YEAR A: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS (3)

YEAR A: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS

HOMILY THEME: LETTER TO FELLOW SINNERS ON ALL SAINTS DAY!

BY: Fr. Valentine Obianyanwu

HOMILY:

Dear Fellow Sinners or rather staggering saints,

Let today be a memorial of who we are. We are descendants of a generation of great men and women called saints. Be encouraged that our forebears who walked this path holding on to the grace of God now holds the promised sceptre of eternal glory.

Often, looking ahead – the temptations to surmount, the pleasures to resist, the sacrifices to offer, the rejections to endure, the distance from earth to heaven – scares me to my bone marrow.

One a day like All Saints, looking back to the steps of the saints gives me courage. The diehard-ness of martyrs, testimony of the Apostles, courage of missionaries, the love and devotion of lay saints, etc. I am blown away by one parallel act of persistence.

We are not hypocrites for insisting on the tradition of our Fathers and mothers in faith even when we find it difficult to resist this temptation to abandon the Way of light. Should we route for darkness because God’s light is too bright in our eyes?

The conversion of Paul, of Augustine, and even the last minute salvation received by Dismas, the thief on Calvary makes me want to really on the grace of God and to try one more time every time to ask for more grace and mercy.

If you can, when the opportunity presents itself as it does every day …. Let no day pass without you bearing witness to the Gospel – Encourage a brother to resist temptation. Be kind to a stranger or friend. Pray from the depth of your heart, even if it be one word. Read the scriptures or discuss the faith with a brethren. Forgive injuries. Bear the burden – words or deeds – of brotherhood if not joyfully, then patiently.

The currency to buy heaven is paid already by Christ himself. Just don’t leave the line. I hope you keep staying patiently on the line. That is what matters – persistent repentance. May God help us all as the saints intercede for us.

I remain yours in Christ,
Your brother
Born of the one baptism
Wish makes us all
One co-heirs of the Father.