What You Really Want

The Solemnity of All Saints                                                                           November 1, 2018
Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia

St. Padre Pio could bilocate, read people’s souls, and had the stigmata. Mother Teresa lived 20 years as a teaching nun before dedicating the rest of her life in radical service to the poor. Pope St. John Paul II survived the Nazi and Communist occupation of his country, earned two doctorate degrees, was pope for 25 years, and brought down communism in Poland. St. Augustine was an ancient bishop and is still one of the most well-known writers to have ever lived.

The Church has some pretty amazing saints; people whose lives fill believers and unbelievers with awe. The very word “saint” conjures up an idea of something amazing, rare, and, well, impossible for most people. We have thousands of official saints and they can be celebrated basically every day of the year. So what is the point of this feast, this solemn celebration of All Saints?

It’s about all those other saints. The ones who aren’t world famous, the ones we don’t even know about. It’s about you and me and what we are trying to become. Do you want to be a saint? I hope to God the answer is yes because that is one of only two options. You see, the fact is that everyone in heaven is a saint, whether we call them that here or not. Either we get to heaven and become saints or we go where there is fire and isolation and despair.

So, when I ask you, “do you want to be a saint?” I am asking, “do you want to go to heaven?” Of course you do. All Saints Day is here to help you do that. It reminds us that all of us are called to be saints. It celebrates the great saints, the amazing ones with incredible stories, but also the little ones known to a few or known to none.

For example, have you heard of Pierre Toussaint? He lived around the turn of the 19^th century in New York. Pierre was a slave who eventually freed. He worked as a hairdresser to the rich and famous, using the considerable money he made to support his wife, his sister, and to establish several charitable organizations. Businessman, husband, churchgoer, and a man who practiced charity. No astounding miracles, no world-altering heroics. But he is a venerable and likely to be called “saint” one day.

Venerable Matt Talbot was a day laborer and recovering alcoholic in Ireland at the turn of the 20^th century. After 16 years of drinking, he took the pledge and spent the rest of his life sober, relying on the grace of God to succeed. His holiness comes through his life of prayer, his work ethic, and his kind generosity to everyone around him.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was the son of an Italian Newspaper director. He enjoyed a pipe, drinks with friends, sports, and climbing mountains. Although a devout Catholic and a man of prayer, he was not afraid of being involved in politics and was known to be something of an activist. He also loved the poor and the homeless and gave a great deal of time and money to their service. He died at the age of 24, long before he could achieve any kind of worldwide fame.

St. Zelie Martin is now famous for being the mother of St. Therese of Lisieux, but she was just another French woman during her own life. Her trade was making lace and she was so successful that her husband gave up his watch-making to help her manage the business. Her sanctity came from being a loving wife and mother and from a life of prayer. No astounding miraculous powers to speak of.

These and so many more whose names are unknown to the Church on earth are all celebrated today as examples and intercessors for us. The message of this feast day is not that we should cower in amazement at the great miracle workers and visionaries that come once in a century. It is a party for and with the hairdressers, laborers, sports players, and business owners who lived sanctity in as many different ways as there are different people. It is the message that Christian sanctity is not an elite club, but the embracing of the extraordinary life of grace in the ordinary day to day life.

You are called to be a saint. When you were baptized, the priest asked you or your parents if you were willing to accept the responsibility that came with baptism. That responsibility is to be a saint. To be merciful, to be poor in spirit even if you wind up materially rich, to strive for peace even when it can’t be perfected in this world, to have enough purity of heart to see God in the beauty of his creation rather than tools for your own pleasure. You agreed to it. You swore a solemn oath. You should be a saint.

But don’t let that overwhelm you! Don’t let the amazing, exceptional, world-altering saints of legend discourage you. They didn’t do that for themselves. The ordinary and obscure saints didn’t make themselves holy either. You really did promise to become a saint, but it’s not really something you can do for yourself. The reality is that Jesus makes us into saints. “Lord I believe you will make me a saint, help my unbelief.”

St. John tells us “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” To be a saint, to be like God, comes from seeing God as he is. How do we do that? Take to heart the psalm we sang: “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” We just have to want it.

Don’t believe me? Believe St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the most important teachers and theologians to ever lived. When asked what you have to do to be a saint, he said simply “to will it.” In other words, want it. Want to be a saint, will it, and God will take care of the rest. Will it, and I’ll see you in heaven.