On Wednesday of this
past week, Bishop Jugis was here to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Seventy-four of our young people, after years of preparation, received the
seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And as the seventy-four processed up the main
aisle to receive the anointing from the Bishop, I could hear the names of the
patron saints that they had chosen as the Bishop addressed them by name:
Guadalupe, Juan Diego, Cecilia and Lucy, Francis and Dymphna, and there was
even a Benjamin. There was a living litany of the saints in procession down the
aisle of the Church.
Sixteen years ago last
Friday I took the name Patrick on the day of my confirmation. It was also the
day of my first confession and first Communion. After a long period of
preparation in RCIA and a longer period of wrestling with the mystery of the
call of the Lord God, I made the profession of Catholic Faith. I chose Patrick
to be my patron saint for confirmation.
I chose Patrick because
I had looked back through the history of the Church. I had looked back to the
example of the Holy Ones of every time and place who had lived through the time
of trial. I had looked back to see those witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus
Christ who have now received the abundant rewards of heaven. I chose Patrick
because I saw in this missionary a bold preacher, a poet, and shepherd of the
flock of God. Patrick inspires me and his life encourages me.
God gives us his saints
to inspire us, and to encourage us. But sometimes, these saints given to us to
inspire and encourage us seem a little far away. So many of their stories and
so many of their lives, are just so very different from our lives. Some of
these saints sound like they were practically perfect in every way even from
childhood. They were always obedient. They were always humble. They were always
prayerful. They were always faithful. These saints were always, and I, and perhaps you, are sometimes. Sometimes we are obedient and sometimes humble.
Sometimes we’re not. Sometimes we are merciful and hungering
for righteousness, and sometimes we’re not. Sometimes we feel so far away from
the saints.
But maybe, they are
closer to us than we think. Maybe the heavenly Jerusalem is just the next town
over. We hear the final version of the stories of the saints. We hear the
stories not of their faults, their sins, and their mistakes. We hear the story
of the triumph of God’s grace. We hear the stories of those who were named by
Christ and claimed by his mercy. The saints are closer to us than we think
because they stood where we stand. They experienced struggle and persecution,
doubt and anxiety. They experienced temptation and exhaustion. The saints lived
their lives of faith and virtue here on earth, but as pilgrims advancing by
faith toward their home in the city of the Living God.
I asked many of those
seventy-four confirmation candidates about the saints that they chose. Many of
them had looked back through the holy history. They looked back and saw
examples of people of faith that inspired them and encouraged them. But more
than a few of the confirmation candidates told me that they chose their saint
because they had seen them in the windows of the Church. They had looked at the
twenty-four saints in the windows that surround this room, just like the
twenty-four elders who surround the throne of God, and these students saw
images of people of faith who inspire them and encourage them. They looked
around and saw the saints of God.
And I do too. I look
around and I see the saints of God. I look around and I see the mother who
stays up late into the night caring for a sick child even as she prepares for
work the next day. I see the father who prays for the wisdom of Solomon and the
justice and humility of Joseph. I look around and I see single persons living
as salt and light in the midst of a broken world bringing the joy of the Gospel
with every footstep. I see young people and students who want to be peacemakers
in their schools as we hope they will one day be peacemakers in the rest of
world. I look around and I see those witnesses of the faith who have lived unto
many years in joy and in sorrow and in suffering. I see those who mourn and
those who live in the hope of eternal life. I look around and I remember those
children who received the life of Christ in baptism who entered into eternal
life in Christ too soon after. I look around and I see the saints of God on
their pilgrimage to our true homeland.
In only a few moments
the procession of the living litany of the saints will form again in the aisles
of the Church. Christ our High Priest, the Lamb once slain who lives forever,
calls us to himself to feed us, to inspire us, and to encourage us. And then he
sends us out, to look around. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
