Christ the King Year C Homily

There are many kingdoms and rulers who have come and gone throughout the history of the world. With the rise of nations and rulers we get different ideologies that are put into motion which sometimes give honor to the human person and to God and sometimes do the complete opposite. In time a ruler will die and a new one will spring up in their place that can overturn everything either for the good or the bad. This Solemnity was placed onto our liturgical calendar at the conclusion of the First World War as a reminder of the world's need to place Christ central to our lives if we will ever hope to find peace and happiness among the nation's of the world and within our own life. With the Solemnity of Christ the King we embrace a ruler who is stable and unchanging and are able to see a true Kingdom that is based upon true love for the human person. If we are willing to flock towards the cross of Christ on this day we will experience the loving peace and forgiveness that was offered to the criminal who embraced conversion.

In 1925 Pope Pius XI established this solemnity that is celebrated by stating: the people "of that time –had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives. As long as individuals and states refuse to submit to the way of our savior, there will be no hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.” This of course was not taken fully to heart because it was not long after this that the world would find itself in the midst of a Second World War. Now we far removed from these words cannot claim that we have fully embraced this. Nations still exist which do not reflect these values through their ability to not care for the poor, to overlook the life of the child found within the womb, to treat workers as objects instead of respecting their human dignity, along with many other injustices that continue to plague our world. We still live with the fear of war while in hearts we long for peace. This peace will never be found until the world is able to embrace Jesus Christ as it's king.

We cannot only blame nations and rulers for this lack of peace on earth, but also ourselves. If sin is present inside of our lives we cannot fool ourselves into believing that we have fully embraced Christ as our king. We have all been made fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones, but instead have allowed ourselves to be pulled into the darkness of sin. Christ presents to us upon His cross, a great Kingdom, that all of us can find ourselves within if only we can trust in conversion. If we want to find lasting peace within our lives we must submit to the way of our savior. The way of our savior is defiantly counter cultural because it is a way that leads towards humility and love. We can only discover true humility and love by embracing Christ our King and casting off all that detracts us from this reality. From the throne of our Lord we will receive the grace necessary to rip ourselves away from the enslavement of sin and to in return be made at "peace by the blood of his cross."

As we search out this reality of conversion we must also learn to silence our lives. We live in a busy world that is constantly being filled with noise and we often find silence to be unbearable. We will never come to know the true peace of heart that can be discovered if we are unwilling to slow down and enter into silence. In silence we will learn to pray, to discern God's will inside of our lives, and be strengthened against sin. In silence we will slow down and learn to truly adore Christ our King who comes among us here at this Mass in the form of bread and wine. We are so used to receiving our Lord in Holy Communion, but have lost the true sense of wonder and adoration that is fitting for such a wonderful king. At the moment of the consecration we receive an invitation to enter into complete silence while we in the words of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger "direct our eyes toward Christ, to look at him from within, in a gaze that is at once gratitude, adoration, and petition for our own transformation." 

It is through discovering this sense of awe at the wonder of the Blessed Sacrament that we will find never ending peace inside of our life. As our liturgical year draws to a close with this solemnity may we continue to grow in our faith especially within our love for the Holy Eucharist. Christ the King guides us towards the Heavenly Kingdom where we will find true peace. Anytime a nation or ruler wants to ignore this reality they will never be able to find the true peace that they are in search for. Any person who is stuck with the stain of sin upon their souls should return to the sacrament of Reconciliation where they can embrace the example of the criminal upon the cross and encounter true peace. Anytime that we allow silence to enter into our hearts and truly begin to pray we will encounter this peace. When we glance at the Holy Eucharist we experience the peace that the world feels through our Lord's loving embrace. This day may we rejoice with Christ our King, embracing an unchanging Kingdom, that will bring true peace into the world and into our life.

33rd Sun of OT Year C Homily

With these readings that we hear we are told of the urgency of the end of time because our liturgical year is coming to a close. We are told of awful sights that will take place that will rip our world apart. We should easily be able to picture the destruction that is being referenced by thinking of the awful tragedy that took place in the Philippines. In these pictures and videos we are shown how a society once complete and functioning like our own was ripped into disarray. This disarray is the same that all of us have been infected with through sin. In Christ we are complete and made perfect, but with our trust placed in sin we are left in shambles. The glamour of sin shines brightly to the world and makes us believe that it will make us complete and feel happy. In reality this light that shines is not glamorous, but vile. Allowing it to take control of our life will only leave us torn apart like any modern day tragedy that we can conceive in our minds. Instead of being torn apart we are constantly desiring inside to be made complete.

We are always trying to find something that will make our life feel complete. In this pursuit for happiness we don't want to always work for this completeness, but would rather have it quickly handed over to us. Commercials that we find on television testify to this because if we are able to obtain a certain product we are promised of life changing results that will ensue in return. It does not take long for something else to then come along and catch our attention and make us believe that this product will be the one to finally deliver the results that we are in pursuit of. We often approach our faith with this same attitude. Instead of allowing our faith to be tested and we in return remain obedient to the truth; we attempt to design our own religion based solely on how it makes us feel. This attitude always leaves us in shambles as we hope to be made complete.

Our Gospel from Saint Luke is presenting to us how from the shambles of our own sin we will be made complete again through Christ and His Heavenly liturgy. At the beginning of this Gospel Jesus is telling how the temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed. From a firm building that once was the center of sacrifice and worship for the Jewish people would soon be left in utter shambles. Despite the shambles that eventually came about Christ throughout the Gospels promised that the temple would be rebuilt within three days. Following Christ's death and resurrection this would take place. In the past we needed the temple for sacrifice, but through the cross we were given a sacrifice that would be offered once and for all. None of the animals that had been sacrificed inside the temple had the effect upon the world as the one perfect sacrifice of Christ the Lamb. From the temple that would lie in shambles would come he was both God and man that gave the perfect witness to the world that we are all called to be made whole.

In sin we will constantly be torn away from this wholeness. In our sin and lack of trust of God we will always be left longing for something greater and yet always falling short. Instead of devoting ourselves totally to the truth of the Gospel, like those who were persecuted for their faith, we allow ourselves to be torn apart inside like each natural disaster that has destroyed our land. Instead of being left in shambles as if all alone we must remember that the temple has been destroyed and with it Christ continues to invite us into perseverance with him. We are called to take each sin that plagues our soul and bring them to our Lord for healing. We are called upon to take each struggle that we encounter with our family or friends and offer them to Christ. Instead of feeling as if our life is inadequate we will find all we will ever need to become whole with Christ. When we experience a great joy Christ desires to be allowed in and when we are lost and looking for answers Christ will give us guidance.

For us here at this Heavenly Liturgy we take all of these prayers, fears, joys, and sacrifices and join them to Christ who is the Son of justice who pours his healing rays upon us. With all that we gather we come here to this Mass to be made whole. In this Church we desire to join ourselves to Christ who is the new temple as we attempt to find meaning to all the things of this world that have left us in shambles. May we not fear to continue to join with Christ at Calvary as we bring all the pains that have destroyed our life and ripped it apart. At this Mass we encounter Heaven on earth may we not take these mysteries lightly, but instead fully allow ourselves to join with the sacrifice that will unfold. The Church year is truly coming to a close and one day we know our own life will end, but Christ comforts us here through His sacrifice upon the cross. We have a longing that exists inside of our hearts to be made complete, but will only be able to find this completeness through our relationship with Christ. May we allow our lives to be secured through our perseverance in this sacred liturgy because only here can we be made complete and truly come to join ourselves to Christ.

32nd Sun of OT Year C Homily

Blessed John Paul II once said: "To die for the faith is a gift for some, to live the faith is a gift for all." Those who have actually spilled their blood for the faith are known as red martyrs. If it was not for these martyrs who realized the authenticity of Christ's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven we probably would not have a Church today. If they were not so sure of the truth of the Gospel they never would of put their lives on the line in the name of Christ. Red martyrs come from all time periods of Christianity and receive representation from the apostles who knew Christ, early popes of the Church, and men and women from many nations where the faith was persecuted to the point of death. We see a glimpse into martyrdom in our reading from second Maccabees where these seven brothers and their mother were arrested and put to death for their Jewish faith. In captivity they suffered and were persecuted, but they knew with death they had the hope of everlasting life. All Christian martyrs shared in this same understanding.

Of course for us who find ourselves here today we probably will never be called to red martyrdom. Nor should we wander about trying to put ourself in the situation of being put to the death for the faith because this is spiritual pride. Despite this fact we are still called to become martyrs through what is referred to as white martyrdom. Martyrs of this category do not spill their blood for the faith, but instead are so convinced of the truth of the faith that they put to death each inclination inside of their lives that leads to the death of sin. Of course this complete surrender to Christ does not come easily and therefore is not something that can be taken lightly. If this is taken lightly we will never allow ourselves to undergo the death of white martyrdom and instead will remain slaves to this world in some way. In Saint Paul's letter to the Thessalonians we are told that our hearts will be encouraged and will be strengthened in every good deed and word. In our struggle with putting sin to death entirely we must remember this.

For both red martyrs and white martyrs their desire to die for the faith was based on the belief of the Resurrection of the Body. Without this key element to the faith there would of been no purpose for belief or for change in one' way of life. Without the resurrection Christ would only be purely human and his death would have caused nothing for our salvation. Yes his words gave plenty of good moral examples, but based on these alone there would be no reason for change especially the acceptance of death. Instead the resurrection signals that this man was God and that his death upon the cross was not done in vain, but was a sacrifice offered on behalf of all our sins. In our Gospel Jesus is pointing towards the importance of the resurrection of the body. His words address the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection and challenged them towards the true hope that would be found with this tenant of faith. May we allow ourselves to have faith and hope based upon the resurrection because here we will find the reason to die to self.

With our faith and hope based upon the resurrection we are able to see what all martyrs of the faith have died for. The red martyrs were willing to spill their blood with their hope placed here because the faith was truly important to die for. All white martyrs put their false selves to death through the faith that was placed here because they knew that they had something greater then the passing world to base their life upon. When we realize the importance of the resurrection we to should be inspired to put to death each disordered element inside of our life. We should desire to endure white martyrdom because through this action we will be making Heaven manifest while here on this earth. Each day we should not accept the disorder of sin, but instead be willing to accept the proper order which always orients us towards God. If this will ever be possible for us to achieve during this life we must place our trust in the resurrection like all the martyrs have done because here we will encounter true faith and hope.

If we can bring ourselves to realize that the cross is not the end we can always find hope within the resurrection. The brutal death of the martyrs was not their end, but instead was their welcoming to life everlasting. Despite how hard it was for the white martyrs to strip away all sin from their life, something more stable then the passing of pleasures would come with the resurrection. The resurrection shows us that the gift of faith is for all of us. It shows us that there is something more to this world then chasing after disordered pleasures and also promises us that something greater will come then the sickness, death, and rejection that we might feel on a daily basis. With the resurrection we can take a glimpse into Heaven and in return see the necessity to turn away from any sin that might be present inside of our lives. In Heaven there will be no room for sin, so may we endure a white martyrdom where we cast our sinfulness away totally through fasting, prayer, and trust placed inside of the sacraments especially confession and the Holy Eucharist. Strengthened by these in the light of the resurrection we will be able to endure the white martyrdom of the saints. 

32nd Sun of OT Year C Vigil Homily

At this Mass I would like to welcome all those who will soon be confirmed; I also welcome your sponsors, parents, and teachers. Today in the presence of all the people of God gathered in this Church you will sign your name to a book stating your intention to prayerfully continue your studies towards the sacrament of confirmation. This sacrament which you will soon receive is often misunderstood as being a sacrament of maturity. Instead this is a sacrament of initiation which is owed to all of you from the inheritance of your baptism. By the fact that each you have been baptized, you are already a member of the Church. According to the Rite of Confirmation we hear similar words from St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians that was heard today: "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."

In your preparation for this sacrament do not take your faith lightly. Our faith is not a passing feeling, but instead is something that will always hold firm. If we need any example to this truth we can look towards the life of the Christian Martyrs. They understood how important the faith truly was and they were willing to spill their blood on behalf of this truth. They came to understand the truth of the resurrection that was being addressed in today's Gospel and realized that this truth was worth dying for. They followed in similar steps to the seven brothers and their mother who were put to death in our reading from second Maccabees. To all those in this Church who have been or will be confirmed we must remember always to spread and defend the faith by our word and deed. The martyrs were willing to defend this truth by their lives and we in like manner should put to death each disordered passion and fear in our life and be willing to defend the faith by our word and deed.

Being Catholic in eastern Tennessee is not always easy. Being Catholic while in high school is not always easy. These facts are true, but we must also remember that the martyrs willingness to die for the truth was not easy. It is my prayer for each of you today who will sign your name to this book upon the altar of sacrifice that you will truly enter into the study of the faith and do so through prayer. May you also follow in the footsteps of the martyrs in realizing how important that the faith truly is to live and defend. May your teachers, parents, and sponsors be true examples of the faith to you. May they teach the truth that the martyrs were willing to die for without bias and also teach by their example of how to live out the faith. This means the example of praying, being Christ like towards others, attending the Sacrifice of the Mass every Sunday, and the humble example of returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Also, may this community of faith who is drawn here today also be inspired by the martyrs and the sacrament of confirmation in seeing the importance of defending the faith by our word and deed. It is from the truth of the Resurrection of Christ's Body that showed that Jesus was both fully God and fully human, and from this truth the martyrs were willing to die, the faith was keep burning brightly for the world to see, and all of us are strengthened in every word and deed.

31st Sun of OT Year C Homily

Our time is running short! We no longer have the time to slowly move along without feeling the necessity of repentance. I say this because our liturgical year will end in a month's time and so for the rest of the month our Sunday readings will be pointing towards the end of time reaching there ultimate culmination on the Solemnity of Christ the King. With the end of this liturgical year in sight we are truly beginning to run out of time while here on earth. Our opening prayer to today's Mass describes the situation that we find ourselves in by saying: "grant, we pray, that we may hasten without stumbling." This prayer shows the urgency that we find ourselves within because we must hurry instead of move about slowly as if we have forever to catch up. This prayer also acknowledges for us the reality of sin that causes us to stumble along the way. Despite all the obstacles that we find in our path our Lord is indeed merciful and will help us to avoid these obstacles if we so desire.

In our Gospel we encounter Zacchaeus who leads us forth in the example of being in a hurry. Despite the many temptations that had attempted to cause him to stumble in his faith he would not allow them to do so. Instead he ran ahead, showing his urgency, and climbed the tree that set him above each stumbling block that was placed in his way. It was from this height that his faith ultimately encountered the mercy of Christ. If Zacchaeus took things without urgency he would have missed this opportunity for mercy. If he would of allowed his stature to get in his way he would of stumbled along the way and in return missed this opportunity for mercy. Instead his example to us is a reflection of the words of our opening prayer: "grant, we pray, that we may hasten without stumbling." In his encounter with Christ we are shown the true forgiveness of sins that can be shown to all of us and we also see that daily conversion from our sins is possible if we place our sights entirely upon Christ.

It is with our sights entirely placed upon Christ that we can echo the words of Wisdom in abandoning our wickedness and believing in the Lord. These past two days on the Church calendar have reminded us of how abandoning our wickedness is indeed possible with time. Friday was All Saints Day and we see through the saints a reminder that getting to Heaven is indeed possible and that we are all called to be saints. All Souls Day was yesterday and we were reminded of the urgency of the reality of death because it is always set before our eyes. With this knowledge we trust in conversion and also are compelled to offer our prayers for all the souls of purgatory that they may one day achieve the perfection of love that is found with the saints. The saints did not lead an easy life because each day they had to work hard at drawing closer to God's love. They had to remove from their path each stumbling block because only with these entirely removed could they truly come to understand the love of God.

If we will ever be able to accomplish avoiding stumbling blocks inside of our life we must begin with true trust in Christ and within His Sacraments. The Eucharist has to become the source and summit of our life because here is not contained a symbol, but is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. In those moments when we stumble from the path that the Eucharist challenges us to we are given the Sacrament of Reconciliation to be healed by returning us to God's love and mercy that we have turned against through our own desire. When we are sick and in danger of death we can find our comfort from fear in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Also we must strengthen the Sacrament of Marriage through the foundation of Christ instead of the foundation of wordily pleasure. When we can begin to trust in these many sacraments we will join with Zaccaeus on the height of the tree and here encounter Christ's love for what it truly is instead of distorting it into stumbling blocks along our path.

May we hasten this day because none of us knows how much longer that we have. Eventually our time on this earth will run out. Our time is running short! Despite the shortness of time we have all the help we will ever need to avoid each stumbling block along our way is given when we place our trust in Christ, in His Church, and within the sacraments. Through these elements we will be transformed like Zacchaeus because this is the only possibility when we allow ourselves to be entirely open to God's will and love inside of our life. May we not hide behind our excuses, but truly allow Christ to find us when we stumble along the way. Each time that we return to this abundant fount of mercy we will be embraced by Christ. May we not fear this embrace of love, but instead hurry ourselves towards it before time runs out. May our lives become an outpouring of trust placed upon the words of our opening prayer. "Grant, we pray, that we may hasten without stumbling."

All Souls Day Homily

As you will notice the Gospel that was used for this Mass is exactly the same as the one that was heard on All Saints Day. I purposely chose this Gospel for our Mass today because what we commemorate today is closely related to All Saints Day. It is on All Saints Day where we gather to venerate all of the saints that have already been called home to share in the beatific vision of Heaven. The Commemoration of all the faithful departed, on the other hand, is the day when we gather to hold in our prayers all of the souls who have gone before us because we know that the path they are currently upon leads to Heaven. They pass through Purgatory as they are cleansed to behold and live out for the rest of eternity the love of God. With All Saints Day we are shown this love that will be lived out for all eternity and are inspired to join in that hope, but with All Souls Day we are reminded of the sting of death and how it will ultimately catch up to us one day if we would like it or not. Faced with our own mortality we must begin to realize that we only have so long to turn away from sin and to trust in God's unending mercy.

The greatest service that we can give the deceased is not proclaiming them saints through our own merit, but instead is having the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for them and remembering to pray for the repose of their souls. We should do this because they are oriented entirely towards God at this moment, but still as the Book of Wisdom puts it: "as gold in the furnace he proved them." No matter how holy the soul seems to be they will still need to be cleansed of those minor things which in this life has keep them from perfect union with God. Saint Catherine of Genoa believed that there is no happiness anywhere as great as the souls in Purgatory except of course as the souls already in Heaven. Purgatory is not a state of punishment, but is a state where one allows God to put back together all the brokenness of their life and thus over time to share more and more inside of the beatific vision of Heaven.

If we truly desire to join inside of this beatific vision one day we can look towards the beatitudes as a map of how this is possible. The beatitudes are a reminder for us of the separation that is necessary from the things of this world. Surely when we spend some time in meditation with the beatitudes we will realize that we have all probably many times failed to follow them or trust inside of the knowledge that they contain. Instead we have latched ourselves onto the wordily examples that were given by Christ instead of trusting in their opposite which leads to true liberation of self and the opening of one's heart entirely to God's love. As Saint Paul reminded us in his letter to the Romans: "we were baptized into Christ's death." This means that through baptism our journey towards God was begun and will of course reach its culmination at the point when we join inside of the beatific vision. To join in the beatific vision requires that we over time purge ourselves of everything that has enslaved us to the world and thus caused us into the distortion of our love.

As we commemorate all the faithful departed on this day may be comforted in the sorrow that we may feel because "death no longer has power over them." They have all been found worthy to become saints in Heaven and with each moment that passes they draw closer to that goal. May we never forget the importance that exists concerning our prayers for these souls because they are still upon a journey of shedding away everything that has kept them from loving God entirely. As we pray for them may we be faced with our own mortality and desire that at the end of our time on this earth that we will not be plagued by sin especially mortal sin, but instead will be living out the beatitudes faithfully. The Lord is indeed our shepherd who leads these souls to Heaven as He also leads us towards the daily conversion from our sin.

All Saints School Mass Homily

This past week I have seen many children dressed in costumes around our school. The first set of costumes that I witnessed was with the 3rd grade when they put on a presentation of a wax museum of many famous figures throughout United States history. These figures who have gone before us continually remind us of their important contributions to society through politics, the health care profession, magic, sports, scientific contributions, among others. Today we have another set of costumes that are placed before us. Our 4th grade class are wearing the costumes of their favorite saints. It is in honor of the saints that we gather this morning. Through the saints we see many positive reminders of how we are to truly begin to love God as we should. Through their lives we are shown that we must turn away from our sin and in return love God with all of our heart. May we not fear to ask these men and women to intercede on our behalf because they lived a life of great love shown towards God and in return always desire to draw others to God.

 

We must remember that our ultimate goal inside of this life is to make it to Heaven. If we make it to Heaven we will be unlike the many costumes that are worn for Halloween. A costume of a character from a television show or movie can easily be taken off at the end of the night, but this cannot be done with our call to sainthood. This means that we cannot give into the temptation of sin because it removes us from our call towards sainthood. This also means that when we do sin that we cannot take off God's mercy because it is necessary for the person striving towards sainthood. All of the saints who reign with God in Heaven did not remove themselves from the reality that they were baptized & therefore set apart in their ultimate goal of advancing in their love towards God. We have joined ourselves in this journey through our baptism where we were washed clean from original sin. Baptism was not just some vague rite of passage that could be removed when feel like it, but is a sacrament that has set us in motion toward perfect love of God

If we truly desire to become a saint which means make it to Heaven we need to listen closely to the words of Saint Matthew's Gospel. In this Gospel we were given the beatitudes which ultimately give us the tension between placing our love solely in the things of this world or totally upon God. In the way we treat others we can reflect either of these realities. We can become enslaved to being mean to others through our words or deeds, be drawn towards the love of money, over look the importance that Church plays in our life especially the attendance of Mass every Sunday, among many other possibilities that will always leave us serving the world. Instead of desiring to serve the world we should desire to serve God. It is only with service found here that we will be able to truly be happy and free from everything that enslaves us in this life. This is what the saints were able to accomplish in this life and now they for all time lay prostrate before the throne of God in a true adoration based upon love.

If we desire to truly grow in our love of God we must live out these beatitudes faithfully and when we mess up at doing so return to the abundant mercy of God found in the sacrament of confession. We must also allow God to guide us in our life towards our vocation and once we find that vocation to live it out faithfully. It is my understanding that later today the second grade class will have the opportunity to dress as one of the various vocations found inside of the Church. A vocation comes to us from God and always leads us back to his love. As a Church we are in dire need for holy marriages, priests, religious, and single people where their life is not in perversion of love, but instead based upon that which is seen in the Trinity. None of the saints were religious, priests, or married because they desired to follow their own will. Instead they were called, as all of us are in some way, and responded with their lives. May all of you here today remain open to praying each day about your own vocation in life that you may find it or be strengthened within it. If we can accomplish this we will be walking along the same path that brought the saints to sainthood.

On this All Saints Day may each of us be inspired through the true love that is found with the saints. May we allow them to guide us by their holy example and forever allow them to intercede in our lives. Their example and love for God was not a mere costume that was removed when nobody was around, but instead was who they authentically were. May we not allow ourselves to wear a false costume to impress God, but may we instead present ourselves in our sinfulness to God's mercy and be forever transformed. May we also present ourselves to God to be molded in our vocation and to respond to that call with humility as we grow in accomplishing and living out this vocation each day. When we are able to do this we will be preparing ourselves to join with the saints in Heaven where we in return will lay prostrate before God for all eternity. May we allow all the angels and saints of Heaven to intercede for us this day that we may one day be able to behold the face of God.

All Saints Homily

Every one of us should be able to point out at least a few of the saints that we have devotion towards. Maybe we have chosen this certain saint because they share the name that was given to us at birth, have experienced and triumphed over something that we in return struggle against, have a story that inspires us to walk along a path towards holiness, or are patrons towards something that is important to us. The saints are truly an army of believers who have given of themselves to the point where they were found worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Not only is this day about the countless amount of saints who are venerated inside of the Church, but this day is also to venerate each unknown saint that has been called to Heaven. Each soul that has passed from this life and has been counted worthy now for the rest of eternity will be following this true unending devotion of God that was found in Saint John's Book of Revelation. They truly prostrate themselves before God because here is found the fount of all holiness.

For us the saints should not feel as if they are far away. The saints are truly apart of our life because they inspire us and draw us towards love of God. Their life was such an outpouring of love towards God that it would only make sense that upon death they would continue to desire to draw souls not to themselves, but to the love of God. We are able to say that the saints pray for us in a very special way because through their shedding of self they have been called into perfect communion with God ,who is perfect love, that is constantly being poured out into our lives. If we find that we have a weak devotion towards the saints we should begin to study their lives and trust that through devotion to them we will indeed be brought into a closer communion with God. Devotion to the saints is fully in line with 1 Timothy 2:5 which states: "there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ." This is so because we as human turn towards them to pray to Jesus as we do for others whom we know in this life.

Through our devotion to the saints we should be led along our ultimate path inside of this life. Our ultimate path is the quest that each saint has had which is to achieve for ourselves sainthood. We are all called to be saints because God desires that we will cast away our sin and trust in his unending mercy. I hope that we realize that our ultimate goal should be to get to Heaven because this requires true love of God. If our goal is to get Heaven we must realize that we must be challenged to share in the love that the saints have for God. The saints did not just acknowledge their sin in their heart, but confessed it and challenged themselves each day to turn away from it completely. We must also find time to examine our own conscience so that we can be aware of our sin. No matter how well we can argue to ourself attempting to rationalize or sin or to throw away the wisdom of the Church; sin remains sin. Sin can never be rationalized because it always pulls us along perverting love to meet our own needs instead of allowing love to be an outpouring of self. This perfect love is that which over time led the saints to Heaven.

In the Gospel we are given the eight beatitudes which we have heard on many occasions. The beatitudes are truly a path that can be followed to led us to the perfect love for God that was found with the saints. In the first example that we are given we are shown ways in which people have become slaves to the world in some manner. We are then given the contrary example which allows a person to become liberated from enslavement and in return be transformed into truly being able to serve God out of love. The examples of loving the world are hard for us to break away from. Sin as awful as it is; is truly the easy path that is chosen. The opposite is a hard path to remain on, but is the most rewarding because it will not led us to enslavement towards our passions, but instead to the outpouring of self which is true love.

On this All Saints Day may each of us be inspired through the true love that is found with the saints. This true love of God that is found with the saints is not only for them that dwell with God in Heaven, but is also for all of us who dwell here on earth below. Our sights should not be placed upon becoming enslaved by the things of this world, but through the tension of the living out of the beatitudes we will find true interior peace and contentment that is a real glimpse into the rewards that we will enjoy in Heaven. These are the rewards that the saints have already received and through our devotion to them we hope that we will one day join with them in that great vision of the Heavenly Kingdom that was found in Revelation. It here that we will join with them in laying prostrate before God who is the fount of all holiness. It is only from this fount of love that we will learn to love and realize our need for God's mercy and our own daily conversion instead of acceptance of sin. May we allow all the angels and saints of Heaven to intercede for us this day that we may one day be able to behold the face of God.