ALL Called to Be Saints with Christ Jesus – All Saints’ Day – 11/1/2023 – Fr. Chris Heller
On this holy feast, I always remember that jazz tune and lyric: “O when the saints, come marching in, O when the saints come marching in, I want to be there in that number, When the saints come marching in.”
It seems to me that this All Saints Gospel of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) is a perfect match: If you can think of a saint, she or he is linked to living one or more of the Beatitudes on a regular basis. It shouldn’t surprise us, since the Beatitudes is Jesus’ plan for Christian living, and therefore God’s Plan for Christian Living. Growing up, I was brought up knowing the 10 Commandments in my family of origin’s house, and I had to face the consequences when I didn’t obey them according to my parents!
But as Roman Catholic Christian adults, we know that the 10 commandments are just the beginning: we also have the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, in addition to the Beatitudes, to guide our daily living. Think of how inconsistent it would be if all these fine words in the 10 Commandments, Beatitudes and Works of Mercy were never acted on in life.It’s as unthinkable as people saying I Love You, but not actually loving each other in action.
So for today, I’m selecting two saints and will link them to specific Beatitudes in our Gospel. For openers, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” We now know that another way to say it is:“Blessed are those who freely admit that they need God: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In my mind, one of the greatest examples of those living this beatitude is St. Francis of Assisi: some people know Francis as a channel of God’s peace, and a lover of animals and creation.
And all those things are true. But Francis had a very specific mission and calling from Jesus: Jesus appeared to Francis and said, “Rebuild my church.” Francis first thought Jesus was talking about rebuilding church buildings; later Francis understood Jesus: Jesus wanted him to reform the Church’s heart, to become more spiritual and more rooted in the works of mercy daily. So, when did Francis have to admit he needed God? All the time, especially in two major areas: first, when his Franciscan religious brothers didn’t WANT to reform the church as Jesus was asking; and second, when Francis suffered with doubts about whether he was doing the right thing or not, and his battles with depression. It’s true: it was NOT easy for Francis: he was clinging to Jesus because his life depended on it!
The second saint beatitude is: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the sake of righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” For this Beatitude I think of St Gianna Molla, a pediatrician saint, wife and mom. I showed the parish some murals of St. Gianna from a church I visited over the summer in West Hartford, CT. Gianna was active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which works to help needy people. She also opened a clinic to serve poor people who could not afford to receive medical care. Gianna and her husband Peter had 4 children: Peter Louis, Marion, Laura and Emanuela. Gianna had her own share of sorrows: two additional pregnancies ended in miscarriages. But she couldn’t have known what was to come next.
After their third child was born, and early in her final pregnancy, doctors discovered that Gianna had both a child and a tumor growing in her uterus. She allowed the surgeons to remove the tumor, but not to perform the complete hysterectomy that they recommended, which would have killed the child, and would have been tantamount to an abortion. Seven months later, in April 1962, Emanuela was born, but post-operative complications resulted in an infection for her mother Gianna. The following week, Gianna died at home. That last child Emmanuela went on to become a physician herself. Gianna Molla was beatified in 1994, and canonized 10 years later. She is a pro-life saint, whose name marks our Diocesan Pro-Life offices in Rockville Centre. St. Gianna is a good example of someone who made sacrifices for others: she did what was holy and good, as her way of growing closer to God. May we also find our unique way to become saintly people, marked at the very core of our soul with the cross of Jesus, who gave His life for us all. Fr. Chris Heller
