WEBVTT 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:08.380 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:13.259 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Congratulate all the 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:19.600 fathers on this Father's Day. Godfathers. I congratulate 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:23.879 the newly baptized Carver Stephen and his family, 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:32.159 and Gabriel as his sponsor today. I congratulate 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.840 all the graduates. eighth grade to ninth grade, 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:43.780 from college and from high school. The graduates 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:49.259 have completed a long period of study. Now I 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:52.159 hope they look ahead to what they have learned 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.299 and to use that, hopefully, for the support of 00:00:57.299 --> 00:01:00.000 their family, for the support of their church, 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.380 for the support of the society they live in. 00:01:05.290 --> 00:01:09.390 In the church, we too have completed a course 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:13.769 of study. We began this course of study some 00:01:13.769 --> 00:01:18.329 time ago, actually 19 weeks ago, and there were 00:01:18.329 --> 00:01:23.329 certain goals in mind, which today we see in 00:01:23.329 --> 00:01:27.590 front of us on this feast day of all saints. 00:01:27.629 --> 00:01:30.170 So I congratulate all of you on your saint day 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:33.989 as well. We began that course, as I said, way 00:01:33.989 --> 00:01:38.299 back. I think it was 19 weeks ago before Lent 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:43.299 with the Sunday of the parable of the publican, 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:48.560 the tax collector, and the Pharisee. Each week 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.120 led us deeper and deeper into knowledge of who 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:54.299 we are, who Christ is, the meaning of repentance, 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:58.959 prayer, our salvation. Now, some of us might 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:02.629 have missed some of those Sundays. Some of us 00:02:02.629 --> 00:02:04.810 maybe did not have the time or the opportunity 00:02:04.810 --> 00:02:09.729 to meditate during the week and implement those 00:02:09.729 --> 00:02:14.610 lessons in our life. Some of us, like me, neglected 00:02:14.610 --> 00:02:20.189 to do that. The goal's given to us, but we get 00:02:20.189 --> 00:02:23.030 to do it next year. You know, Lent's going to 00:02:23.030 --> 00:02:26.009 come again. The NFL and Major League Baseball 00:02:26.009 --> 00:02:28.650 did not come up with spring training. The church 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:34.900 did. So we do it again in order to deepen our 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:40.759 relationship with Christ. So this is the Feast 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:45.560 of All Saints today. It brings us, Pentecost 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:51.800 does, brings us the fruit. If we receive the 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:54.699 Spirit, as I mentioned last week, the fruit of 00:02:54.699 --> 00:02:59.680 the Spirit is saints. It's saints, logically. 00:03:00.539 --> 00:03:04.719 And theologically, today is a Sunday of all saints, 00:03:04.819 --> 00:03:08.500 mostly martyrs, of course, because they are most 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:11.139 like Christ. They witness, they stand testimony, 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:17.199 they put their life on the line. They trust in 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.419 the Lord and the resurrection so absolutely and 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:23.719 completely. It's the martyrs that are most like 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:27.639 Christ. But there's men, there's women, there's 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:32.050 husbands, there's wives. There's children. Many, 00:03:32.270 --> 00:03:37.849 many, many children saints. Every kind. In other 00:03:37.849 --> 00:03:41.430 words, today we commemorate all saints from the 00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:45.689 beginning of time up to this present day. Saints 00:03:45.689 --> 00:03:48.310 that are known to us. The ones we have on the 00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:50.490 walls and the ones you hear about in the prayers. 00:03:51.050 --> 00:03:55.150 And the many millions more, perhaps more millions, 00:03:55.469 --> 00:04:01.889 that are unknown to us but known to God. So today's 00:04:01.889 --> 00:04:04.870 celebration is an invitation to enter in with 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:07.750 them, to be surrounded by this great cloud of 00:04:07.750 --> 00:04:10.050 witnesses, saints, says St. Paul in Hebrews, 00:04:10.229 --> 00:04:14.409 and to enter into their number, like that song, 00:04:14.689 --> 00:04:17.069 you know, when the saints come marching in, we 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:20.250 enter into their number. They are our brothers 00:04:20.250 --> 00:04:24.470 and sisters too. And we're equipped to do that 00:04:24.470 --> 00:04:29.329 by the Spirit. We're enabled to do that. And 00:04:29.329 --> 00:04:34.990 we're invited to do that. Pursue peace with all 00:04:34.990 --> 00:04:40.110 men, says the epistle to the Hebrews. And he 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:46.149 goes on and says, without holiness, no one will 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:50.889 see God. Without holiness, we shall not see the 00:04:50.889 --> 00:04:53.730 Lord. The word saint and the word holy, the exact 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:58.740 same word. Agios Otheos, holy God. St. Demetrius, 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:01.720 Agius Demetrius. In English they sound different, 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:04.439 but they're the same. Without holiness, we shall 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:07.300 not see God. Holiness is not something extra 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:14.420 added on to special people. It's what happens 00:05:14.420 --> 00:05:19.199 when you are united to Christ. We know what we 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.139 need to do, but we're lazy. We know what we need 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:28.459 to do because we've had 19 weeks of teaching, 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:32.459 of liturgies, of sermons, of hymns, of commemorations. 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:36.240 We know what we need to do. Our problem is not 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:40.060 ignorance. Our problem is usually spiritual laziness, 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:44.139 spiritual flabbiness. So let's look at what are 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:45.939 the characteristics of the saints. You've heard 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:50.639 today, Hebrews. The saints in times past did 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.199 all these things. You heard that. And then we 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.319 heard. Before that, the Beatitudes. Those are 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:00.240 the characteristics of the saints. Following 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.339 the words of the Lord we heard in the Gospel 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:05.600 today, perhaps the most challenging thing you're 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:11.240 going to hear all week, the saints love no one 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:15.560 more than they love Christ. And they live for 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:19.920 his love. This Gospel reading, as I said, offers 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:22.480 us one of the hardest sayings of Christ in the 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.620 entire Gospel of Matthew. But the saints love 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:31.240 God first. And that love is so strong and so 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:37.040 dedicated and so faithful and so energized by 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.899 the Holy Spirit and real. It makes every other 00:06:40.899 --> 00:06:48.220 love seem not like love. But what happens is 00:06:48.220 --> 00:06:51.180 every other love becomes healthy and balanced. 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:54.720 Because if you put love of yourself first, you 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.720 turn yourself into an idol. If you put love of 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.759 your family first before God, you turn them into 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.220 idols. If you put love of your children before 00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:07.259 God, you turn your child into your master, an 00:07:07.259 --> 00:07:12.439 idol. If you put land or money or anything before 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:17.639 God, it becomes what you serve. And we are all 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:21.620 going to serve, says that theologian Bob Dylan, 00:07:21.779 --> 00:07:27.560 somebody. So the saints place nothing and no 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:31.279 one above the one thing needful, Christ and the 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:34.360 fulfillment of the gospel precepts. The gospel 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:36.579 precepts, they know what they are. Let me give 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:39.920 you more characteristics. A saint has ongoing 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.879 repentance. It's not something that happens once. 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:50.670 Saint never blames anyone. Doesn't mean they 00:07:50.670 --> 00:07:53.930 blame themselves for everything. They understand. 00:07:54.149 --> 00:08:00.209 They're balanced. The saints never despair. The 00:08:00.209 --> 00:08:06.449 saints know the boundless love of God and his 00:08:06.449 --> 00:08:10.290 boundless mercy. The saints don't have envy. 00:08:11.110 --> 00:08:15.310 They're not jealous. They have no resentments. 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:19.750 They do not grumble. Bitterness is all gone. 00:08:20.610 --> 00:08:25.550 When I complain, when I grumble, when I act bitterly, 00:08:25.589 --> 00:08:31.069 the Spirit of God cannot dwell in me. I've chased 00:08:31.069 --> 00:08:39.490 him away. The saints don't have backup. The saints 00:08:39.490 --> 00:08:43.330 suffer. They suffer in their spirit over the 00:08:43.330 --> 00:08:46.429 suffering of others in the world. They suffer 00:08:46.429 --> 00:08:51.529 over injustice. They don't have anger and fists. 00:08:53.629 --> 00:08:57.309 They have tears, and they're on their knees. 00:08:59.649 --> 00:09:04.889 They mourn for the troubles and sorrows and sufferings 00:09:04.889 --> 00:09:08.789 of others. Brothers and sisters, let me submit 00:09:08.789 --> 00:09:12.169 to you. That there is not one thing in that list 00:09:12.169 --> 00:09:15.909 that each of us could try to attain. Not one 00:09:15.909 --> 00:09:21.049 thing that's too difficult. Let us try to do 00:09:21.049 --> 00:09:25.610 that. By prayer and repentance, the heart of 00:09:25.610 --> 00:09:28.929 the saint expands in order to embrace everything. 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:33.690 That we cannot do yet. We're too immature. But 00:09:33.690 --> 00:09:36.049 that's what the saints do. The saints leave all 00:09:36.049 --> 00:09:39.740 the judgment into God's hands. They always forgive. 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.360 They will always love their enemies. And they 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:47.379 have love, but they also have the truth. They're 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:50.899 not confused about reality, about the meaning 00:09:50.899 --> 00:09:53.980 of what it is to be a human, what it is to be 00:09:53.980 --> 00:09:56.500 a man, what it is to be a woman. They have no 00:09:56.500 --> 00:09:59.200 confusion about that because they know that God 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:04.399 has created us. They never harm anyone else in 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:11.679 the process. Of pursuing the truth. Maybe I can 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:13.879 summarize the characteristics of the saints. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:20.519 With one thing. One thing. The saints put God 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.279 first. That's what they do. They put God first. 00:10:25.059 --> 00:10:28.019 And all saints today. This feast is given to 00:10:28.019 --> 00:10:31.279 us as an antidote. The portrait of a saint. The 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:33.659 understanding his or her life. The child of God. 00:10:33.980 --> 00:10:39.679 Here is a portrait. Of me as I. could be as I 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:45.919 should be and I must be to acquire holiness. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.519 And let me just digress for just a half a second. 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:54.000 Allow me to mention just in passing that part 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.559 of what the Lord God has given to us is a sacred 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:59.879 responsibility for the building up of the body 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:04.519 of Christ. To parents and to their friends, to 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:08.559 godfathers, to godmothers, to all of us is the 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:11.740 care, the spiritual nourishment, and the education 00:11:11.740 --> 00:11:15.379 of our children to also become holy and to become 00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:19.179 saints, to be living, joyful, loving temples 00:11:19.179 --> 00:11:24.019 of the Holy Spirit. That can happen at home if 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:27.399 the home has that goal. It's not going to happen 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:30.500 in the seven hours a child spends at a public 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:36.159 school. Your influence has to be greater, which 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.919 means your prayers have to be deeper. Your repentance 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:43.200 has to be more ongoing. Your love of God has 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:50.600 to be more full. How quickly can a person become 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.830 holy? Let's ask that question. Because we think 00:11:54.830 --> 00:11:57.009 this is impossible, but really, brothers and 00:11:57.009 --> 00:11:59.590 sisters, they said, there's not one thing in 00:11:59.590 --> 00:12:02.110 that list of characteristics that each of us 00:12:02.110 --> 00:12:06.610 could try to acquire. But let's say we ask the 00:12:06.610 --> 00:12:09.049 question, how quickly can you become holy? How 00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:12.250 quickly can the grace of God enter your soul 00:12:12.250 --> 00:12:18.049 and absolutely change you? Well, picture yourself 00:12:18.049 --> 00:12:23.159 hanging on a cross. You spent your whole life 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:29.419 as a malefactor, as a thief. You're dying in 00:12:29.419 --> 00:12:32.600 punishment. Your whole life has been worthless. 00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:37.340 You've never got a good deal in your life, and 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:40.419 you've never done a good deed in your life. You've 00:12:40.419 --> 00:12:43.059 never kept the law. You've never done anything. 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:46.980 You've never done anything good. But beside you 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:51.450 hangs someone who has just said, Father, forgive 00:12:51.450 --> 00:12:56.250 them for they know not what they do. He prays 00:12:56.250 --> 00:13:00.269 for those who hate him. You've got beside you 00:13:00.269 --> 00:13:02.769 somebody who's clearly a servant of God, and 00:13:02.769 --> 00:13:06.509 you decide to put your trust in him with absolute 00:13:06.509 --> 00:13:12.809 conviction. Jesus, Jesus, remember me when you 00:13:12.809 --> 00:13:17.309 come in your kingdom. You see, one can become 00:13:17.309 --> 00:13:21.779 a saint that fast. Jesus, keep me in mind when 00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:24.240 you come in your kingdom. And at that very second, 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:27.440 when the thief believed in Christ with absolute 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:32.519 conviction, because God's grace poured the Holy 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:37.940 Spirit into his heart, he was baptized in his 00:13:37.940 --> 00:13:45.879 blood. The Lord is merciful. We have a church, 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:50.870 and we have a God. who is so merciful that the 00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:53.389 thief next to Christ can be saved, there's hope 00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:57.289 for the rest of us. But our time is short now. 00:13:58.429 --> 00:14:01.870 We have to acquire these things because holiness 00:14:01.870 --> 00:14:06.070 is not an extra item. Holiness is simply the 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:10.350 gift of the Holy Spirit living within you and 00:14:10.350 --> 00:14:13.669 guiding you and comforting you and guiding you 00:14:13.669 --> 00:14:16.830 unto all truth. And to our Lord, whom we must 00:14:16.830 --> 00:14:19.940 thank. for all that he has done for us, to make 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:23.320 saints that we are surrounded with. To him be 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:25.639 glory, now and ever, to ages of ages.