All Saints Day Homily

To those of you who go to Mass day in and day out you realize very quickly that we have many saints who we come to venerate throughout the course of the liturgical year. Of course the number of saints is not limited to those who we venerate throughout the course of the year within this parish. Different orders such as the Dominicans or Franciscans for example follow a their own liturgical calendar which may add or subtract saints venerated liturgically. One thing that a student in Confirmation class is asked to do is to pick a patron saint. Therefore they might skim through a huge book chronicling the life of the saints in order to pick the perfect saint that represents their interests or struggles. Yet again no matter how big this book is it cannot possibly contain the names of all the saints who are found in Heaven. The Solemnity of All saints is concerned with each saint that the Church has come to acknowledge by name, but this day is also about coming to venerate each and every unknown saint who has been called into communion with God in the Heavenly Kingdom. As we celebrate this day we ask for their intercession that we to at the end of our life on this earth may be numbered as one of the saints.

We should find the life of the saints to be most fascinating because each saint tells us a unique story concerning their love for God. Through their lives we are told that some loved God dearly in their youth while others came to this same understanding at a much later time in their life. We are also told how some were brought up in a life that was filled with riches and possessions while others were brought up being poor, but nevertheless both died rich because they possessed a true relationship founded upon God. The saints speak to each and every single state of our life because some were popes, some were bishops, some were priests, some were deacons, some were monks, some were sisters, some were married, and some were single. I hope in our study of the life of the saints that we to can come to see that hope is never lost for us, no matter how young or old that we be, no matter how deeply intrenched into sin we may seem to be, no matter what our state in life may be; the fact remains that we can still become saints.

This is the testimony that the life of the saints give to us. That each and every single one of us can become saints. May we truly allow all the saints of Heaven to intercede on our behalf in order that our hope may one day become a reality. The saints were never willing to simply remain in their sin, but instead they embraced the tough path of daily conversion that lead them towards further being able to participate in God's love. The saints also handed themselves over to the sacraments that Christ has given to His Church, they trusted in the strength that is found in the Holy Eucharist and they prevailed themselves to the infinite mercy of God that is found in the sacrament of Confession. May we truly allow ourself to follow after their example because in this manner they will lead us to encounter the same love that they discovered and that they shared with God. They were not made saints in the course of a day, but instead each day they had to recommit themselves to their love for Christ. Through the veneration of these many holy men and women may our heart and our soul be drawn towards this same love for God that we experience through their life. Indeed all of us are called to become a saint in Heaven; therefore may we fear not in beginning to model our life after such a purpose.