St. Mary Parish, Manchester at 210 West Main Street, Manchester, MI 48158 US - Homily for All Saints Day (Nov. 1, 2008)

“Let us all rejoice in the Lord and keep a festival in honor of all the saints. Let us join with the angels in joyful praise to the Son of God.”

The words that I just read are those of the Entrance Antiphon for today’s liturgy. These words remind us of why we have gathered in this sacred place this morning; we have gathered to celebrate all the saints. We could rightly look upon this feast as the feast of victory for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone on before us and now share in the glory of the crucified, risen and ascended Lord.

Today’s solemn feast reminds us that there is a life beyond this life. This feast points us to heaven our true home. This feast also reminds us that how we live our very brief life on earth directly impacts where we will spend our life in eternity. This feast reminds us that through our baptism we were set on a spiritual path and given an eternal destiny, but not one that is to be taken for granted but rather one that requires a daily and intentional choice to keep moving in a heavenly direction. There is only one way to heaven, one way, that way is called the imitation of Christ.

Many of us, many good people, while striving to do good and avoid evil don’t give much thought to sainthood. Many of us don’t give much thought to being a saint because we think that it is beyond our grasp. Many of us have decided that being a saint is for someone else, not for me. So we long ago gave up on the dream, the desire to strive to become a saint, maybe we thought that this kind of desire was only for children and as an adult we have become hardened and cynical and think that it is not attainable, so why bother, so we moved on and have shifted our focus from the vertical to the horizontal.

But nothing could be farther from the truth. Sainthood is not for the few; it is for all the followers of Christ. Sainthood is not meant for an elite group, it is for everyone. Heaven is wide open and possible for everyone, this the joyful news of the resurrection and ascension of Christ. The Second Vatican Council reminded the Church of a very important fact; that through our baptism we have all been called to the same thing, we have all been given the same charge; to strive for personal holiness. No matter what our vocation, no matter what our career, our work, we are all equally called to strive for the same goal.

For awhile in our history we had forgotten this, and many, especially the laity never thought that they could become saints because they had thought that this could only be attained by priests and religious. But thankfully through the Vatican Council we have all been reminded that sanctity is to be the goal of every single Christian and heaven, sainthood is possible for every one. To be a saint is to be another Christ, therefore to become a saint one must strive daily to shed himself and to imitate Christ in all things.

I will never forget that day when I was hearing the confession of a young man. I was impressed with how he had confessed his sins. He did not rattle off a list of things, like a grocery list that was somehow detached from his daily life. I could tell that he was genuinely striving for conversion, for personal holiness. This energized me. So I asked him, have you given any thought to what you would like to do with your life and he responded: “I want to be a saint!” Yes, I thought. And he inspired me. This, my dear friends, is what the saints in heaven do for us, they inspire us and they remind us of what we are all called to: sanctity.

So as we keep this great festival of heaven, as our eyes are lifted beyond the horizon and to that great expanse which is beyond our earthly sight may we thank all the saints for their faithful witness to Christ, may we implore their help and seek their intercession. May our brothers and sisters who are in heaven inspire us and motivate us to want to become saints.

Amen.