Thursday, November 20, 2003

Pre Thanksgiving, 2003

It’s hard to believe that the day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving already. But, it must be because the stores have had their Christmas decorations out for about a month already.

Thanksgiving isn’t a capital H holy day, but it is definitely a holy day. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. Unfortunately, for a lot of people it’s just a day off from work to watch football, eat or even shop.

For those of us who do remember what the day is for and actually plan to spend at least part of it being thankful, maybe it’s just as well that so many people have forgotten the real meaning of the day. If the news media, and some of our judges stop and think that it’s a day for giving thanks to God for all the blessings we’ve received, they’ll start trying to do away with it. Or change the name to something more politically correct, like Big Shopping Day Eve.

(pause)

When I visit patients at St. Joseph’s Hospital, it’s surprising how many people tell me that they believe in God, but they don’t need to go to church to pray. Even though I once felt that way myself, I’m still surprised to find out that there are so many people who feel that way. And, it’s sad. Maybe you don’t need to go to a building to pray, but there’s certainly more to this place than just a place to pray.

For one thing, we have the sacraments. And, for the most part, the only place to receive them is in church. There are some exceptions, but the church is normally the place where you receive most of the sacraments. You may be anointed in a hospital, or baptized there in an emergency. And, once in a while a mass will be held in a special place, like when the Pope was in St. Louis, and the only place large enough was the Dome. But church is church, and this is where church happens.

In a few minutes, we’ll expose the Blessed Sacrament and have the incredible opportunity to worship the Real Presence of Christ. I wish we could do it more than once a month, but we should all be thankful that we have Adoration at all. A lot of parishes don’t.

The other thing you find here, and nowhere else, is the community of believers. Your fellow Christians who come together to worship God and to support one another.

It’s especially sad when someone’s in the hospital and doesn’t have the support of a church family. Scientists have proven that people who are prayed for get well more quickly than those who aren’t. And it’s not all in their heads, because it’s true even when the person being prayed for doesn’t know it. Without a church, you don’t have that support.

Personally, I have a lot to be thankful for. My family is first. But, right at the top of the list is this parish community. I think every one of us has been in a situation at one time or another when we needed prayers. And this parish always comes through. Not only with prayers, but with more worldy help, like food for families suffering illness or a loss. This is a very special group of people and I thank God every day that I am fortunate enough to be here.

When things need to be done here, someone always steps up. Take Eucharistic Adoration. When Archbishop Rigali asked parishes to renew this wonderful devotion, Harold and Mary Ellen Maurer were right there. They spent a lot of time and effort getting it started and keeping it going. Just one example of the character of our parish. I could go on for a long, long time with examples of generosity and faith. But, I know you have other things to do this morning.

In the first reading today, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed that a large stone becme a mountain. That mountain represented the Kingdom of God. On Thursday, let’s all take time to give thanks that we are a part of that Kingdom and to pray for those who aren’t.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a nice meal with our families and friends, or even in watching a little football on television. I plan to spend a good part of my day doing exactly that. But, we should take time to remember the real reason for the holiday, and to thank God for all the blessings in our lives. After all, we don’t want Thanksgiving to end up locked away in a storage room like the Ten Commandments.

Friday, November 07, 2003

Just last week we celebrated All Saints Day. As you know, certain individual saints are remembered on specific days of the year. For example, we celebrate the feast of St. Bernadette on April 16. The feast of St. Louis IX, the patron of our Archdiocese is August 25. The feast of St. Michael the Archangel was September 29.

According to Catholic-Online, there are 18 saints and 1 blessed whose feast days fall today. Exactly half of them were martyrs. 2 were Benedictines, 2 were Dominicans and there was 1 Jesuit.

There are 4 abbots and 1 abbess, 4 bishops and 1 archbishop. Only one of the 21 is a woman. One was even an infant who was murdered by his father. That was St. Tremorus. His mother, Triphina is also canonized.

One was excommunicated from the church, then restored to the faith. Obviously he cleaned up his act.

There are 4 French, 3 Germans, 2 Italians and 2 British, and one each from China, Spain, Egypt, Vietnam and Ireland. There are 3 whose nationality is unknown.

In addition to St. Michael the Archangel, there are 21 other Michaels on the church calendar. 12 are saints and 9 are blessed. Ten of them were Japanese martyrs. Blessed Michael Takashita’s feast day is coming up on November 27, Thanksgiving Day this year. Just in case you wanted to send anybody a card.


I mention all this saintly trivia only because it shows the vast number of people and the wide variety who have been recognized over the years as saints by the church. There are roughly 400 saints whose feast days fall in November alone. Most of them are people you’ve never heard of.

The people who have been canonized by the church are just a tiny fraction of the saints who have lived, and are living today.

Each of us is called by God to live a saintly life. Some, like the Blessed Virgin, or Bernadette, or King Louis lead such holy lives that they are chosen for inclusion in the canon of the saints. And, because they were widely recognized for what they did in this life, they are among what I would call the “big saints.” They’re the ones who have churches named after them. They’re the ones who have their own memorials or feasts in the church calendar.

Next are the lesser known saints, the ones who were obviously holy enough to be recognized by the church. But they lacked the public relations skills to get themselves into the “super saint” category. People like St. Amarand or St. Amaranthus. These saints have the one sentence entries in the list of saints. Many of them were martyrs.

Finally, there are the saints who have never been canonized and never will be. But, each one of us knows many of them by name. Surely there are some in this church this morning. And, just because their names will never be recorded in the book of saints in this life, their names are already in the heavenly list of saints. And, that’s the list that counts.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light. In other words, the worldly have their minds focused on what they THINK is important, like money, power and prestige. The dishonest steward would rather be known as an extortionist than as a laborer or a beggar. Even his master, the victim of his scheme, commended him for acting prudently.

But the children of light, the ones whose names are among the saints, aren’t so concerned with the worldly stuff. For them, prudence is one of the seven virtues. It means preparing for the world to come by following Jesus’ instructions. In John’s Gospel he tells us “You are my friends if you do what I tell you.”
As we prepare to receive the gift of Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist, let’s think about the saints we’ve known, the ones we know, and maybe the one who is sitting right next to us. And let’s try to model our lives on theirs so that we, too, can be included in the heavenly list of the saints.

Now, let’s stand and ask God for the things we need.