October 29, 2023

Appearing at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I, there is a petition that I find to be one of the most beautiful in the entirety of the Roman Missal:

Help us to work together for the coming of your Kingdom, until the hour when we stand before you, Saints among the Saints in the halls of heaven, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the blessed Apostles and all the Saints, and with our deceased brothers and sisters, whom we humbly commend to your mercy. Then, freed at last from the wound of corruption and made fully into a new creation, we shall sing to you with gladness the thanksgiving of Christ, who lives for all eternity.

Is this not a microcosm of the Creed, writ a bit more poetically? To work together, be together, worship together for all eternity – this is what we believe, this is what we long for as Catholics, as human persons. We desire to be saints among saints! I hope you allow that innermost desire tingle through your being – allow it to aliven your hope! Now, we are not all called to be Saints who are publicly canonized, through whom many thousands intercede, and who they name new churches after. These are Saints with a capital S; we are called to be saints with a lowercase s. The most accurate definition of a saint is described in the prayer above – eternal togetherness with God and one another. In this way, it is essential to point out that no saint is jealous of any Saint because they all share the same reward. This is important because we can all too often put saints far away from us. They are too holy to even get close to, nor would they want to be close to us, wretched sinners. Want to know the most significant difference between a saint and a sinner? A saint never gives up on God’s boundless mercy. If we allow God to decide whether we should be a saint, or a Saint, we are free to know that God wants to be with us.

This coming week we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saint to recognize our personal call to holiness. When we allow the gentle hands of Christ to work away all the misguided desires that the world has infused onto our hearts, the truth is revealed – that those desires are not wrong; they are simply pointed in the wrong direction. Those desires within you and me are meant to bring us to holiness. Holiness is not some demurred ideal for the few, but rather the birthright of the many! It is also helpful to recognize that this is not something we earn, but rather a good we are welcomed into. On top of that, we have the whole order of Saints, named and unnamed, cheering us on!      

I have been reflecting quite a bit on the book of Ester. If you have not read it, it is one of the smaller books of the Old Testament. The book tells the story of Queen Ester and her relative, Mordecai. At one crucial point, while Mordecai is reminding Ester of who she is and how God had a plan for His people, he says to her, “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” (Ester 4:14) The lives of the saints are hardly ever comfortable. I reflect on the life of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney and the troubles and temptations that beset him. Being a saint does not mean that one has an easy experience. It means that the person easily wills their life to God. Bring a priest I have plenty of time to think and pray about God’s will for this community, and for me. I do not envision God as some maniacal yet omnipotent chess player who looks to see where lies the breaking point of His servants. I also believe that God’s grace is calling all of us to use the time we are given, amid great suffering and uncertainty, to grow in holiness and in trust of Him. Returning to Ester – for such a time as this have we been given the royal dignity – the identity of being called Children of God. I leave you with two more short quotations to animate your prayer: “Each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most.” G.K. Chesterton  & “Through all the sadness, the negative aspects of history, we see the birth of forces for reform and renewal because the newness of God is inexhaustible and always gives new strength,” Pope Benedict XVI

Two Parishes, One Heart,

Fr. Adam