The Stewardship of the Saints

Homily for All Saints Day, Year B
Revelation 7.2-4, 9-14 Psalm 24 1 John 3.1-3 Matthew 5.1-12a

St. Isidore of Madrid and his wife, St. Mary de la Cabeza, were farmers, diligently working the land where they lived as peasants in central Spain. They had one son who died very young, and had no children after him. Each day, before they went to the fields to work, Isidore and Mary would go to Mass at the parish church in their village. Their fellow farmers regularly accused them of neglecting their duties because of the time they spent in church. But this did not stop them; their faith came first, and their time spent in prayer guided everything else they did in their lives.

St. Rene Goupil studied medicine in Paris, France. When he heard that a group of Jesuit missionaries was traveling to the New World to minister among the Native Americans, he offered to accompany them in order to provide any necessary medical care along the way. He worked at a hospital in Quebec, Canada, and accompanied a Jesuit priest, Fr. Isaac Jogues, on his missionary journeys. Rene’s faith and medical skill went together; while ministering among the Hurons, he was once seen making a sign of the cross over a child’s head, a sign some of the Native Americans mistook for some kind of curse. He was captured, tortured, and eventually killed, becoming the first person martyred for the faith in North America.

St. Katharine Drexel was born in Philadelphia. Her father was a multimillionaire and the business partner of J.P. Morgan. Very early in life, Katharine and her two sisters were taught the importance of sharing what you have with others; several times a week, their mother would open up their kitchen to anyone who wanted to come to receive food and cooking supplies. When their father died in 1885, Katharine and her sisters inherited the family fortune, about $15 million dollars; today, the inheritance would be worth about $250 million. Six years later, Katherine began a missionary religious order to operate schools for African American and Native American children. Over a period of 60 years, she used more than $20 million dollars of the interest on her portion of the family fortune to open these schools and provide a Catholic education for children throughout the United States.

The example of these three saints can certainly inspire us. But today’s All Saints Day celebration is not just about them. Today, we remember and recognize all the nameless saints, the holy men and women of every age whose lives mirrored the life of Christ, whether they have officially been canonized by the Church or not. Today we remember St. Isidore the farmer and his wife St. Mary, who took time each day to go to Mass before work; but we also remember the elderly woman from our community who was confined to her home and could not attend Mass regularly but who spent her days praying the rosary and asking God’s blessings on her family, friends, and community. Today we remember St. Rene Goupil who used his skills as a doctor to minister as a missionary among the Hurons; but we also remember the retired teacher from our community who would volunteer his time each week to teach in his parish’s faith formation program. Today we remember St. Katharine Drexel and the gift she made of her inheritance in order to open schools throughout the country; but we also remember the married couple from our community who didn’t make a lot of money but still recognized that everything they had was pure gift and shared their treasure with others as generously as they could.

All Saints Day is about everyday Christians just as much as it is about the larger-than-life Christian witnesses who lived centuries ago. Because we are all called to be saints, we are all called to be holy, to make our lives a living expression of Jesus Christ, the one who came to serve, not to be served. We are all called to live the Beatitudes, to be poor in spirit, clean of heart, meek and merciful. For when we are like Christ, then we pray and hope that we will be made worthy to share the joy of the saints in heaven.