Sunday Homily, November 1, 2015, All Saints
Readings:
Revelation 7, 2-4, 9-14, I, John, saw another angel.
Psalm 24, Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
1 John 3, 1-3, See what love the Father has bestowed on us. Instead of this reading, we will have a special poem for All Saints.
Matthew 5, 1-12, Blessed are the poor in spirit.
'Welcome in, Everybody,' say Victoria, Michelle, and Cathy.
Intro: 3 feasts—
All Saints: (or All Hallowes) those who have achieved the beatific vision according to the Catholic Church. Plus, saints are canonized based on miracles.
All Souls: those who have not achieved the beatific vision and are considered paying for their sins in purgatory. Limbo has been abandoned by the Catholic Church and purgatory is in question.
Hallowe’en: the vigil of All Hallowes, a Celtic-Irish harvest, end of summer celebration.
A Happy Birthday Cupcake of The Week to Karen.
The Western Catholic Church:
4 significant dates, 300, 600, 700, & 800
Year 300: during this century the early Christians, reeling from persecution, celebrated feast of All Martyrs. This is really the foundation of the feast.
Year 600: a Pope Boniface dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to Mary & All Martyrs. May 13 was the celebration because it was also an ancient pagan day of celebration.
Year 700: a Pope Gregory set up in St. Peter’s Basilica a side chapel dedicated to All Saints.
Year 800: Dec. 25, Charlemagne is crowned Emperor by the Pope on the red stone in St. Peter’s. Charlemagne, an advocate of All Saints, established it on Nov. 1, coupling it with a Harvest Feast.
Sources: Practicing Catholic by James Carroll, Catholic Encyclopedia on line, Wikipedia.
Happy Birthday to you, Rob.
The Second Reading:
SMILE BECAUSE THEY LIVED
You can shed tears because your love is gone
Or you can smile because your love lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that your love will come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all that your love has left.
Your heart can be empty, because you can’t see your love
Or you can be full of the love that you have shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow
And live in yesterday,
Or you can be happy for tomorrow
Because of yesterday.
You can remember only that your love has gone
Or you can cherish the memory and let it live on.
You can weep, and close your mind,
Be empty and turn back,
Or you can do what your love would want –
Open your eyes, smile, love and go on.
For lighting the candles, Cole, A Cupcake of The Week. Enjoy.
All of You, Saints
This morning I would like to talk about All Saints, and, in particular, some of our saints. I have a group, an individual, and another group. I would like to talk about all three. These are the old geezer priest's observations.
First of all, the group. This is the group Rosemary and I see every Monday evening at the Farmers Branch Senior Center. Dance night.
Our pet gorilla, dressed in holiday attire, also says, "Welcome, Folks."
Last Monday Rosemary & I discovered when we arrived that Halloween was being celebrated. And talk about celebrating. You would have been knocked out at the costumes some of these people put together. I had not a clue who some of them were.
One lady struck me. Rosemary & I were dancing when I notice her coming in at the other end of the ballroom. She was all dressed up and was pushing what I thought was a baby pram. So maybe she has a doll or even a puppy in there. But no, as we got closer I discovered that it was, in fact, a walker for her.
Our Saints.
This really touched me. She cannot dance, but she can dress up and join the party. I last saw her talking to all sorts of people.
There are two other people who really touch me on dance night. One lady, Janice, is blind, and has been blind for a dozen years, but can she dance! I have danced with her a couple of times. I always come in and tell her I want a Janice hug. She knows me by my voice.
Our Saints.
The other person is a guy 96 years old. He cannot dance, but he tries. He flew heavy bombers during the Second W.W. A line dance is scheduled every Monday evening at about the same time, 7:30, and I can see him lined up, getting behind the beat and even getting turned around. But he always gets out there.
These folks, living life to the fullest, are saints for me.
Our Saints.
Secondly, a good friend of mine, Jim Miller, whom many of you would recognize because he always joined us for Christmas Eve and Easter. He loved the community. Just could not get up for 9:30.
His wife, Jan, sent me a note Thursday night saying Jim wanted to see me and that he was not doing well. We have a custom of sharing lunch every other month or so. Because of that, I knew he was getting treatment for cancer. He seemed pretty confident.
John, who is that masked person? Are you not scared?
I did not get his wife’s message until late Thursday evening and waited to call her Friday after 8:00, thinking she would be up & active by then. When I got her, she was in tears and said that Jim had just died. He even told her he was disappointed I had not been contacted sooner so I could have visited him.
Jim, who was a proud graduate of the Naval Academy and a questioner, was a saint for me.
Why, that's Leo. Just in time to share your birthday cupcake, yes! Happy Birthday.
Thirdly, I would say this group of people. You people are saints to me. After all, you put up with me every week, and even Rosemary. The old geezer priest knows this stuff.
So, how does it feel to be told you are a saint?
And who is your favorite saint?
The Best, Shonda, Bethany, & Ray.