Homily for All Saints Day - Joyful Paradox

 

Homily for All Saints Day

The Paradox

 

            Saint Francis was walking back to his monastery with Brother Leo on a bitterly cold, rainy day. They were discussing what it mean to be truly joyful. Brother Leo suggested several things that might be joyful: being in perfect health, having knowledge of all sciences and nature, having the ability to work miracles, converting souls to Christ. Yet every time Leo would mention one of these, St. Francis would shake his head and say, “No, no, that’s not true joy.”

            Finally, Brother Leo ran out of ideas, and in frustration, demanded of St. Francis, “Then what is true joy, really?”

            St. Francis replied, “When we have arrived at our monastery cold and shivering, exhausted and starving, and the doorkeeper looks at us and says, ‘You two are not really among our brothers,’ and he leaves us outside and begins to insult and abuse us – if we can accept all that as the will of God for us at that moment, that is pure joy.”

            Francis is quite right – and one could certainly consider him one of the happiest men to ever live.

            We all want to be happy. In fact, every decision we make is for our happiness. Why do we come to school? Because we think a good education will give us a good job someday, and that will make us happy. Why do we spend time with this friend or that friend? Because they make us happy. Why do we play this sport or that sport? Because we enjoy it – it makes us happy.

            And Jesus in the Gospels gives us eight guidelines for happiness! He begins each Beatitude with those words, “Blessed are you…” – in other words, you will be happy if you do these things!

            But notice what comes afterward. Blessed are you…who are poor in spirit. Wait, I thought the rich were happy? Nope, if you want true happiness, embrace the poverty of spirit that prefers nothing to Christ. Blessed are you…who are meek. Wait, the world tells me that I need to become famous and popular to be happy? Nope, if you want true happiness, choose the route of humility, being forgotten by the world and remembered in the Heart of God. Blessed are you…who are pure. Wait, the world tells me that happiness is having as much pleasure as I want? Nope, if you want true happiness, we deny our flesh so that our spirit will thrive. Blessed are you…when you are persecuted. Wait, the world tells me I have to be successful and have a good reputation? Nope, if you want true happiness, pursue God alone and don’t worry about what other people say or think or do.

            So the Beatitudes are a paradox. A paradox means that two things that are seemingly opposite are actually both true. On one hand, we have to deny ourselves – on the other hand, we find joy in God. Both are true!

            I think it’s important to make a distinction between two types of happiness. One type of happiness is based on our circumstances – when everything in our life is going well (we are healthy, we have lots of friends, we have money in our bank account), then we experience happiness. But the problem with this type of happiness is that it’s fickle – it can change in an instant when our circumstances change – we get sick, we lose a friend, we lose our job.

            A deeper kind of happiness – a true joy – is based on the unshakeable confidence that we are profoundly, personally, passionately loved by God, and that our life has meaning and purpose in glorifying Him here and enjoying Him forever in Heaven. This can never be taken away!

            And it is this deeper happiness that all the saints had. This is why St. Mother Theresa could smile while picking up a maggot-infested dying man from the gutter. This is why St. Cecilia could sing with joy when she was being martyred for her faith. This is why St. Francis could praise God in utter, abject poverty. This is why St. Thomas More could make a joke when about to be beheaded for his Catholic faith, saying to the executioner, “Please do not harm my beard, it did nothing wrong.”

            The saints knew that their happiness did not come from their circumstances, but rather from an unshakeable belief that they were loved and that their life was directed to Heaven. Paradoxically, their circumstances were opposite of what the world considers happiness – they were often poor, suffered a great deal, disciplined their desires, practiced virtue amidst difficult trials, and sometimes lost their lives for their Faith. And yet they are the happiest people I know – and I want that kind of deep, unshakeable joy.

            As Bl. Carlo Acutis said, “Sadness is looking at oneself; happiness is looking at God. Conversion is nothing but a movement of the eyes.”

            Want to be happy? Strive to be a saint.