Reflection for 11/1/17 (All Saints' Day)

    As you know, in New Orleans, we are very proud of our high schools.  We have a great heritage of Catholic education that promotes pride in one’s school.  When people ask “Where’d you go to school?”, they are referring to your high school of choice, but in other parts of the country, “Where’d you go to school,” refers to your college…not your high school.  Wherever I go, I always wear my Rummel Alumni Pin, so that people I meet know without asking where I went.  And it ALWAYS sparks a conversation. 

    When it comes to sports, everyone has a favorite team—the Saints, the Pelicans, the Cubs, the Tigers.  And every group of fans has their particular team colors and their team logos and their chants.  On any given weekend, you can see people decked out in Black and Gold or Purple and Gold or Green and White, depending on who they are supporting that weekend.

    All of this is to say that we like to belong to a group.  As humans, it is natural for us to join together and band together with a common purpose.  We unite over the high schools of our choosing, we unite over our colleges, we unite over our favorite sports teams, we unite over our political preferences, … you name it, we will unite over it.  And we like to signify to the world that we belong to each of these different groups by outward signs.

    In today’s first reading from the book of Revelation, we heard the angel say, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”  The angel is not referring to any sports team or high school when he is speaking of his outward sign, rather the angel is speaking of the sign that marks people as a child of God—as Christians.  And this sign is no mere outward reality, this sign is a spiritual reality, a spiritual imprint on the soul, if you will.  Can anyone think of a spiritual imprint on the soul that marks us as Christians? — Baptism

    Through Baptism, we have all been marked by the blood of the lamb as chosen for God.  Through baptism we have received the very saving grace which God has destined for us, and through baptism we belong to the group of people united in Christ—the Church.  Unfortunately, however, not every person who has been marked by this spiritual sign actually keeps that sign visible in their lives.  Oftentimes, we hide the spiritual imprint of baptism through sin and temptation.  We give into those things which draw us away from God and make us enemies of him, and in the end, we hide our Christianity from the world.

    But we should not be content with hiding.  Imagine what the world would be like it every man, woman, and child who was baptized actually cared about displaying the signs of their baptism to others as much as we care to display the signs of our belonging to a group of sports fans or a particular high school or political group?  

    And what are the markings of Christianity, what is it that we need to do in order to signify to the world who we are?  It’s more than just wearing a cross around your neck or carrying a rosary in your hands, my brothers and sisters.  In our gospel today, our Lord spells it out for us in giving us the Beatitudes, which are the directions on how to live in this world as Christians.  

    Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”  We have to learn to be poor in spirit, this means that we have to be HUMBLE above all, recognizing always that we are servants of God and servants of one another.  We should never think ourselves greater than we are, otherwise we will never inherit the eternal kingdom.  “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  We have to be saddened by the reality of sin and injustice in the world, we cannot simply be OK with the evil that is around us, but we should mourn for the fact that we are sometimes responsible for contributing to the evil in society.  ”Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.  Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”  Do you actually HUNGER and THIRST for righteousness?  When was the last time you actually cared enough to do something about an injustice you have seen or an evil you have witnessed?  When was the last time you stood up in the face of bullying, when was the last time you defended someone from being made fun of, when was the last time you didn’t just turn your back on another?  When we hunger and thirst, we are motivated by a deep passion to actually change the situation, not just accept the status quo.  

    ”Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”  We have to show mercy to others to receive mercy from God.  We have to forgive if we ever wish to be forgiven, its as simple as that.  “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.”  Only the clean of heart will be able to look upon the face of God, isn’t this a scary thought?  Many people in today’s world give themselves over to lust and pornography and impure actions with others regularly, they are giving their hearts over to be defiled, and in so doing, they are forfeiting the opportunity to one day look upon the face of God in heaven.  But praise the Lord for the Sacrament of Confession and the opportunity to be cleansed regularly.  Just as we hopefully take a shower daily, we ought to regularly bathe the soul in the forgiveness of the Confessional.  

    ”Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”  Those of us who seek peace, those of us who fight for righteousness, those of us who believe in God and actually seek to do something about the injustices that we witness in the world, oftentimes will be persecuted and made fun of.  Just look at those people in politics who are interrogated for their Catholic, Christian beliefs.  But Jesus tells us that if we live faithfully according to these Beatitudes, then we will receive a greater reward in heaven for the suffering we endure on earth.

    Being a Christian is not easy, my friends.  Always giving witness to the world that we practice the faith we believe is not always fun, but it is worth it.  A little bit of suffering in this life is worth an eternity of reward in the life to come.  Let us all be Saints, and I am not speaking of the football team, but let us all be the saints that God is calling us to be in heaven.  Will people recognize that you belong to God based on your daily words and actions?  If not, then to whom do you belong?