All Saints Day 2024 - Remember Who You Are

 

Homily for All Saints Day

November 1, 2024

Remember Who You Are

 

            Young Ben Hooper grew up in Tennessee, in the depths of the Bible Belt. His mother wasn’t married when Ben was born, and the deep South in the late 1800s was a tough place to grow up if you were a child out of wedlock. He recounts that his classmates shunned him, called him names, and he had to eat lunch by himself every day. Even the townspeople of Newport would whisper among themselves when Ben walked through town. He said he could feel their judgmental stares and gossipy comments, as he put it, “bore a hole through him” – everyone wondering who his real father was. In those days there was so much shame and social stigma to being fatherless.

            One day when he was 12, a new preacher came into his church. Ben made it a point to avoid him, ashamed of his background. He would come late and leave early from services so he wouldn’t have to greet the preacher. But one day the preacher happened to run into the boy in town.

            “Hey, boy!” the preacher called out. “I see you in church every Sunday – what’s your name? Who’s your father?”

            Oh here it comes, Ben thought. He felt the old black cloud come down upon him.

            But much to his surprise, the Preacher looked down at the boy for a moment, and a smile of recognition came upon his face. “Wait a minute,” he said. “I know who you are. I can see the family resemblance. You’re a son of God.” With that, the preacher put his arm on the boy’s shoulder and said, “And boy, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.”

            Ben Hooper said that was the moment his life changed. He knew who he was, and he no longer had to live in shame. He went on to become a two-term governor of Tennessee.

            Our second reading gives us a consolation and a challenge. The consolation – we are God’s children now, and we shall grow evermore in this sonship. How could He be pleased to adopt me – after all I’ve done – as His son? How could He adopt you – with all your insecurities and wounds – as His child? And yet, out of the gratuity of His love, He has done just that. I don’t care who your earthly parents are, whether they’re saints or deadbeats, Rosary-praying church ladies or drug addicts. If you have been baptized and walk in the faith of Jesus Christ, you are a son of God.

            The challenge – “Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,

as he is pure.” A son or daughter of God does not wallow in sin. We’re made for more than that! I think of the great story of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. When he first came to his town of Ars, he found that it had 250 people…and seven bars. That’s not a good ratio! He knew that, to obtain the conversion of his people, he needed to stop the drunkenness and the dirty dancing that went along with it. One day, as a very indecent dance was taking place in one of the taverns, and to stop it, he used a simple tactic. He simply walked over to the tavern, and stood in the middle of the dance floor, wearing his priestly garments. He said nothing, but merely stood there, gazing peacefully at the revelers. When they caught sight of the silent priest in their midst, all of a sudden they were struck by his noble bearing. He looked so dignified, peaceful – and they had been dancing impurely like crazed animals. They began to realize that their drunkenness, lust, and bawdy jokes were humiliating, beneath their dignity. One by one, they began to depart, until the tavern was empty – and within a couple of years every one of those bars was closed down and the people frequented the church instead!

            Jason Evert is a chastity speaker who hosts a podcast called “Lust is boring.” But we could say the same thing about any of the vices. Greed is boring. Envy is disgusting. Wrath and hatred are so beneath you. Sloth and laziness are so immature. Frankly, all sin is stupid and pointless – really, we would trade an eternal crown of glory for a few short moments of degrading pleasure? Let it not be so among you!

            A saint is one who realizes his dignity and lives out of it. As Pope St. Leo said, so powerfully, Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Remember who you are, and Whose you are – and do nothing that is beneath your dignity.

            Someday we will see God face-to-face – keep your eyes pure. Weekly Our Lord rests upon our tongues – make sure that your words glorify Him. He has revealed His truth to our minds – let us take every thought captive and make it obedient to Him. We have been purchased at a tremendous price, the Blood of the Son of God – let us delight our good Father with our deeds.

            Saints knew who they were, and acted accordingly.

            My dear Christians, remember who you are: a people redeemed. Now let your life reflect that awesome dignity!