From Wanderland to Gloryland!

Rev. Marcel Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of All Saints

St. Mary of Assumption Church, Whittier, California

Sunday, November 1, 2015

On this Solemnity of All Saints, the Church presents us a passage of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12) commonly referred to as “the Beatitudes” or the “Sermon on the Mount.” In a nutshell, the Beatitudes are the summary of Jesus’ instruction regarding the type of behavior that is expected of those who accept and belong to the Kingdom of God. In each of them, Jesus states that those whose conduct conforms to God’s will are truly blessed. He places more emphasis on the interior motivation of one’s conducts. The materially poor folks are not blessed simply because they are poor. Lack of material things alone does not guarantee upright behavior unless it leads a person to completely depend upon God. Lacking in food, drink and other necessities of life does not necessarily make someone virtuous and holy, unless such lack, hunger and thirst can trigger an inner hunger and thirst for God and his righteousness and then lead to right actions. Even the rich are expected to be poor in spirit (humility) and to depend upon God and not in material riches. Again, avoiding what is bad and evil may or may not represent righteous behavior unless the pure heart is totally focused on Jesus and his teaching. In the same manner, suffering insult and persecution in itself does not necessarily translate to doing God’s will, unless such ugly experience is as a result of one’s followership of Jesus and his teaching. Those whose words, deeds, interior or inner motivations are formed by the teaching of Christ Jesus are both righteous and blessed in deed. 

Today, we celebrate our sisters and brothers whose words, deeds and interior motivations were formed by the Gospel teaching of the Lord. Today, we celebrate those who, during their earthly lives were really poor in spirit, hungered and thirsted for righteousness, shown mercy, were peacemakers, had clean hearts, were insulted and persecuted because of their abiding faith in God. Today, we celebrate the Saints! 

Who are the saints? They were human beings who, like us, had weaknesses. They were sinners who repented. They were former sinners, former prodigal sons and daughters, and former enemies of God who later became ardent lovers of God. The Saints are the over-comers, the triumphant children of God, the church triumphant, winners who used to be losers. They lived in the flesh. They had emotions. They experienced joys and sorrows, strength and weakness, sickness and good health, good times and bad times, frustrations and encouragements. Like you and me, they also struggled. They fell and rose. There were occasions when they complained and grumbled; there were also occasions when they were thankful and grateful. They had dull moments and moments of excitements in their lives. They experienced both rainy and dry seasons. They were imperfect people who were aware of their imperfections, so, worked hard to overcome them. When they fell, they did not remain fallen. When they rose from their fallen state, they learned from it, asked for mercy and strength to keep moving in the right direction. They were not in denial or ignorant of who they were. They worked out their salvation with fear and trembling. In the midst of fear, adversity, sickness and lack, they continued to lean on God, trust him, pray to him and commune with him. 

Sisters and brothers, Saints are those who rose above the negative emotions and passions. They rose above destructive anger. They rose above their weaknesses. They forgave their offenders. They conquered through praise and prayer. When they felt abandoned by God, they abandoned themselves into his hands, surrendered more profoundly to him, prayed like never before, fasted even the more. The feeling abandonment did not make them to abandon God. Through thick and thin, they stuck to God. They did not walk away from their faith. 

The Saints were not fans of Jesus. They were his disciples. If you are a fan of a football team, you don’t have to believe in what the players believe in. You don’t have to walk in their footsteps. You don’t have to die for your team. You don’t have to show up everyday to watch them play. When they fail to win, you get mad at them. In certain circumstances, some fans have abandoned their team and switched over to another team. The Saints were not fans, they were disciples. Disciples walk in the footsteps of the Master. They sit beside the Master. They speak the language of the Master—love and mercy. They live the life of the Master. They die for the Master.

The Saints had a cause— God’s cause. They had an agenda— God’s agenda. They love sacrificially and selflessly. They fought the good fight of faith. Their entire life was spent loving God and neighbor. They ran the heavenly race without looking back or thinking about the sensual and material things they had left behind. Like Lot and his wife, they understood they were also asked to leave the city of “Sodom and Gomorrah.”  As they fled the city of vanity and sin, they were tempted with the thought of what they had left behind, but unlike the wife of Lot, they refused to look back. They kept their gaze forward. Having put their hands on the plough, they never looked backwards, despite serious temptations to do so. They lived in the world, but never of the world. And because of the heroic lives they lived, we celebrate them today. 

Today’s Solemnity reminds us that we too can rise above all trials, all temptations, all weaknesses and win. This great feast reminds us of the destiny and target of all believers. Our target is heaven. Our goal is to make heaven. We are created to know God, love him, serve him, and then be united with him in heaven. Like I always said, heaven is the reward of righteousness. The Saints were people who walked from wanderland to Gloryland. Although we are still wandering around on earth— like a sheep we are all wandering around, but by faith in God and looking up to Jesus and striving to please him daily, we too, can walk from wanderland to Gloryland.