Learning Patience and Preparation through Advent

Homily for 1^st Sunday of Advent Year C 2015

Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28,34-36

Introduction

None of us likes waiting.  We don't like waiting in line at the Post-Office, the Doctor's Office or the Motor Vehicle Office.  We don't like waiting in traffic, at the Black Friday sales, or getting on a plane.  When Children travelling on a long family trip keep asking "are we there yet," "are we there yet," they are speaking for us all.  We want things to happen by yesterday and not in the future.

And yet today we begin the season of Advent, which is basically a four weeks of waiting.  What are we waiting for and how we should wait?

Scripture and Theology

You know that you are in Advent when the first reading says: "The days are coming," says the Lord.  And the rest of the reading is in the future tense:

. . . I will fulfill the promise . . . .

I will raise up for David a just shoot ;

he shall do what is right and just . . . .

. . . Judah shall be safe

and Jerusalem shall dwell secure;

this is what they shall call her:

Jeremiah wrote these promises, these things about the future, for the Jews of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, a nation that had lost hope.

·        Their neighbour, the northern kingdom of Israel had already been destroyed by the Assyrian empire.  The people were taken into exile, scattered all over the empire, assimilated into the pagan populations, and to this day, have never returned; these are the ten lost tribes of Israel.

·        The southern Kingdom of Judah, have now also been conquered by the Babylonians and their capital Jerusalem has been overrun.  The people have all been taken into exile to become slaves, men, women and children.  They have lost their identity and their nation.  But most of all, they have lost hope that the Lord would come to rescue them, as he had promised.  Their punishment was taking too long.  Like the child in the car, they were tired of waiting and were asking: “are we there yet?”

Today's first reading is Jeremiah's answer to them.  That but soon and very soon, the Messiah would come and fulfil the promises of the Lord.

If Jeremiah wrote to the Jews waiting for the First Coming of the Messiah, Luke writes the gospel passage of today to Christians, who are tired of waiting for the Second Coming.  In the years following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the disciples believed that he would return within their lifetime.  But now it was about 50 years, but Jesus had not yet returned.  The waiting is too long and they are losing patience.  The Christians are also asking: “Are we there yet?”

Like Jeremiah did for the Jews, Luke also renews the hope of the Christian community by recalling what Jesus had said about his return.   Jesus had warned Christians to be vigilant and prepared, so that his return would not catch them unawares.  In particular he warned them against becoming "drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life," conditions that would lead them to be caught unawares. Basically Luke tells Christians to focus not so much on the "when" of his return and but rather on being prepared.

When I go to my doctor's office, the average wait-time is about an hour or two. And so I go prepared with a book to read or some work on the laptop.  Sometimes, I spend the time chatting with my fellow patients in the waiting room.  When they see I am a priest, they often have lots of questions, lots of ideas to share.  And eventually when the doctor sees me, he treats me like I am his only concern in the world.  The treatment is really worth the wait.

Christian Life

For us too, the waiting of Advent, will perhaps be bearable if keep our eye on the goal, what awaits us at the end.  Let me suggest three goals for this season of Advent: an immediate goal, an intermediate goal and a long-term goal.

Advent prepares us to celebrate the First Coming of the Jesus into this world at Christmas.  During these four weeks of the Advent season, we have many tools to help us focus our minds on celebrating what Jesus did when he first came.

·        There is the Advent wreath, the empty manger and the Jesse tree, all preparing us for the birth of the Lord at Christmas.

·        We also have some customs for the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6, the feast of St. Lucy on December 13th and of course the feasts of Our Lady on December 8 and on December 12.

·        Even at Mass, you will notice a few Advent things: the vestments are of penitential colour of purple, we don’t sing the Gloria – the song sung by the Angels when they announced the Lord's birth to the shepherds, and the wreath has five candles which we keep lighting one by one until Christmas Day when we light the big white candle in the middle.

It is unfortunate that today, even some Catholics completely skip over Advent.  We move from 

Thanksgiving straight on to Christmas, without the preparation of Advent.  Is it any wonder then, that sometimes Christmas feels empty?  As we try to keep Christ in Christmas, can we first try to keep Advent in Advent?

But Advent also has a long-term purpose, preparing us for the Second Coming of the Lord.  Luke and all the other New Testament writers were not writing about preparing for Christmas; it is the Second Coming they were writing about.

If you think about it, our focus for Advent should be the Second Coming, because at that time, our eternal fate will be determined.  Like Jeremiah encouraged the Jews to wait for the first coming of the Messiah, his words should encourage us to wait in hope and expectation for the Second Coming.  Unlike the first Christians, we seem to have given up on waiting at all, perhaps because it has been two thousand years.

Our waiting must be like that of the child who just can't wait to get to their destination.  I am sure that most parents would rather have their child repeatedly asking “are we there yet,” rather than sitting in back with the ipod or DVD earphones in their ears, oblivious to what else is going on during the trip, much less where they are going, or even sulking for going on this journey.  That is why our waiting must be filled with actions of love for God and for our neighbour, as St. Paul told us in today's second reading.  In that way, when the Lord comes, he will find us at work.

Conclusion

The third purpose of Advent is intermediate and is the fruit of preparing for the First and Second Comings of the Lord.  In a world that is always in a hurry, that lacks patience, celebrating Advent well allows us to develop the virtue of patience.

Have you observed how at the airport, people just cannot wait to get onto the plane?  And then as soon as the plane lands, everybody jumps and wants to get off, even the person in row 35 way at the back? Even here in Church, sometimes we just can't wait to leave even before Mass ends. 

If we can learn to wait patiently for Christmas and if we can learn to think about the end times in a healthy manner, perhaps we can live the present life with patience and make living life itself meaningful.

May this Advent, by teaching us to wait for the Lord at the end of time, make us more patient to one another.

Christ – a King whose Truth sets us free

Homily for Christ the King Sunday Year B 2015

Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33-37

Introduction

Why "Christ the King" Sunday?  Aren't kings out of fashion?

·        Kings remind us about oppression, brutality, unfair taxes.  Just think of the bad kings of the Bible like Ahab!  Or the kings of the Middle Ages! Or King George of England, against whom this country fought for its independence!

·        The only royalty we seem to keep around are the fake kings: The Prom King and Queen, the Mardi Gras Kings, Rex and Zulu, and of course the King of Rock and Roll.

If kings today are either villains or comedians, why call Christ a King?

But I think we are going about this the wrong way.  Instead of seeing the kingship of Christ through the lens of these imperfect kings, we should start from Jesus Christ himself, the standard of what a true king is.

Scripture and Theology

In today's gospel, when Pilate interrogates Jesus about his kingship, he not only reveals that he is a king, he also reveals two important qualities of his kingship.

·        First, he says, "My kingdom does not belong to this world." His Kingdom is a spiritual one.  He is not the kind of King we know, one with armies, courtiers and servants.  His Kingdom is in heaven, where as Daniel said, he presides over "all peoples, nations, and languages."

·        Secondly, Jesus says that he is a King who has come to testify to the truth.  "For this I was born and for this I came into the world . . ." he says.  Speaking God's truth is so important for his kingship and his kingdom, that he is even ready to die for it.  Those who don't like the truth of the gospel that he teaches will condemn him to be killed on the cross.  But those who listen and act on his truth will become a part of his Kingdom.

If we need the Kingship of Christ all the time, a spiritual Kingship of truth, we need his kingship even more in times of crisis.  That is what both our first reading from Daniel and our second reading from Revelation do, during a time of crisis.  They both point to Christ as the true King who brings hope and victory.

·        Daniel was written during the reign of King Antiochus who desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem.  He forced the Jews to adopt pagan customs and to abandon the Law of Moses. Those who resisted were tortured and killed.  Daniel writes to the Jews to give them hope and assure them that this evil will be pass, because a Redeemer will come in the future. He writes: “I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven.”  We Christians believe that this Son of Man is Jesus Christ.

·        The Book of Revelation, for its part was written when Christians were facing fierce persecution from the Roman Emperor. Like the Jews of Daniel's time, many were being arrested and killed, while others were driven underground. This book is therefore written, especially for the underground Church – that is why it speaks in symbols or secret codes that would be understood only by the Christians.   Revelation also points these suffering Christians to the Christ, as the King who will save them.

Christian Life

This feast of Christ the King, is therefore, not about a tyrant with too much power or a comical King with no power.  Christ King has true power, the Truth and the key to Heaven.  This feast could not have come for us at a more opportune time.

·        As faithful Christians in this country and in the world, we are facing much persecution for our beliefs and practices.

·        As peace-loving citizens in this country and in the world, we are facing terrorist threats to our way of life, as happened in France last week and in the West-African country of Mali this past week, and all over the world.

Like Daniel and Revelation pointed to Christ, as the solution for their crises, should we not look to Christ the King to guide us, as we deal with our crisis?  Christ can be our King today, if we listen to and live by the truth, which he teaches, truth that can guide our response to this crisis.

In 1993, only two years after Nelson Mandela had just been released from prison, one of the top black leaders, Chris Hani, was assassinated.  At a time of very delicate relations between Blacks and Whites in South Africa, this assassination was the catalyst extremists on both sides needed to start a full blown civil war.  But Mandela, not even president yet, just a respected leader of his people, went on radio, and appealed for calm.  And he made his appeal, not using ideology, prejudice, or emotion, but simply the truth.

First he acknowledged that the prejudice and hate in the white man, who had killed Hani had left the nation teetering on the brink of disaster.  But then he quickly reminder his black listeners, that the criminal had been immediately arrested, because a white woman had risked her life and called the police, so that the assassin would be brought to justice.  And he went on to appeal to his people, that despite their pain, grief and outrage, they must exercise restraint, discipline and courage.  And most people in South Africa believe that this one address of Mandela, perhaps singlehandedly averted a national disaster, and paved the way for peaceful elections and the end of apartheid.

Today as we fear for our nation and our children, in our search for security and for justice, we too must not set aside the truth, even for a moment.  As Christians we must remember what Jesus teaches us: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:31-32).

I am always proud to be a Catholic, but I could not have been prouder this week, when in a sea of illogical, prejudicial, hateful noises, perhaps among the few voices of reason and truth were our Catholic bishops, both at home and abroad.

Immediately after the savage atrocity in Paris, the Archbishop of Paris, appealed to Catholics and others, to respond in a Christ-like manner.  He said:

Faced with the violence of men, may we receive the grace of a firm heart, without hatred.  May the moderation, temperance and control that has been shown so far, be confirmed in the weeks and months to come; let no one indulge in panic or hatred.  We ask that grace be the artisan of peace.  We need never despair of peace if we build on justice.

Our own Archbishop of New Orleans, reading from the same song-sheet, the gospel of Jesus Christ, called for the same balanced response that does not condemn people just because of their nationality and religion.  He reminded us of what Pope Francis said to Congress about this kind of situation, when he said:

To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject. Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice.

Conclusion

Jesus said of himself: "My kingdom does not belong to this world" (Jn. 18:36).   He said the same thing about us Christians: "They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world" (John 17:16).

And so, while we share the fears and hopes, the sorrows and joys of our fellow citizens of this world, as true followers of Jesus we are in this world, but we are not of this world.  We must strive to conform our thoughts and values, our words and actions, to Kingdom thoughts and values, Kingdom words and actions.

Especially in times of darkness, our light must shine before men, and seeing our good works, they will give glory to Christ our King (Mt. 5:16).

The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell

Homily for Ordinary Time – 33^rd Sunday Year B 2015

Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14,18; Mark 13:24-32

Introduction

In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes, so said Benjamin Franklin.

With all due respect to Franklin, Catholics have a lot more to expect than death and taxes.  Catholic tradition teaches Four Last Things that are certain and about which today's readings speak: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.

Scripture and Theology

The first one, death, brings an end to human life as we know it.  At death we come to the end of that time, which God gives us to either accept or reject his love in Christ (CCC 1021).  The time while we are on earth is the time to choose, to be with God or against him.  In fact, that is the only reason God created us, to share his love with us, so that we can then love him back in this life and in the life to come.  With death, this opportunity of choosing ends.

That is why the second thing is judgment, when we are judged on the choices we have made before our death.  There are two kinds of judgments that await us: the Particular Judgment we receive immediately after we die and the Last Judgment that will come at the end of time.

1.    In the Particular Judgment right after we die, we are rewarded immediately in accordance with our faith and works.  In parable of Lazarus, for example, as soon as the poor man dies, he is judged and found worthy and therefore rewarded with a place in the bosom of Abraham in heaven.  The rich mean man, however, is judged and found unworthy and is therefore punished with a place in the fires of hell.

2.    The Last Judgment will come at the end of time, when Christ will return and assume kingship of the whole universe.  Jesus describes this judgment in the story of the sheep and goats, when he will separate the sheep to one side and the goats to other.  The sheep will be those who were kind to him in the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and prisoners, while the goats ignored him.  This Last Judgment will restore the world to God and reveal to us the ultimate meaning of God's plan (CCC 1040).

And so death brings about judgment and at judgment God assigns a place of final abode, Heaven or Hell, depending on how we lived.

The Bible describes Hell as a place of fire, perhaps because being burnt is one of the things we human beings fear most.  It is a place of punishment for those who rejected God; the punishment is essentially that one is cut off from God.  As much as he wishes that everyone would go to heaven, Jesus warns that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire," (Mt 13:41-42) and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!’ (Mt 25:41)” (CCC 1034).

As for heaven, the Bible describes it in terms of a beautiful paradise, a lavish banquet, astounding garden.  These marvelous images of heaven are really trying to describe the indescribable.  How could you describe life with God, true happiness (CCC 1024)?  In heaven we get to fulfill our destiny and live as God created us to be, sharing in his life and love forever.

And so for Catholics, the four Last Things that are certain in life are Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.

But actually only three of them will affect each us personally.  While death and judgment await us all, our final destination will either be heaven or hell, depending on how we have lived our lives.

Christian Life

Unfortunately some Catholics have further reduced these four things to just two: death and heaven.  They keep death because it is unavoidable; but they assume that heaven has an open door policy with no cover charge or requirement.  They ignore judgment and hell, because they are too unpleasant to speak about.

And then those who do not believe in God have reduced the Last Things to just one, death – because it is inevitable.

If April is the month that reminds us about the taxes that Franklin spoke about, November is the month that reminds us about death and these Last Things.

·        Coinciding as it does with the season of Fall, November has nature adding its gloomy reminder of death in the shedding of falling leaves.

·        Some of us began this month by celebrating Halloween, the secular holiday of the condemned dead, who have failed to make it to heaven.

·        But most of us began this month by celebrating All Saints Day, the Catholic holiday of the blessed dead, who have made it to heaven

·        On November 2^nd, we then celebrated All Souls Day, praying for the faithful departed, who are still on their way to heaven, having made a brief detour in purgatory, to take care of some unfinished business.

It is no wonder then, that the readings of November should remind us of the Last Days and help us to face our own mortality and what is beyond it.

The ominous things that we heard about in the readings are not meant to scare us, especially in view of what happened recently in Paris and elsewhere in the world.  The readings are simply reminding us to set our sights on what will count in the final analysis, life with God.  We should respond to this message not in fear and despair, but in hope and readiness.  Let these last things frame the way we live.  Just like any student goes about his studies with the final exam in mind, so should we also live our lives in view of these four Last Things, that will surely come.  If we let these things frame the way we live today, we will focus on what is really important in the wider scheme of things, like faith in God and love of neighbor, rather than merely focusing on our own passing pleasures and our earthly well-being.

When I was learning Spanish, I missed class during the lessons on the future tense.  And so, when I speak the little Spanish that I know, I cannot express myself well concerning things of the future.  I say things like, "tomorrow I celebrate Mass," "next year, I visit my mother to Uganda."  Unfortunately,  I can't use the future tense in Spanish.  But our Christian lives cannot live just in the present tense; they must consider the future tense, the Last Things that will come. 

Perhaps we will be more faithful Christians if we realize that this life of ours is not the real thing, but is only a temporary passage; the real thing awaits us in heaven.  The inadequacy of our lives here on earth, even the best lives of those who have it all, should tell us that this surely cannot be all that life is; there must be much more.  That is what God in his Son Jesus has revealed to us and invited us to be a part of.

Conclusion

You perhaps remember those long road trips you took as a family for vacation or to visit the grandparents.  Your kids kept shouting from the back seat: “are we there yet? are we there yet?”  Of course when asked every five minutes, these questions can be annoying.  But there is something to be said for this enthusiasm of children, who look forward to where they are going, the destination.

May our reflection on the Last Things, make us as enthusiastic about where we are going, about heaven, the destination prepared for us by God.  And may this enthusiasm for heaven push us to begin living today with one another, the kind of love we hope to share with God in heaven forever and ever.

It is the thought that counts

Homily for Ordinary Time – 32nd Sunday Year B 2015

1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

Introduction

Remember when your five-year-old daughter gave you a Mother's Day card, one she made from scrapbook paper?  She wrote on it with crayons, spelled the word "mother" wrong, and drew a picture of you that looked like an alien.  But because you knew who made that card and why she made it, you received the card, like it was the most expensive card Hallmark ever made; it is the thought that counts!

That is what we say to indicate that the kindness behind an action, is what matters, even if the action itself is imperfect or small.

Scripture and Theology

And so, that is why Jesus also praises poor widow who put only two coins in the collection plate at the Temple.  These coins probably amounted to very little money.  But while other donors gave from their surplus wealth, she gave from her poverty all that she had; it is the thought of total self-gift that counts.

This action of complete self-giving was also carried out by another widow, the widow we heard about in the first reading.  She gave to the Prophet Elijah her very last supply of food.  Her meal probably could not compare to the fine dining at the restaurants we have in New Orleans.  But because she gave completely, everything she had, she was rewarded by God, with food to last her the whole period of the famine.  Her action was small, but the thought behind it was great.

But the one really puts this message into action is Jesus himself.  He does not give two coins or the last morsel of food like the two widows, but he gives his very life on the cross.  Sometimes we think of the sacrifice of Jesus as being the physical suffering that he endured; but his true sacrifice, his true gift was giving himself completely for the life of the world.  Many people before him died for God; many people after him gave up their lives for God.  But only he died, without having to do so, so that he might give life to the world.  And so when Jesus tells the story of the widow, he is not really talking about her; he is foretelling what he himself is going to do, to give all that he has, his human life for the life of the world.

And so, the message of today's readings is rather simple.  By his own example and by the example of the widow, Jesus asks his disciples to give of themselves completely.  But if we are to give completely, we must some thought into what we give, whether what we give is big or small.  And especially if all we have to give is just a little, if it is accompanied by much thought, then it will count just as much.

Christian Life

As Christians, we put this message into action, when we give to God and to our fellow human beings.

What do we give to God?  Our main gift to God is our prayers of praise and thanksgiving.  But what value do these prayers have, coming as they do from us, unworthy human beings?  After all God is almighty and has everything; he does not really need our worthless words and actions of praise.

·        God is like that wealthy friend or relative of yours, who has it all!  When their birthday comes around, you think, "what I can I get them?"  After giving it some thought, perhaps like me you go to the Dollar Store and pick out a rather humorous Greeting Card that speaks to them particularly.  And when you give it to your friend, they look beyond the fact that the card cost just a dollar, laugh their hearts out and they know that you truly love them.

·        God is like that person who gives you a truly expensive gift and all you can do to thank them is to say thank you and write them a "Thank-You" card.

And so, although God has no need of our praise and thanksgiving, although our praises add nothing to his greatness (Common Preface IV), yet we still worship him, to show our devotion and earns our salvation.

That is why we must think about the prayers we recite and the hymns we sing.  Jesus tells his disciples: "In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words" (Mt. 6:7).  Instead he wants us to put some thought in our prayer.  What are we really saying to God?  If we think about what we are saying or singing and it comes from our hearts, these poor words will be like the two coins of the poor widow.  They will give please our Father in heaven, because like your daughter's hand-written card, they will come from the heart.

That is why we must put some thought in the things we use to worship God, our churches, our altars, our vestments.  In the Old Testament, the prophets over and over again condemn the sacrifices of the Israelites as being unworthy.  The Prophet Malachi asks: "When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is there no wrong in that? When you offer a lame or sick animal, is there no wrong in that?" We Christians must do better.

I have had the opportunity celebrate Mass in all kinds of places; at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, at various beautiful churches here in the Archdiocese of New Orleans including this very church, as well as on a rickety coffee table under a mango tree in my home country of Uganda.  Which of these Masses was most pleasing to God?  I believe that all three Masses please God, if the worship they give God is the best that they have.  Even that small village community in Uganda, without the beautiful churches and ornaments found elsewhere, as long as they give their best coffee table as the altar and their best wild flowers for the decorations, please God when they worship him in this way.

And so, our Mass cannot be just another social gathering, but must be a well-thought out heartfelt prayer of thanks and praise to God.

Besides God, we also practice total self-gift when we give to needy brothers and sisters of Jesus, our fellow human beings.  Even when we give to fellow human beings, our thought must be substantial enough to count.

For example, the Christmas season is coming up.  Some of us will wrestle with deciding what gifts to give our family members.  We want to give them not just something that fulfils the obligation, but something that they will appreciate or at least something that they need. I remember once giving the same gift to a friend two years in a row; just because she now had two of the same thing did not make my gift any better.  Putting some thought into the gift-giving process could have spared me the unnecessary embarrassment.

I know a family, who plan how they give to charity.  They dedicate a portion of their family budget to charity.  But they go a step further and do some research, to find out who will most benefit from what we give.  Some of their donations go to their church, some to charities that care for the needy, some to the missions and some to needy individuals that they encounter.  Putting some thought into their giving makes sure that it counts, that it does good to others, that it changes lives and does not simply placate their hearts.

Conclusion

This week we celebrate Veterans Day.  In our veterans we celebrate the lives of men and women who have given all they had for their country and nation.  Some of them have been maimed physically or scarred psychologically by the experience of giving all that they had.

May the veterans, the widows of today's readings, the example of Jesus, inspire us to actions of giving to God and neighbour without counting the cost.

And may the thought behind our giving to God never be mediocre but whole-hearted; may the thought behind what we give to our fellow human beings never be stingy but generous.

We are all called to be saints!

Homily for All Saints 2015

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12A

Introduction

I remember a story my former bishop once told on All Saints' Day.  He was a young priest and had just completed graduate studies at a prominent university in New York and was returning home to Uganda.  After congratulating him on his success, an elderly nun told him: “Father, although you now have acquired a prestigious academic title, there is still one more title that you need to get.”

“Which one,” the young priest asked?  “Monsignor?”

“No,” the nun replied.

“Bishop, Archbishop?”

“No.”

“Well, it must be Pope,” the anxious young priest said.

“No, Father” said the nun.  “The title that you still need to add behind your name is “Saint, Saint Denis.”

How right sister was!  We Christians, indeed all human beings are called to become saints.  That is what we celebrate today, when were remember all the saints, so many unnamed men and women, perhaps even people we’ve known.

And so, in my homily today, I would like to reflect briefly on sainthood by answering three questions: (1) Who are saints?  (2) How do we become saints? (3) When do we become saints?

Who is a saint?

And so, who is a saint?  One of the Catholic elementary schools in the area celebrates "All Saints Day" by having the students pick and dress up like a saint.  Parents and parishioners come to the school throughout the day to see the kids dressed up as saints and to learn about the saints.  But a few years ago some kids misunderstood the instructions of the teacher; and so they showed up dressed as Drew Brees, Mark Ingram and other New Orleans Saints players.

But the saints we are talking about today are different.  Our first reading from Revelation described them as: “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.”  We heard that: “They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.”  The saints are companions of God; they are friends of God; they live with God, praising him day and night.  They are not like the spirits of Halloween who have lost their way; the spirits of the saints have made it to heaven, and are enjoying the life and light of God.

How do we become saints?

How then do we become saints?  How do we become friends of God?  How do ensure our admission into heaven?

Like our own New Orleans Saints, we have to sign up and we have to work hard.  We sign up for sainthood through the sacrament of baptism and we work hard by living our lives according to God’s laws.

Like the football team has to practice hard for several hours a day, our journey to heaven is equally demanding.  Jesus, the coach wants us to be perfect just as his heavenly father is perfect, if we are to get a place on the heavenly team.  Thank God, in his teaching, Jesus gives us tips on how to train and be ready.

In the Old Testament God gave us the Ten Commandments, to guide our relationship with God and that with our fellow human beings.  In fact, when the Rich young man asks Jesus how he can attain eternal life with God, Jesus first tells him to observe the Ten Commandments.  But for Jesus these Ten Commandments are not enough.

In the New Testament Jesus gives us another list, the Beatitudes that we have just heard in the gospel.  While the Ten Commandments are phrased in the negative, telling us the bad things to avoid, the Beatitudes of Jesus give us positive commandments, telling us what good we must do, if we want to earn a place on the heavenly starting team.

·        Jesus will count us among the Blessed in heaven because while on earth we were poor in spirit, because we mourned, because we were the meek.

·        He will count us among the Blessed in heaven because we hungered and thirsted for righteousness, because we were merciful, because we were clean of heart; that is why shall see God in heaven.

·        Jesus will count us among the children of God in heaven because we were peacemakers, because we were persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and because we were insulted and had every kind of evil uttered falsely against us because of his name.

And so, just like it takes hard work and practice for a young man to eventually wear the Black and Gold jersey, so it takes hard work and practice, always with God’s help, to earn one of those white jerseys the saints in heaven wear.  The book of Revelation told us that the saints are "the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."  They have followed the Lord’s way faithfully until the end.

When do we become saints?

We have seen who the saints are – friends and companions of God.  We have seen how to become saints – by observing the commands that God has given us to follow.  The final question then is: when do we become saints?

Up to this point we might get the idea that becoming saints is something waiting to happen out there in the future.  But actually we are saints even now, as soon as we take the first step of the journey at our baptism. 

At the beginning of virtually all his letters, Saint Paul addresses the Christians as the “Holy Ones” or “Saints” (2 Cor 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 1:19; Acts 16; Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2).  He does this to acknowledge the work that God is already doing in them.  Even Saint John in today's second reading tells us: "Beloved, we are God’s children now;"  In other words as Christians we are already friends of God. John then goes on to say: "what we shall be has not yet been revealed.  We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."  We begin the journey to sainthood here and we shall complete it in heaven.

Yes, we are also sinners.  But what is a saint, if not a reformed sinner or a sinner on the journey to heaven? When we sing about the saints marching on to victory, we are only singing about our daily efforts to finish the journey of sharing life with God, only partially now but fully in heaven.

Conclusion

Our journey to sainthood might be helped, if saints were part of our lives, not just on All Saints Day, but throughout the year.  Instead of turning to celebrities as our role models, why not turn to the saints?  Let me suggest two ways:

First, we could return to the practice of naming our children after saints, much like we dress them up in the jersey of their favorite Saints' player.   What better way to usher a child into life, than by giving them a personal saint, someone they can imitate, but also someone who prays for them to become saints.

Second, in the Catholic calendar, every day of the year is assigned one or more saints.  For example, my patron saint Deogratias is assigned March 22.  Perhaps as we look for gifts for our children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, besides the Xbox, we should consider giving them a Book of Saints, as we pick up one for ourselves.  Then each day, we can read up about one man or woman, who has travelled the journey before us.  From this book or from a phone app, we might just pick up one or two tips on how to make it all the way to heaven.