Saturday - Solemnity of All Saints

Gospel – Matthew 5: 1-12A

Super Heroes!

Church of Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

So, a simple question to start the day.  Who is your favorite superhero?  Superman?  Batman?  Wonder Woman?  Black Panther?  Thor? 

For me?  None of the above!  My superhero was and always has been Green Lantern!  I loved his costume; I loved that, despite all his powers, he had a weakness – the color yellow.  But most of all, I loved his OATH:

In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!

For me, that pledge embodied in the simplest of words his morality and his beliefs!  He stands for good and against evil, no matter when and no matter where!  He is a beacon of light in the darkness!  We can really get caught up with superheroes.  I always thought that, if the wind was strong enough, I could fly like Superman.  We dress up as our favorite for Halloween!  We plaster our bedroom wall with posters and we can’t wait for the latest comic to come out so we can read about their adventures! 

In some way or another, a superhero is someone we look up to, admire and want to imitate!  And today, on the Feast of All Saints, we celebrate our spiritual superheroes! In simplest terms, these are ordinary people who lived with extraordinary faith!  No superpowers!  No fancy costume or secret identity!  They lived a faith-filled life!  They were merciful, meek, poor in spirit, recognizing that we are all dependent on God.  They were peacemakers, clean of heart, comforters, peacemakers, hungry for justice and righteousness.  They embodied the Beatitudes in their daily lives!  Now that is a pledge to live by!

So I ask again – who’s your favorite (patron) superhero (saint)?  For me, it’s St. John Vianney!  There is a parish near our family home in Southern Maryland that has a shrine dedicated to the Cure d’Ars.  Talk about a ‘superhero’!  Years ago, there was a young farmer who was impaled on a sharp tobacco stake which pierced his stomach. He was rushed to a Washington DC hospital. The local pastor went to the hospital and placed a relic of St. John Vianney on the young man’s stomach.  That young man (my grandfather) was restored to health.

The Cure d’Ars was a simple parish priest who devoted his life to his flock and to hearing confessions. No great theological writings!  No great adventures or superpowers!  Just an ordinary person with extraordinary faith!  So today let’s remember the superheroes in our lives, those people who have been recognized as saints by the Church and serve as our patron saints and guides as well as all those ‘sainted’ individuals in our personal lives who have dedicated themselves to their faith and served as a shining example of the Beatitudes for all of us.

 

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