Homily: Solemnity of All Saints

     Today’s feast, that of All Saints, may seem somewhat redundant to us. After all, we celebrate the feast days of saints almost every day during the week, is it really necessary that we celebrate them now all together? Well, I remind you of the definition of a “saint,” A “Saint” is an individual who is currently spending eternity praising God in the Heavenly Kingdom, having lived a life of faith and virtue while here on earth. This is not simply those found on the roster of saints canonized by the Church, but includes all those blessed souls who are now in Heaven with God. For instance, our family and friends who have gone before us and witnessed to us a life of faith and are now united to God fully in Heaven. These are the saints we celebrate today. The unknown vast population that fills the halls of heaven. These were real people who lived real lives and faced real temptations, yet persevered and have been given their eternal reward.

     We celebrate these unnamed Saints and look to them as examples because we can so easily identify with them, and especially because God does not call us to live the faith in a vacuum. We are called into a community of faith, to not only have a relationship with God, but also with each other. This relationship does not end with the earthly death, but when one enters the kingdom of heaven, we are forevermore bound even closer to him/her because of our mutual sharing in the divine life of God through our Baptism. This Communion of Saints is our connection with the “great multitude” that John speaks of in our first reading from the Book of Revelation. Those who have been faithful to God and are now surrounding His throne.

     Our belief in the power of intercessory prayer, especially that of the saints in heaven, is often questioned by our Protestant brothers and sisters. Why would we pray to someone other than God, especially those who are dead? Doesn’t Scripture teach against this? Well, I offer you this: if I am in a difficult situation and I am in need of Divine assistance, would I not ask my friends to pray for me in regards to this particular need?…Of course I would, therefore why would I not ask those friends of mine now in heaven to also prayer for me? Furthermore, the saints are the farthest thing from dead. In the Old Testament we are warned against trying to communicate and conjure spirits of the dead, something that unfortunately many dabble in at this time of the year. While these activities are meant to be done simply in fun (for example through a  Parker Bros. “Ouija Board”) such things can be incredibly dangerous and ought to be avoided. However, communication with the Saints is communication with those who are more alive now than they ever were on earth, because they are now sharing in the eternal life of God.

     So the question for us is: How do we get to be saints? After all, that is our ultimate goal, to make it to heaven, right? Well, Our Lord lies out the way in the Gospel passage we just heard. This list of blessed character types is often simply referred to as “The Beatitudes.” Both the first and last on the list, “The poor in spirit,” and “Those persecuted for the sake of righteousness” have the reward of the Kingdom of Heaven, however, the verb is in the present tense “theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,”, meaning they have a share of the Kingdom here and now. Every other characteristic on the list is almost like a benchmark or subset to these two, and the rewards for them will be fulfilled later, in the future, in the Kingdom of Heaven. Thus, we ought to seek to embody these characteristics: be meek, seek righteousness, be merciful, be pure of heart, seek to instill peace in the lives of others, mourn the existence of wickedness in the world. These are the characteristics of a Christian, of a Saint. These are the characteristics embodied by those whom we celebrate today. Those whom we call on for support and assistance, for they have traveled the road we are traveling and persevered. In answer to the prayers of All the Saints, may we too persevere in our life of faith and one day inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.