Deacon Larry

 

All Saints Day

Rev 7: 2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3: 1-3; Mt 5: 1-12a

Dc. Larry Brockman

What does it mean to be a saint?  I think we get some strong clues in today’s readings.

Saints are people who are humble in spirit; who suffer quietly through life’s trials; and who are meek and not arrogant.  Saints thirst and hunger for the right thing to do, rather than the expedient thing to do.  They are merciful, forgiving those who do them wrong.  They have pure and clean hearts, and stay within God’s moral law; they don’t cheat when nobody is looking.  They are peacemakers, and avoid confrontations to get even; they rejoice at the success of others, even when they, themselves, fail.  And yet, saints endure persecution when they are defending their faith- they hang in there in faith even when they are insulted and berated for what they do.  These are things that characterize the saints.  They live a life that is patterned after Jesus.  

Lot’s of times, we think the saints are just canonized saints-  the apostles, the martyrs, and great defenders of the faith from the past, people like Saints Peter and Paul and Augustine and Agatha and Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc.  And indeed, the Church has recognized these people as saints.  But there is something we should all know about these saints.  They were not perfect.  Each of the classic saints I mentioned above had sinned.  Peter denied Christ three times; Paul persecuted the Christians before his conversion; and Augustine led a pleasure seeking life before his conversion.  But, they went on to practice one or more of the beatitudes with zeal.   

Now, there are many people who lived amongst us recently who were not perfect but who practiced one or more of the Beatitudes we mentioned above.  They lived them out of faith, and they lived them with a passion.  Some easily recognized modern day saints include war heroes who sacrificed their lives to save others; and people dedicated to relieving the suffering of the poor and lepers, and people who dedicated their lives to caring for unwed mothers who were considering abortion.  There are names we can think of that fit each of these three categories.  Yes, they may have been sinners as well.  But God’s mercy triumphs over justice.  And these people were surely saints for what they have done.   

Likewise, there are many living amongst us today who are destined to become saints.  They are people in our own families who have given up their own dreams of personal achievement  In order to follow some task they have been called to do.  Like raising children; caring for aging parents; providing for their families; teaching others; using God’s resources to make life better for us all, and defending our country against terror.  They, also, are not perfect- they are sinners as well.  The point is that saints live their faith as imperfect humans.  They work at it with zeal, and God’s mercy triumphs over justice.   

Today, we recognize all these latter day saints as well as the canonized ones.  They are amongst the great multitude which no one could count.  They survived the time of great distress.  The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.   

Now, that calls to mind this question.  What does it mean to be a saint?  Yes, what is it that waits for those who become saints?  John answers that question for us.  He says that we are God’s children now.  So we are first of all, God’s children.  Now think about when you were a child.  We needed to learn to do what we were told just because our parents said so.  So also, we need to do what God wants us to do.  We need to do it even if we don’t understand it, just because God told us to do so.  Why?  Because God loves us, just like our parents loved us.  How does God love us?  God’s love was displayed visibly by the gift of his Son Jesus.  His son suffered and died for us.  But then, he was resurrected. 

We have been told that it will be the same for us.  We will suffer and die, and most importantly, we will be resurrected, thanks to the gift of Jesus becoming human, a gift we will soon celebrate as we enter the Advent and Christmas season.  John goes on to say that even though we be resurrected, we don’t know what that will be like.  But he says that we will be like him, like Jesus. 

Wow!  Think of that.  We will be like Jesus, and we will know the Father just like He does.  And knowing in this sense, is experiencing God.  So we will experience the love and the glory and the joy that is from God.  We will be part of the Kingdom of God.  

So rejoice everybody.  Rejoice that you are destined to become a saint,   Imperfect though you may be.  And rejoice over the everlasting joy that will be yours.  Because this is your feast day, the feast of All Saints. 

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gen 2: 18-24; Heb 2: 9-11; Mk 10: 2-16

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

“Because of the hardness of your hearts, he wrote this command”.  Such was Jesus comment to the Pharisees about Moses as they tried to justify divorce.  Jesus then defined the Christian understanding of marriage, quoting from Genesis, the same part of Genesis as our First Reading.  The words are very clear.  One man and one woman marry and become one, and what God joins together, no man should separate.  And yet, even after his clear words to the Pharisees, the apostles called Jesus aside and questioned him.  And so Jesus adds that to divorce and marry another is adultery- pretty strong words.  They are a direct and explicit moral teaching on marriage. 

Indeed, this Gospel confirms for us that there are moral absolutes.  They are absolutes because God said so, and that God’s word is really not negotiable.  Let me elaborate.  

Recall that during the description of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis, just after the part we read today, Adam and Eve were told that “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” was off limits.  But they ate the fruit because they wanted to be like God, and know good and evil.  But man is not permitted to define good and evil.  That charter, defining good and evil, is God’s charter.  Rather, man must follow the natural law and the moral law that God has defined to us because we are not Gods, and do not have God’s wisdom. So, we cannot discern good and evil.  We live this life in an imperfect world until we learn to follow God’s will and keep his commandments accordingly.

 

Now God handed down the law to us in various ways:  It’s in the ten commandments, It’s in the Mosaic law, and it’s in the moral teachings in the Gospels and the Christian letters that form the New Testament.  God also defines His law in the workings of nature- that is called natural law.  In its wisdom, the Church has accumulated and made sense of God’s law for us.  That’s what the Catechism of the Church summarizes: a definition of what we believe and what God has defined as right and wrong.

 

Today is Right to Life Sunday.  It is essential that practicing Catholics understand the above principle on God’s role in matters of faith and morals as background to the Right to Life.  Otherwise, we will be confused by man’s wisdom, and man’s law that follows from it.  Because man’s wisdom sometimes attempts to define good and evil apart from God, and that is the sin of Adam and Eve.  And so, man’s law can be flawed. 

Now we Catholics have a solemn obligation to follow the Church’s teachings on Right to Life Issues rather than accept man made wisdom and laws.  The Right to Life is one of the most important areas covered by the Catechism, and so we should know what the Church teaches and follow it. 

Right to Life includes many hot button issues that are being discussed and debated in the public domain:  Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic research, war, and capital punishment are a few of these areas.  But life itself is integrally connected with quality of life.  And so the Right to Life includes one’s access to food, water, and shelter as well.  Simply stated, the poor and the marginalized have a right to life, just like those who hold a more fortunate position in society.  And that is why the Right to Life is such an important issue.  Because it is pervasive; it touches everything that society and government struggle with to provide for people.

 

So, what are some of the teachings of the Church on Right to Life straight out of the Catechism?  Well, that life begins at Conception (Jer 1:5); that abortion is wrong and that it is wrong to kill infants (Did 2:2);  that it is wrong, by an act of omission or commission, to cause a sick and diminished person to die, that’s called Euthanasia; that it is wrong to take one’s own life; and that everyone is entitled to basic needs- food, clothing, housing, etc. 

It is not enough, however, to know these things, and believe them personally, and then be silent about them when these basic rights are violated in society around us.  We have an obligation to get involved, and to do what we can to assure that our government guarantees these rights.  We do that by voting for the right candidates, speaking out against government officials and policies when they infringe on the Right to Life, and by our own personal example in living our daily lives at work, in school and as a homemaker.

 

In the last couple of months, the Respect Life Organization has been extremely pleased with your response to all three of our recent appeals.   3,000 post cards were sent to our Senators and representatives opposing the Freedom of Choice Act.  Over $10,000 was collected in the baby bottle appeal.  On both counts, this is more than any other parish in the Diocese.  Over 1700 of you signed up for spiritual adoption of an unborn baby.  These were absolutely outstanding responses from our Parish.  Congratulations to all of you for your support and help.

   

But these are troubled times for Right to Life in America.  There was a change in government this year that brought a sweeping change in philosophy with it.  The philosophy confuses rights with wants.  Pro-choice, for example, confuses the wants of a mother, with the rights of an unborn child; and gay marriage confuses the wants of two gay people, with the right of a man and a woman to procreate. 

Not only that, we have become a victim to a mantra of “judge not, lest you be judged”  As an excuse for allowing and even sanctioning people’s so-called right to do what is morally wrong by Christian Standards.  But as we have shown earlier, there are moral absolutes:  Abortion and Euthanasia are wrong; marriage is for a man and a woman.  These are moral absolutes.  We are not judging people- that is up to God.  We are judging the morality of certain acts by the standards we are supposed to believe in, the standards in our Catechism; and we don’t want society to legislate morality that is counter to those standards. 

    

Now many of our current leaders, including so-called Catholics, are outspoken opponents of the Right to Life.  Several of them I can think of have publicly denied the teaching of the Church, claiming that they are following their consciences.  This is another argument one hears often-  that our consciences prevail over church laws and statutes.  After all, following God’s law is something that needs to come from the heart, and that’s what our consciences determine.  Indeed, the Catechism does advise us that we must be allowed to act in conformity with our conscience.  But there is an important catch, because the Catechism also says that our consciences must be informed and enlightened in moral judgment.  If one chooses to ignore or reject God’s law, than they have not properly formed their conscience.

What is most alarming about Catholic public officials opposing the Church’s teaching on Right to Life is the bad example it sets for other Catholics, and the impression it gives to greater society that the matter is open for debate in the Church.  In Church Canon Law, that is called causing scandal. That is why it is important for those of us who are committed Catholics to be heard, to make a correct moral judgment, and to speak out and validate the position of the Church. 

  

There are many ways that you can help.  Respect life is conducting a membership campaign- sign up and get involved.  They have access to many resources that can help you to get involved- for example, by writing your elected officials; by participating in programs that help people struggling with a decision on abortion; and by helping the marginalized and elderly.

Last but not least, there is a very easy way for you all to demonstrate your commitment to the Right to Life today.  Because from 1:30 PM to 3 PM today, we will be forming the Life Chain out on Apopka Vineland in front of the Church.  You are invited to be there.  Make it a memorable event, a massive demonstration for the Right to Life.  Fr. Ennis will be there, and so will I.  See you then.