(Solemnity of All Saints 2022: This homily was given on November 1, 2022 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; Psalm 24:1-6; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: All Saints 2022]
According to some Catholics, what do these 5 things have in common? ...
1. Backing into another car in the St. Pius X parking
lot
2. Knocking over a glass of wine at the dinner table
3. Dialing the wrong phone number
4. Leaving the turkey in the oven for too long on
Thanksgiving Day and burning it
5. Getting to heaven
The answer is: According to some Catholics, these are all things which
happen by accident!
But the truth is, the first four may happen accidentally from time to time—but getting to heaven is never, ever an accident! It doesn’t just happen automatically at the moment of death. Getting to heaven is by grace and by choice! The grace comes from Jesus Christ and his passion, death, and resurrection. Without that grace, no one can enter the Lord’s kingdom. The normal way to receive that grace (at least initially) is through the sacrament of Baptism.
But that’s only half the story. To get to heaven we must make the choice to be faithful to our baptismal call, by living in faith and in love. And this is why getting to heaven is not an accident: it’s because living a life of faith and love is not an accident! It requires a conscious decision—a conscious daily decision.
Isn’t it interesting that the Gospel of All Saints’ Day—the day we honor all those who are already in heaven—isn’t it interesting that this Gospel recounts for us the Beatitudes? The Beatitudes are all about making the choice to live a virtuous, holy life centered on God. For example, “Blest are they who show mercy;” “Blest are the peacemakers;” “Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness;” “Blest are those persecuted for holiness’ sake.” People show mercy by choice (and most of the time, let’s face it, it’s not an easy choice!); they work for peace by choice; they hunger and thirst for holiness by choice; they put up with persecution for holiness’ sake by choice. The Beatitudes show us the virtues that get us—and keep us—on the road to heaven. But the Beatitudes are not easy to live! Which obviously means that no one lives them by accident.
In today’s second reading from 1 John 3, the apostle tells us that “we are God’s children now [through baptism, but] what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him [like Jesus], for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he [Jesus] is pure.” St. John is talking there about our eternal destiny; but notice that he calls it a hope; and notice that he attaches a condition to the fulfillment of the hope, namely purity! [Please tell this to those who think they can indulge in pornography and illicit sexual activity—without repenting—and still enter the kingdom of God after they die.] According to St. John, if a person really has the hope of heaven in his heart, he will choose to be pure in thought, word and deed. And, of course, if he happens to commit a serious sin of impurity somewhere along the way, he will then choose to repent and go to confession, so that he can be purified by the Blood of the Lamb and put back on the road to the kingdom.
Jesus said in Matthew 7, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.” The people St. John saw in today’s first reading—the people dressed in white—are the men and women who found that narrow road, who walked on it during their lives, and who eventually died on it. Was it any easier for them to be faithful to Christ back in the first century? No way! They are definitely not in heaven by accident. As the angel said to John, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” In spite of their great trials (and in some cases, no doubt, because of their great trials), they attained eternal glory. And so they give us hope. After all, if they can choose to be faithful to their baptismal call in good times and in bad, then so can we. Today we ask all these saints (canonized and uncanonized) to pray for us, so that we will follow their example of faith, and choose heaven.
