The Saints Inspire, and we can Imitate them
All Saints Day (Nov 1, 2015)
Why Saints? Because they inspire us
In 2009, when the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux were being taken around the UK, the euphoria of the people who went to pay homage took the sceptics by surprise. In the secular Britain, an estimated 290,000 people paid their respects to St Thérèse, in 20 churches. However, I must say, I heard the most cynical remarks about the relics only from my fellow priests. In any case, one of those nights I was called to help out with confessions at the Westminster Cathedral. As I sat at St George’s chapel, hearing the sincere confessions of some pilgrims, I watched the others file by the relics. But what touched me most was the crowds of people who sat at various positions in the cathedral, simply lost in prayer and contemplation. I thought: after all, holiness does inspire holiness.
In a homily on the feast of All Saints a few years back (2006), Pope Benedict said the following, recalling the homily of St. Bernard on this very feast: “Why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this Solemnity, mean anything to the Saints?… The Saints have no need of honour from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs…. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning” (Disc. 2, Opera Omnia Cisterc. 5, 364ff.). The Pope then continues, “This, then, is the meaning of today’s Solemnity: looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them.”
In the second reading of today (1Jn 3:2-3) John exhorts us: “My dear friends, we are already God’s children, but what we shall be in the future has not yet been revealed. We are well aware that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is. Whoever treasures this hope of him purifies himself, to be as pure as he is.” Note: we are called to be as pure as Jesus himself was!
In the Gospel today we hear the beginning of the Sermon on Mount from Matthew (5:1-12). During the course of this sermon Jesus would suddenly challenge us: “You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). Luke would render this with his own interpretation: “Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate” (Lk 6:36). This is, in fact, the core of the Ten Commandments, according to the Torah. The book of Leviticus presents the Ten Commandments with these opening words: “Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: ‘Speak to the whole community of Israelites and say: “Be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy” (Lev 19:1-2). Then the text continues: therefore, honour your father and mother, keep the Sabbath, etc.
So what is the Word of God in the Scriptures inviting us to? In the beginning God created us in his own image (Gen 1:27). The purpose of our life journey here on earth seems to be, to realise the truth that we are in the image of God, and by our daily choices to become perfect-complete, compassionate-merciful, holy-whole as HE IS. As God is. Is this possible? Yes, through Jesus Christ. Do we have some human examples? Yes, we have the saints. That is why, the church places the saints before our minds and hearts, as models in our Christian life journey. The saints are our fellow human beings who have gone before us. They give us hope that we can become aware that we are in the holy image of God, respond to the grace of God, and realise the true goal of our human existence!
And so what? So we can imitate
As some of you know, my academic background is in psychology. Last week I have been engaged in two apparently unrelated topics: reading about self-esteem, and also reflecting a lot about learning through imitation. When I was younger, I used to tell myself: I should not imitate any one. I am unique. I don’t want to copy anyone. I even disliked the classical book: ‘The Imitation of Christ’. Perhaps, I was influenced by the self-esteem literature of the 1970’s that was marketed, by the U.S, all over the world. But recent research findings have shown that the exaggerated self-esteem propaganda may have led to an increased street violence and crime.
During my early days in the UK as a student, often I would feel frustrated in seminars, where I could understand what was happening but could not contribute, while my juniors kept talking all the time. I would ask myself, what makes them tick? I would say, I shall get there! And suddenly I realised, after all, most of what I am is just a product of imitating the best practices of others. How did I learn the languages that I know? I remember, when I was learning Swahili waking up early morning to listen to the radio and imitating the intonation of the newsreaders. When I wanted to publish my articles in academic journals, I read a few of the already published articles in a journal, rewrote my article in that style, sent it to the journal, and my first peer-reviewed article was published straight away.
Whether we are aware of it or not, we are imitators. We do not always have to reinvent the wheel! So too in our moral and spiritual life we look out for role models. We look up to heroes and heroines. Many young people these days look up to some popular – but less moral and spiritual – idols, and often end up imitating them to bad ends. On the other hand, the Christian community (the church), right from its beginnings, (right from 100 AD), has looked up to heroic Christians. The church has recognised them, honoured them, and proposed them as models for us to imitate. It is not that the church makes saints, though the church facilitates living holy lives. In fact, it is only God who makes saints. It is this power of grace in human beings that we celebrate today. And this celebration gives us hope: yes, we can get there!
In the Preface before the Eucharistic Prayer today we pray, “Father, all powerful and ever-living God,… Around your throne the saints, our brothers and sisters, sing your praise for ever. Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us in your Church gives us inspiration and strength as we hasten on our pilgrimage of faith, eager to meet them.”
This then is our prayer and wish today as we stand in wonder at the holiness of some of our fellow humans. This is our prayer and wish for our own selves as we continue our pilgrimage here on earth.