All Saints (OF)

As the leaves begin to change color and die off, as the birds begin to fly south, as the temperatures begin to drop, holy Mother Church begins to turn our mind towards our own end. These last few weeks of the liturgical year remind us that this life indeed has an end; in fact, this whole world has an end. Nothing is truly permanent in this life, but all is fleeting and empty of ultimate value in the face of the finish line. As much as our modern society tries to cheat it, death still comes for every one of us.

For the Christian, however, death does not indicate the final point of personal existence nor does it signify the futility of our labors, our joys, our sorrows, our lives. Death is our reminder that we shall each go before the Judge of heaven and earth when we have passed from this mortal coil and receive the eternal recompense for our earthly conduct. One of the visions of Saint John which he recorded in his Book of Revelation is Jesus standing as the Just Judge over all on the last day, the dies irae as the traditional funeral sequence reminds us. But before that day of wrath comes, Saint John has another vision, which we hear in today’s readings: the 144 thousand and the great multitude before the throne and the Lamb.

It is this group which has already assembled in part whom we celebrate today, for the feast of All Saints is the celebration of all the souls who have begun to receive the eternal reward of union with God in Heaven. Blessed John Henry Newman tells us that “This great multitude, which no man could number, is gathered into this one day's commemoration, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets, the noble army of Martyrs, the Children of the Holy Church Universal, who have rested from their labours.” Every soul in heaven, from the Blessed Virgin Mary all the way to the soul who squeaked out enough contrition for their sins, every soul that dwells in that eternal light is celebrated this day. Why is it that we celebrate these souls today? We celebrate them for the victory they have achieved, for the aid they provide, and for the reminder they offer.

We first celebrate them for their victory. Each of these souls has gained heaven first by the infinite grace of God, given to them through the sacraments and through their daily struggles. Many of them have gained this prize through the shedding of blood; others through the great evangelical labors and counsels such as poverty, chastity, and obedience; others through the quiet small faithfulness of ordinary life. But all of them, whether martyrs, confessors, virgins, or otherwise, have worked for their eternal rest, but they are restless when it comes to we who remain, who still have our own journey.

The saints are not so arrogant that, once they leave this world, they abandon us and focus solely on God. On the contrary, their love of God increases exponentially each day so that they love us even more than we love one another. If they are truly united to God, who desires our individual salvation, why would they not desire it for us as well? Thus do the saints seek to intercede for us before the heavenly altar, passing along our petitions and prayers to the wondrous Giver of every good and perfect gift which we need and should desire. Just as family sticks together and helps one another, so too does our family in Heaven, our brothers and sisters united together in Christ, aid us in all that we need.

But why do we need aid? Why do we call it victory? We need aid, and we hail it as victory because our earthly life is a contest between sin and salvation. Heaven is not free nor is it cheap; God has indeed opened the gates thanks to the merits of Christ our Redeemer, but He can still close those gates upon us. The saints stand as a reminder first that this victory is possible; that we can indeed gain Heaven by the grace of God and the merits of our labors. Yet they also remind us that, no matter what we are called to do in this life, we must struggle and we must fight in order to gain that prize of faith. It is not easy, but salvation is not so impossible that even we who live in the world can achieve it.

There are so many varieties of saints to discover, to learn from, and to emulate in our own way. The martyrs: the first witnesses of Christian holiness, who strove valiantly against the enemies of our faith. The confessors: those who went before the world and proclaimed the Gospel by their words and their actions so as to draw others to Christ. The virgins: the brides of Christ who unite themselves to their heavenly Spouse in hope of a more fruitful maternity than we could imagine. The married: seeking holiness through the union of man and woman, a holiness which is meant to bear fruit. The old: those who have struggled and fought for many years to achieve victory. The young: those whom God calls to Himself to receive that victory in Himself.

The Church has surrounded herself with the saints from the very beginning. The Roman Canon, the oldest of the eucharistic prayers in our missal, is lined with the great saints of Rome and the Empire, the apostles, martyrs, and virgin martyrs who overcame strife and discord in order to be crowned with Christ in victory. But the list of saints continues to grow each day, both those publicly proclaimed to be saints by the Church and the hidden list, the list known only to God until the last day, when all shall be revealed and all shall be rewarded as is right and just.

Let us rejoice that God has already blessed the saints with the reward of Himself. Let us pray to all the saints that they may intercede for us before the throne of the Lamb by whose blood we are redeemed. But let us also begin to live so as to become saints ourselves. God demands no less than that. Let us live the Beatitudes of our Gospel, so as to emulate our Lord, the model and source of all holiness. Let us not despair that it is hard, but let us strive to achieve that reward for ourselves so that we may be worthy of the prize of eternal life.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Assumption of the Virgin by Peter-Paul Rubens

(NB: This weekend, I am celebrating the Assumption in lieu of the 20th Sunday per annum because this is the feast of my parish.)

“Mary is assumed into Heaven; the angels rejoice, praising they bless the Lord.”  Thus the Church begins this feast of the Assumption in the Office as found in the Extraordinary Form or the more traditional liturgy.  Heaven rejoices to receive the one who is so pure, so loving, so intimately united to the King of Heaven.  The angels rejoice to receive her who will be crowned the Queen of angels.  They bless the Lord who has worked such marvels through her and for her.  In hearing this antiphon we receive a key to understanding today’s feast.

We all desire heaven.  Any sensible person does not desire to descend into the fires of hell for all eternity, but instead wishes for paradise.  But what does it take to get there?  What must we do to gain eternal life? We see this played out most particularly in the life of the Blessed Virgin.  She demonstrates to us what is necessary in order for us to gain heaven.  They are: the grace of God, a willing heart, and our own efforts.

First must come the grace of God.  Our Lady is the hallmark of this principle in her very being.  We celebrate her as being conceived without the stain of original sin.  But this did not come from herself; it was the almighty Trinity, in preparation for the incarnation of the Son, that bestowed this grace upon her.  We have not been blessed with this immense gift and grace, but we have received the graces necessary to enter into the Church and receive the sacrament of baptism, which washes us clean of that same stain.  We continue to receive these graces through our continued participation in the sacraments, most especially the healing grace of confession and the vivifying grace given to us whenever we receive the Eucharist. If God did not and does not continue to will this for us, it would not have happened; and this offers us the first reason to rejoice in this feast.

The next matter which is required in order to gain heaven is a willing heart.  While God lovingly pours out His grace upon us, yet He never coerces us or forces us to respond.  We are creatures given the gift of a free will, and it is only in accepting that grace that we can begin to direct our lives towards the eternal mansions.  We can compare Eve and Mary to see the difference a willing heart makes.  Certainly, Eve was not created with any sin upon her, yet she still made the choice to disobey God along with Adam in the garden, and thus merited for herself and we her children the effects of sin on the human condition.  Yet Mary reverses this with the Yes that she offers God when the archangel Gabriel tells her that she will be the Mother of God. St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a second-century Church Father, identifies her as the New Eve in union with Christ our New Adam, as highlighted by St. Paul in our second reading, undoing Eve's disobedience with her obedience. We rejoice on this feast day because Mary's fiat has lead to her assumption and entrance into Heaven.

Finally, we must not only receive the grace of God with a willing heart, but we must also supplement this with our own work. While Heaven is certainly a gift of God, it is a gift that we must begin to receive in a foreshadowed sense here and now. If we are truly animated by God's grace and our good will, then how can we not desire to bring this to fruition in our labors? We see this demonstrated in our Gospel, when Mary rushes to the side of her cousin Elizabeth. Our Lady not only desires to love God, but recognizes that we must love God through our neighbor. All of our actions, in fact, are meant to be directed towards this goal, even the menial tasks such as our eating or cleaning or sleeping. Our Lady's assumption thus does not occur only in a physical sense at the end of her earthly life, but is spiritually occurring every day in her prayers and actions. Each moment of her life draws her closer and closer to the glories of paradise, until that blessed moment when she follows her Son in entering body and soul, in the totality of her being, into the blessings of eternal life.

Let us rejoice, then, on this glorious day, that God has willed that His holy one would not see corruption. Let us rejoice in the triumph of Our Lady over the devil through her mission as the Mother of God. Let us rejoice that she has entered into the final glory to stand at the right side of her Son arrayed in glory for all eternity. But let us also pray to her that we too may receive the grace necessary to be converted from sin and directed on the path of holiness. Let us beseech her motherly aid for we her spiritual children: that we may not fall into temptation, but be elevated so as to imitate her perfect obedience to God. Let us be more fervent in praying our Hail Marys and our rosaries that we may imitate her example of obedience and charity, so that she who is praying for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, may raise us to join her, to join her Son, and to join all the angels and saints in the marvels that await the blessed in the beatitude of heaven.

Audacity - 19th Sunday per annum (OF)

There echoes throughout all the elements of our Mass today a theme of audacity or boldness.  Consider the collect which we prayed at the beginning to prepare ourselves for this particular day: Almighty ever-living God, whom ... we dare to call our Father.  Another example which we hear quite regularly comes from the introduction to the Our Father: At the Savior’s command, and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say.  The readings for this Sunday also echo with the examples of holy and unholy audacity as a regular part of our spiritual life.  Let us dare to open the Scriptures and see where Christ is leading us.

In the Gospel story of the Lord walking on water, one sees an example of audacity in the actions of Saint Peter.  The disciples, upon seeing Christ walking towards them on the water, believe it is a ghost or a vision.  But our Lord calms their fear and assures them that it is really Him.  When Saint Peter beholds all this, he makes a very bold request.  He cries out to Christ: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  Why does Peter dare to ask for this?  We must remember that it was Peter who was privileged with the divine insight into who Christ really is: God the Son become incarnate.  Perhaps he is desiring to be certain that it is truly his divine Master who stands amidst the thrashing waves.

Notice also what specifically Peter requests.  The great ancient commentators see in this question the audacity which emerges from true humility.  Peter is always next to Christ, ever serving Him, ever listening to Him.  Peter asks to be with Christ as he is wont to do on land so as to be at his natural position.  We should take from this how often we should boldly ask God to be with us in our endeavors.  If we can truly claim to call God our Father, then why would we ever be afraid to ask Him for our needs?  Do we feel that our needs are inadequate in talking with God?  Do we feel that we have no right to ask for anything because we are already blessed?  Or do we feel embarrassed petitioning God in prayer?

Brothers and sisters, we should never feel inadequate or embarrassed before God.  We should certainly feel humble, realizing our weakness in comparison to the almighty God, realizing our littleness compared to the ever-living God, but that should only makes us more audacious in making our needs and desires known to God.  God wants to help us be what He has created us to be: the adopted children of the heavenly Father, the new heirs to the magnificent inheritance promised from the very beginning of time.  Christ elsewhere encourages us to be bold in asking God for our needs when He tells us: “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened.” (Mt 7:7)  No matter the time, no matter the situation, no matter the feeling, we should never be afraid to pray and ask God for all that we need, both natural and supernatural gifts, so as to nearer to Christ and nearer to God.

Yet there is also a caution within this Gospel story about the limits of audacity.  Note that Peter, emboldened by the command of Christ, gets out of the boat and walks towards Christ for a while.  The great tossing of waves does not frighten him, but when he sees the strength of the wind, Peter begins to sink.  How often do we seem daring to do great things or believing ourselves capable of doing great things yet do we seem far less daring to take up the task of doing the little duties.  Holy audacity must not exist only for the great events of our life, but for every little moment also.  That is what the saints practiced: not being holy in one moment, but exhibiting in every moment possible the boldness to live their lives completely focused on Christ or on removing as much as possible whatever distracts them from Christ.  It is the same with us.

Most of us are not called to be great and famous nor are we called to do great things, but all of us are called to sanctify our lives by entrusting ourselves to the grace of Christ, the help of Christ, and by living Christ-centered lives which echo in all of our actions.  Peter exhibits this trait when he cries out to Christ to save him.  Even in his moment of weakness, Peter is emboldened to appeal to Christ to help him.  And Christ does so, certainly rebuking Peter for his lack of firm faith, but also showing us that we cannot rely on ourselves alone to succeed.  It is Christ who dares us to be holy, and it is in Christ that we must continue to find that holy audacity.

The Church herself also offers us a witness of this audacity throughout history.  Founded by Christ, maintained by Christ, she continually marches out into the world and proclaims for all the truths of salvation.  Undeterred by threats or compulsion, the Church continues the mission that Christ gave her: to go out and make disciples of all the nations.  The continual presence of the Church shows us what it means to be audacious without becoming arrogant.

In fact, there is a special class of saints who are held up for us as the ultimate examples of audacity: the martyrs past and present.  All the martyrs were given a choice: reject Christ, reject all His teachings and His authority, or face torture, imprisonment, exile, even death.  The martyrs, hanging on to the truth, remained bold in proclaiming that they would rather die than reject their Savior.  That is why the Church holds them up as some of the greatest saints of history.  That is why, whenever we pray the Roman Canon, we hear the Church enumerate so many holy martyrs, including the Apostles and the virgin martyrs who died for love of Christ.

And even today, we should be strengthened by the example of the Christians suffering in Iraq and the Middle East.  The Muslim oppressors even today threaten these Christians to either convert to Islam or pay the consequences.  Many of these people are fleeing their homes and even dying in the streets because they refuse to reject Christ, they refuse to reject their identity as a Christian, they refuse to reject their salvation.  Certainly, we must pray for them and seek to help them as best as we can, but we should also be inspired by their witness so as to be courageous in the face of all the challenges that await us here at home.  And make no mistake, we are being challenged similarly to the Christians half a world away with the world trying to force us to admit evil is good and to reject Christ as the only Savior of the world.

Let us then pray that we may have the boldness to live Christ-centered lives, lives which radiate the holy audacity of the saints in entrusting their every need to God and His loving kindness.  Let us dare to cry out to our heavenly Father to show us His mercy and to grant us our salvation.  Let us be like Saint Peter and cry out to Christ to command us to follow after Him no matter the cost and to strength us to do so.  Let us pray most fervently for all this, so that we may dare to merit, through God’s mercy and grace, the heavenly inheritance which awaits those bold enough to ask for it.