Homily for November 1, 2020
All Saints Day
One Thing Necessary
You’ve
probably seen “clickbait” everywhere on the Internet. For the uninitiated,
“clickbait” refers to a headline that is purposely sensational, so that you
click on it. “Five Secrets to Weight Loss” or “Never-Before Revealed Photos of
Your Favorite Movie Stars!” Even the Catholic world gets into it, when I see headlines
such as “Five Secrets to the Rosary” or “Ten Pro-Tips on How to Go to
Confession” or “This Popular Devotion Will Change Your Life!”
Usually
when I click on clickbait, it’s a letdown. Five secrets to the Rosary? Well,
yes it’s a powerful prayer, but that’s not a secret! Pro-tips on going to
Confession? You mean “examining your conscience” is now a pro-tip? Clickbait
usually leads to disappointment!
But
what if there was “one secret to becoming a saint?” That would be worth
clicking on! Is it possible that all the saints had one thing in common?
Yes, I
believe they did. They desired to love God more than everything.
That is
the secret to holiness, the secret to becoming a saint. Love God more than
everything. No saints loved God half-heartedly; no saints put anything above
their love for God. Everything else the saints did: their joy, their works of
charity, their great writings and miracles and missionary efforts – all of this
flowed from their love of God. That is how you become a saint!
Consider
a few saintly examples:
St.
Dominic Savio, the young schoolboy saint who died at the age of 15 in Turin,
Italy, would fall so in love with God that he would lose track of time. One day
after Mass, the rest of the boys in his school went to breakfast after Mass,
then classes, then recreation. Hours passed, but the headmaster of the school
(St. John Bosco) had no idea where he was. He finally went back into the chapel
around two in the afternoon and found young Dominic standing stock-still,
gazing at the Tabernacle with great love. When Fr. Bosco gently shook him to
get his attention, Dominic seemed to wake up and ask, “Is the Mass over?” The
Mass had been over for hours, but Dominic was so lost in love for God that he
became unaware of his surroundings! As he later told St. John Bosco, “I become
distracted, and losing the thread of my prayers, I behold such beautiful and
entrancing sights that hours seem to go in a moment.”
St.
Igantius of Antioch was a bishop in the very early church, who was arrested
during one of the persecutions and marched from Antioch (in modern-day Turkey)
to Rome. On the way there, he wrote seven letters to the churches he would meet
on the way – and the letters begged the churches not to interfere with
his impending martyrdom! Rather than pleading for his life, he was pleading to lose
his life so that he could find it only in Christ. Listen to his powerful words:
“No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I
prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He
who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our
sakes is my one desire. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is
no yearning in me for any earthly thing. Rather, within me is the living water
which says deep inside me: ‘Come to the Father’” Wow! What deep love for God!
Finally,
one more saintly example. All of us are familiar with Mother Teresa – but do
you know how she started serving the poorest of the poor? Initially,
Mother Teresa joined an order of teaching nuns who ran a school for wealthy
girls in Calcutta. When she entered the convent, she selected as her motto the
quote from St. Therese of Lisieux: “I will love Jesus as He has never been
loved before.” That burning love of Jesus in the heart of young Sister Teresa
is what prompted her, in 1942, to make a private vow “never to refuse Jesus
anything.” Four years later, Sr. Teresa was on a train ride from Calcutta to
Darjeeling, heading on her annual retreat, when she heard Jesus speak to her:
“Will you serve Me in the poorest of the poor?” She had no idea what this would
entail – but her love for Jesus and her vow to say “Yes” to Him in everything
made her agree to this request from Our Lord. As they say, the rest is history
– Mother Teresa became a household name and synonymous with charitable works –
but only because she was filled with a burning love for Christ.
The
saints loved God more than anything – that’s what made them saints. You and I
can love God more than anything, as well. Not half-heartedly, not putting our
worldly concerns and pleasures and entertainment on-par with Him. No, to become
a saint is to burn with a desire to know and love Him with our entire heart,
soul, mind, our very life. Focus on that, and He will take care of making you a
saint!
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