Homily for November 1, 2019

There are a lot of people who have some unusual perceptions of what a saint must have been like when they were lived on earth. Back in early September of 1997, at the funeral of the former Princess Diana, her brother said: “to sanctify your memory would be to miss out on the very core of your being, your wonderfully mischievous sense of humor with the laugh that bent you double, your joy for life transmitted wherever you took your smile.”

Inherent in his comment was the idea that there must be some kind of a contradiction between the saints’ lives and our lives today. Saints were fully human. So, we must believe that some of them had a sense of humor. St. Augustine’s life is proof that some saints broke rules. St. Therese’s life showed that saints could experience a “dark night of the soul,” and find humor in things as well. The saints were fully human beings, who struggled with adversities and treasured life’s joys.

On All Saint’s Day we call to mind, not just those people who have been canonized by the Church, but all of the good people who have been a part of our lives and have made our lives better and who helped us to be better people. They were not perfect, but they were, in their own way, wonderful people. Even now, we know many living saints who are truly inspired and led by the Holy Spirit and are on their way to eternal union with Him.

Sanctity, holiness, is a gift from God of which we all have a share, just as we share in the experience of sin and death. Every person is already a temple of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God. What can prevent us from living by the power of God’s grace is not being aware that we already possess it. We are called children of God, not just in the afterlife, but now, at this very moment and all throughout our lives. May God help us to recognize this fact about ourselves and may we, as instruments of God’s grace, help others to recognize this as well. +