November 1, 2015

Solemnity of All Saints, November 1, 2015

The Beatitudes help us begin to live the supernatural life, as The Catechism explains in #1721. St. Irenaeus’ quote in #1722 reminds us “what is impossible for men and women is possible for God.”

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Readings: 
First Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14: Responsorial Psalm 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6; Second Reading: 1John 3:1-3; Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12A

Sainthood and Character

During the last week or so I have been reading David Brooks's recent book entitled The Road to Character, and I am really being inspired by it. Brooks's basic idea is that contemporary American individualism has persuaded us that we should shape our lives around the desire of self-fulfillment and self-worth rather than around the older, more traditional value of letting our lives be shaped by what our lives and the circumstances of our world call us to be. Rather than look for our own identity in our own unique selves, Brooks urges, we should look for a community or a group of people that can mold us by their example, whose lives challenge us to commit ourselves to something beyond ourselves, to strive to become persons of character.

Brookes develops his book by reflecting on the lives of nine women and men whom he sees embodying this more traditional and character-building way of living. So far I've read four chapters, being inspired by the lives of Frances Perkins, the first woman to become Secretary of Labor in the FDR administration; Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States from 1953 until 1960; Dorothy Day, the great social activist mentioned by Pope Francis in his recent address to the U.S. Congress, and George Marshall, World War II general and the spirit behind The Marshall Plan, the complex set of actions that restored order and dignity after the Second World War. Brooks is quick to say that not all of his examples are religious, and they were not always virtuous. Indeed, Perkins struggled through a difficult marriage, and Eisenhower struggled all his life with a ferocious temper. And yet reading of their humility and willingness to suffer for their ideals, of their self-sacrifice and passion for justice, I can't help perceiving in them a deep, sometimes gentle, and sometimes fierce holiness, a palpable sanctity that might help us to understand more deeply the great feast we celebrate today: the feast of All Saints.

The saints we celebrate today were and are above all people of character. They are beautiful people like Mother Teresa of Calcutta; charismatic determined people like John Paul II, or brilliant people like Teresa of Avila-all three of whom could also be quite stubborn and even vain. They are people with an unquenchable passion for justice like Martin Luther King, Augustine of Hippo, and Dorothy Day-who also had to struggle mightily with their sexuality. They are great missionaries like Francis Xavier and missionary founders like Arnold Janssen (the founder of my missionary congregation) - but they were profoundly men of their times whose zeal was fueled by the image of a God who sent unbaptized people to hell. They are women and men like our mothers and fathers, or teachers or coaches who taught us how to pray and think and live life, and yet they might get angry, or be lustful, or drink too much.

But they all had character. Brooks writes in one passage near the beginning of the book what women and men of character look like:

"Occasionally, even today, you come across certain people who seem to possess an impressive inner cohesion. They are not leading fragmented, scattershot lives. They have achieved inner integration. They are calm, settled, and rooted. They are not blown off course by storms. They don't crumble in adversity. ... They radiate a sort of moral joy. They answer softly when challenged harshly. They are silent when others try to humiliate them, restrained when others try to provoke them. But they get things done. They perform acts of sacrificial service with the same modest everyday spirit that they would display if they were just getting groceries."

When I read this passage I immediately thought of the beatitudes that we read in today's gospel. Poverty, honesty of spirit, meekness, ability to feel sorrow, courage in conviction, commitment to reconciliation. It seems to me that the beatitudes are really challenges to character. They encourage us to really live life without being afraid of its hardships. Be poor in spirit-be open, ready to learn, humble. Don't be afraid to be sorrowful-lament your losses. Be meek-mild-mannered, able to take correction. Be merciful-ready to forgive, for you understand how often people make mistakes. Be hungry and thirsty for justice. Be of clean heart-single-minded, as Kierkegaard expressed it. Be ready to make peace, to accept persecution for your convictions. The saints encourage us to "leave the shore behind," as Pope Francis has written in Evangelii Gaudium.

To have character is to be a saint. Our saints were women and men who really gave themselves over to life, because they saw their lives as having meaning in giving themselves away-like their Lord. Our saints are the great women and men of Christian history: Magdelene, Jesus' mother Mary, Gregory the Great, Ignatius Loyola, Vincent and Louise, César Chavez. But they are our teachers and grandparents, our priests and our colleagues, our friends and maybe even our enemies. They are from "every nation, race, people, and tongue." They beckon us to get out of ourselves and really live life, to become people of real character. This is their feast day, and it could be ours as well.

Fr. Stephen Bevans, SVD