Solemnity
of All Saints
Cycle A
November 1, 2017 4:00pm
Saint Mary’s Seminary and University
Day of Recollection
The Saints Inspire
I
cannot be exactly like Saint Francis of Assisi.
But
he does inspire me to live more simply and to be at peace with others and with
all of God’s creation. In this way, Francis
of Assisi leads me to embrace Jesus’ lifting up of “the peacemakers,” whom he calls
“children of God.”
I
cannot be exactly like Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
But
she does move me to care for those who are hurting and look out for the little
person who has less than I have. In this
way, Teresa of Calcutta leads me to embrace Jesus’ lifting up of those “who are merciful,” those who have
compassion and empathy for others.
I
cannot be exactly like Saint Maximilian Kolbe.
But
he does inspire me to sacrifice at times my own comforts or preferences for the
good of others, maybe for the common good of all. And in that way, Maximilian Kolbe leads me to
embrace Jesus’ lifting up of those “who
are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.”
And
I cannot be exactly like Saint Catherine of Siena.
But
she does move me to speak out for what I believe is the right thing to do or
the wiser course of action. And in that
way, Catherine of Siena leads me to embrace Jesus’ lifting up of those “who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
Saint John XXIII
I
think you can see what I am getting at.
Pope,
Saint John XXIII put it this way. He
said: “From the saints I must take the
substance, not the accidents, of their virtues.”
He
was using the Thomistic philosophical concepts of substance and accidents. To put it very simply, the substance is what
something or someone essentially is, and the accidents are features that are
not necessarily part of the substance.
It’s
like saying that the substance of a wine bottle is glass shaped in such a way
that it will hold liquid. The accidents
are its height and color and features like that.
So,
Saint John XXIII was telling us to take the substance of the virtues of the saints
– like the simple peacefulness of Francis of Assisi. Take that and not so much the literal way the
saints lived out the virtues.
So,
take their core virtues and embrace them with our own personality and according
to our own vocation and in our own life circumstances. If we do that, the saints will help to mold
us in the way of the Beatitudes and make us more and more like Jesus.
