{"id":1712,"date":"2015-11-01T13:32:24","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T18:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1712"},"modified":"2015-11-01T13:32:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-01T18:32:24","slug":"all-saints-day-2015-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/all-saints-day-2015-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"All Saints Day 2015 – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Saints Day, Year B<\/a>
\nRevelation 7:2-4, 9-14
\nPsalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
\n1 John 3:1-3
\nMatthew 5:1-12a
\nNovember 1, 2015<\/p>\n

While we might not know a lot about the saints, they are familiar to us.\u00a0 Often our churches are named after them.\u00a0 Our parish is named in honor of Mary.\u00a0 In our area, there is St. Catherine\u2019s of Siena, St. James, and St. Anthony\u2019s among the churches named after saints.<\/p>\n

Other familiar saints can include St. Francis of Assisi and any of the St. Theresa.\u00a0 There are numerous saints that are known by name and officially canonized as saints by the church.\u00a0 However, one does not have to be canonized to be a saint.<\/p>\n

Anyone who is in Heaven is a saint.\u00a0 Realizing there are countless saints that we do not know by name, we venerate all the saints <\/em><\/strong>today, canonized and those not known.<\/p>\n

Saints are one of the misunderstand parts of our Catholic faith.\u00a0 There are people who think we worship<\/em> the saints.\u00a0 We do not worship the saints.\u00a0 We worship only God.\u00a0 We venerate<\/em> the saints.<\/p>\n

This can be confusing, as \u201cvenerate\u201d is not a common word, even among faithful Catholics.\u00a0 Worship belongs to God alone as we recognize the blessings and love that God bestows on us.\u00a0 To venerate<\/em> means to pay honor and respect.\u00a0 We venerate the saints as those who have gone before us striving to live holy lives and serve as intercessors for us.\u00a0 When we pray with the saints in mind, we are not asking the saint to do<\/em> a miracle.\u00a0 We ask the saint to intercede<\/em> by praying for us as they stand before God in the heavenly kingdom.<\/p>\n

How many saints are there?<\/p>\n

Our first reading from Revelation speaks of the 144,000 marked with the seal.\u00a0 Some cultic groups take this to mean there are 144,000 of great status in Heaven.\u00a0 We do not take this to be the number of saints.<\/p>\n

Remembering the Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Twelve Apostles, twelve is seen as a number to represent the whole group.\u00a0 144 is 12 squared indicating every a greater \u201cwhole\u201d further augmented by the thousand in 144,000.\u00a0 The number 144,000 is thus meant to point to the fact that Heaven is open to every <\/em>one from every <\/em>nation, race, people, and tongue.<\/p>\n

Who can be a saint?\u00a0 Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord?<\/em>\u00a0 One who hands are sinless<\/em>.\u00a0 Who is sinless?\u00a0 None of us are perfect and if we want to get into Heaven we need to admit this.\u00a0 We cannot save ourselves.\u00a0 Salvation comes from our God<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The saints knew this and humbled themselves.\u00a0 To get into Heaven we need to humble ourselves to be poor in spirit, to be meek, and to show mercy<\/em>.\u00a0 We need to stop seeking greatness.\u00a0 We need to set aside pride and greatness.\u00a0 We need to strive to follow the commandments but admit our shortcomings and confess our sins.<\/p>\n

Is it easy?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 We don\u2019t like to admit our shortcomings but when we do, we admit our need for God.\u00a0 When we acknowledge our need for God, it can in turn help us to seek God\u2019s grace by coming to church every week, perhaps every day.\u00a0 Is it easy to get up for Mass at 7:00 a.m.?\u00a0 For some no, but that shows we are willing to sacrifice to seek God in our lives.\u00a0 If we can\u2019t get to Mass daily do we at least pray daily, saying God I want to be part of our life?<\/p>\n

People like to think that everyone gets into Heaven.\u00a0 Heaven is open to every people of every nation but we have to truly <\/em>desire it in our hearts.<\/p>\n

Of course, anyone in their right minds should desire Heaven (considering the alternative is eternity in Hell) but is Heaven, is God, important enough to us to make it a priority in our lives?<\/p>\n

The saints did.\u00a0 The saints weren\u2019t always perfect.\u00a0 St. Augustine never even become Christian until he was at least 30.<\/p>\n

We might like to think everyone gets into Heaven.\u00a0 The reality is Hell exists.\u00a0 The only way we get into Heaven is to follow the example of the saints and to turn our hearts to God.\u00a0 We do not get into Heaven by doing what we want.\u00a0 We must hunger and thirst for righteousness<\/em> and humbly realize we are poor in spirit<\/em> and then we can know the Kingdom of Heaven and be counted among the saints.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All Saints Day, Year B Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12a November 1, 2015 While we might not know a lot about the saints, they are familiar to us.\u00a0 Often our churches are named after them.\u00a0 Our parish is named in honor of Mary.\u00a0 In our area, there is …<\/p>\n

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