All Saints

ONE

Today is the Feast of All Saints.

The first reading from the Mass today tells us what this feast is all about. 1 John 3:1-3, “Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God's children; and that is what we are…(we have become the children of God by Baptism, so) we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is. Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.”

Every person is created in the image of God, that is, they are endowed with intelligence and freedom. That is how we all come into the world.  Yet that is not all, because every person is also called to become like God, to be transfigured into his likeness. But what in the world does that look like?

Well, that is precisely why God became one of us, to show us what it was like and give us the way to become so ourselves. 

To be like God is to be like Jesus, to be fully human and divine. That is what it means to be holy. That is the goal of life. Is that your top goal? Is that what you are working toward?

TWO

The goal of life is to be holy, to be like God, like Jesus, fully human and divine.

How do we get there?

First, we need to receive divine life. We were born with human life. We need to receive the life of God. 

Jesus gives His divine life to us beginning with Baptism. Then, he nourishes and increases His divine life in us through the Eucharist. And when we diminish or destroy his life in us by sin, he will restore it by Reconciliation. We don’t have the divine life by our conception. That gives us human life. Jesus gives us divine life, his life through the Sacraments and the Eucharist at Mass.

Secondly, it is not enough for Jesus to give his divine life in the sacraments. It is not enough for us to just go to Mass. The Catechism reminds us that the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them. (1128) We must open our souls to drink in the Living Water. We must open our soul to receive the divine life Jesus gives in the Eucharist.

We open our souls to receive by prayer. Teresa of Avila says, specifically, by mental prayer. 

Daily mental prayer, as we are doing here in the Rosary, or in Lectio Divina, opens the soul to drink the Living Water that flows from the heart of Jesus. So if we want to be like God, fully human and divine, we need the sacraments, but we also need daily mental prayer. 

THREE

If we want to be holy, to be like God, then we need to think and feel and desire and act fully human and divine, then we need to become virtuous. This is why the Gospel of the Mass for the Feast of All Saints is the Beatitudes, the virtues that make us like Christ. 

We need to practice the virtues of:

Faith – thinking like God by living the truth Jesus revealed.

Hope – desiring what God desires and hating what God hates.

Charity – loving God above all and your neighbor as yourself.

Prudence – making good decisions 

Justice – always giving to God and others and our community what they deserve. 

Temperance – getting control of pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony, and lust.

Courage – always willing to sacrifice what is lesser for the sake of what is greater. 

As we become virtuous we become fully alive! That glorifies God.

I love this ancient quote by St. Irenaeus, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” That’s what we become, fully alive, when we take on virtue. 

I want to be fully alive! God wants you to be fully alive. Is that what you want?

FOUR

You don’t have to give up what you want from life to be holy.

Think about it. What do you want?

I want good health. So does God. So, sleep and eat good food and drink good drinks and exercise. He designed me for this.

I want to achieve great things. I want to use my gifts to contribute the greatest good. So does God. So work and work hard and delight in your work because God designed me for this. 

I want a great relationship with my wife and kids and grandkids and friends. Great, so does God. So commit to those people, and spend time with them and delight in them and deal with them. God designed you for this. 

I want knowledge. I want to know truth. So does God. So commit to grow in knowledge the rest of your life and dedicate yourself to the discipline of study – always. He designed you for this.

I want to experience beauty. So does God. So experience beauty through other people, through nature, through art, books, and music. There are so many ways. 

But be careful not to seek your identity, value, and happiness in just one of these, in achievements, wealth, or relationships. And don’t pursue these in a disordered way. Because God alone satisfies. 

Don’t you see? To become holy is just to live your design, to have the best of life and to delight in it!

FIVE

The purpose of life is to become holy, that is, fully human and divine.

But we’re not there yet. And in the process, we will fall.

Don’t beat yourself up when you fall. That is just pride. Don’t get discouraged and quit. Don’t use your falls as an excuse to quit. When you fall, immediately turn to Jesus and say, “See, Lord, what I am without you. I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

Go and receive his mercy, his excessive unconditional healing love in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

For, the mercy of Jesus will give you what you need to get up after you fall and get moving, because we have somewhere to go, and that is to Heaven.