Supreme Court, or a heavy-metal band, or play on
the Chicago Cubs. I guess we all have our own lists of
groups that we’d like to belong to. When I was a little
boy, I wanted in the worst way to be on the Bozo the Clown
Show. I wanted to play the Grand Prize Game! When I got
into high school, I wanted to be in the cool car group. But
I didn’t have a Mustang, or a Camaro, or a Trans Am. When I
was in college, I wanted to play basketball with the Chicago
Bulls and be on the team with Michael Jordan. But since
this white man really can’t jump, that wasn’t much of a
possibility. When I got ordained, I wanted to be the good
priest group. There were priest that I knew who I really
respected and wanted to be like, and there were other
priests that I knew I didn’t want to be like. I wanted to be
holy, I wanted to be pastoral, I wanted to make a
difference. I’m still working really hard to be in that
good priest group. Maybe I’ll get there someday.
But there’s one group that
ultimately we ALL are going to want to belong to, and that is
the company of Saints, that we celebrate today, on All Saint’s
Day. I’ve always thought it odd that they referred to it as the
“company” of Saints. I mean, it’s not like they have one of
those little ‘r’s in a circle for “registered trademark” after
the word “Saints”. And it’s not like they have a big, corporate
headquarters somewhere, with the word “Saints” on top of the
building. The Saints are clearly a different kind of company.
But do you remember that old song, “When the Saints Go Marching
In”? Who knew how right that song was and is!?! “We are all
going to want to be in that number, when the Saints go marching
in!” My brothers and sisters, if ever there was a group that
we are going to be want to be part of, it is the company of
Saints. It is our hope, our faith, and our expectation.
Ultimately, to be a Catholic Christian, means that you want to
be a Saint. It is the goal for all of us. On this Feast Day,
we not only celebrate the thousands of individuals who have been
declared by the Church to be “a Saint” and the even more that
have not yet been declared, but who are home with God, but we
also celebrate our own invitation to join that most special
group of people.
Think about that. We,
each one of us, are invited by God and by His Holy Church to
become a Saint. It is the most awesome invitation around. It’s
like getting asked to hang out with the “cool” kids. It’s like
being chosen to play on the winning team. It is the ultimate
level of affirmation and acceptance. And it is offered to us!
That’s really something to celebrate today.
What would surprise us the
most about the Saints? What would surprise us the most is how
much like all of us, the Saints really were. The Saints were
not and are like their porcelain statues. They were real, very
ordinary human beings, who because they had Faith, did
extraordinary things. The Saints came in all sorts of
varieties. Some were rich, some were poor. Some were very
educated, and some were not educated at all. Some were men,
some were women. Some were ordained or in religious orders, and
many were married or single. Some were so far out that their
contemporaries thought that they were crazy, and other were very
logical, very disciplined individuals. Clearly, there’s room
for all of us in the company of Saints. The constants among the
Saints were that they all loved God, they all loved the Church,
and they allowed God’s love to change their lives. Let me say
that again, “THEY ALL ALLOWED GOD’S LOVE TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES.”
My brothers and sisters, we
too must allow God’s love to make us Saints. We can’t do it on
our own. But God’s love is powerful enough to change even the
hardest of hearts. We have proof of that in the Saints. May
God make us Saints. And may we love and support one another,
throughout the entire process. We are going to want to be in
that number, when the Saints go marching in.
May God bless us on this Feast
Day, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!
St. Maria Goretti and her
companions…Pray for us !!! |
