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Celebrate the Heroes of Our Faith

Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily delivered at St. Charles on November 2, 2003

"I WILL NOT REJECT anyone who comes to me." John 6:37

This glorious weekend we celebrate the destiny of All Saints and All Souls, even though the church is unseasonably hot as..purgatory!

Catholics approach the last things with some hesitation. We do not profess the same certainty of salvation as some Baptists.. A friend of mine, Msgr. Quinn, the founding pastor of Blessed Sacrament a parish that he served for 30 years, used to express his concern in the weeks before his death, "I do not think I have done enough". I'd protest, "If you do not gain admission, who will?"

We used to draw a sharp distinction between All Saints and All Souls. White vestments gave way to black. We anxiously hope that the faithful departed are hastened by our prayers through a process of purification, purgatory, into the beatific vision.

My father died many years ago and my mother used to worry if he made it. He was no saint. He liked to drink big pints of Guinness and on occasion too many. Then one day she declared that he had arrived. We wanted to know how she knew. She had a habit of losing things, a hat, an earring, a bag, her keys. She had always turned to St Anthony for assistance. In recent times she had called on Himself. He was much more effective, so she knew. Apparently my father had shouldered Anthony off his pedestal at least in my mother's yes. I cannot conceive of a woman who always occupied the second pew in the church waiting too long at the back for admission.

This positive attitude is echoed by the changing liturgy of our church. Nowadays, the celebrant wears white for funerals and for All Souls. The emphasis is less on purgatory than the Resurrection.. The same gospels can be used for November 1st and 2nd.. Last evening the children came dressed as saints. One child was Mother Teresa. She said, "Mother Teresa is a saint because of her care for the elderly and the poor". Perhaps the child knew something about Blessed Teresa that the Pope had not recognized yet!

Today's gospel unfolds the universal salvific will of the Father. This is a very different version than the narrow road to heaven and the broad road that leads to perdition! "And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should lose nothing of what he gave me." John 6:40. In John's gospel eternal life begins with baptism. In the Baptismal Rite we pray over the white garment, "Bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven". Let us celebrate the heroes of our faith, those canonized by our church and those revered in our families. While never denying the reality of sin, we hold fast to the redeeming grace and mercy of the Shepherd.

  or  2003 Homilies