Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!

 

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints.

Today we honor all those in the crowd that was so vast

that no one could count them,

those who have survived a time of great distress,

they have washed their robes and made them white

in the blood of the Lamb.

Today we rejoice with all those men and women,

boys and girls, who have never been canonized,

whose lives will never be written about in the Lives of the Saints,

whose images will not appear in icons, stain glass or statues.

Today we give thanks to God for all those saints
who will never be known by most people.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All the Saints

Who we hope to be among one day.

 

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!

 

Every year in Chicago

Catholic Theological Union holds its biggest fundraiser of the year,

the Blessed are the Peacemakers Dinner.

Someone famous is honored for the work they do

to make the world a better place.

The awardee has to be famous,

because who would pay $500 per person

to honor someone like you or me.

Today, however, is not a day to celebrate the famous saints.

Today is a day to honor those whom only God and a few others would consider saints.

 

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!

 

So, today, I’d like to remember my grandmother,

Saint Rose of Cleveland,

patron saint of brownies,

not the little girls,

the chocolate ones.

She never met someone she couldn’t cheer up

with some kind of homemade pastry.

There were no strangers in her home.

Whoever showed up was welcomed with open arms.

 

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!

 

Today, I’d like to remember Lucille Boerma,

a little old Italian lady in Chicago,

who was one of the four white women

in an otherwise all African American parish.

She was probably the poorest person in the parish,

and there were plenty of poor people in the neighborhood.

I will never forget the Sunday morning she arrived at church,

without any food to add to our monthly food collection.

So, she reached into her wallet and handed me

her last five dollars.

I tried to refuse it,

but she smiled and said that there must people poorer than her

who needed it more.

A few days later when I saw her again,

she told me that when she got home from church on Sunday,

there were several bags of groceries

sitting outside her apartment.

God provided she said,

as she handed me a bag of groceries for the poor.

 

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!

 

Today I’d like to remember Harold Diller.

Many of you knew him, too.

A few month ago,

My Brunnerdale High School Seminary held its 50^th class reunion.

we all agreed that Fr. Diller was on of the holiest men we ever knew.

When I served as the director of vocation ministry

for the Cincinnati Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood,

one of my jobs was to write a column in the CPPS Newsletter.

Every month, Fr. Harold would call me up,

tell me that he had read my article,

and offer me his support and encouragement.

He always ended the call with a prayer of blessing.

 

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!

 

Who do you remember today?

Who are the saints you want to celebrate?

Take some time today to remember them,

to honor them,

and to ask them to intercede on your behalf

as they stand before the throne of God

in the crowd so vast that no one can count them,

as they sing out God’s praises today and everyday.

 

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!

 

One day, years from now,

November 1^st will be my feast day.

One day, years from now,

November 1^st will be your feast day, too,

for you and I are blessed by God,

not so much because of our good works,

but because God has called us blessed,

God has called us children of God,

God has welcomed us into the Kingdom.

 

Rejoice and be glad!

Blessed are you, holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom of God!