First, a practical item. We decided that there will be no
collection this morning at Mass.
You students and parents have given CSS enough over the last four or
more years. I hope you are okay
with this decision!
I
have been pleased with the latest advertisements for St. Scholastica I have
seen around town: the world needs more
saints. Props to the marketing
people who came up with a catchy slogan that has depth.
On
one level, you should be proud of your degree and the four or more years you
invested into your education. You
have been prepared in the classroom to make a difference in a school, hospital,
business or other field. Please
God, these places will all be better for hiring saints.
Yet
listen to this slogan again through a spiritual lens: the world needs more saints.
What, exactly, is a saint? In our Christian tradition a saint may
refer to individuals in two places.
The first are those living today.
In the New Testament—especially in the Acts of the Apostles and in the
letters of St. Paul—a saint was another name for a Christian. They were men and women who followed
Christ and were following his way.
Today we speak of saintly people (Pope Francis for instance). Whether someone famous world-wide or a
saintly person closer to home (a grandparent, sibling, friend, etc.) these men
and women are different. They live
for God, make good decisions and make us better being around them. The second way we use the word saint is
to refer to anyone in heaven.
Every person in heaven is a saint.
I
realize the exams, papers and course work have been completed, but here is a
fun fact for you. (Don’t worry,
there won’t be a test on this after Mass). The Latin word for saint—sanctus—is
the same word we also translate as holy.
Now
here is a quiz. Are you holy? If you think you are holy, please raise your hand [a few
hands are raised in the crowd].
It’s a good thing I’m not grading you! The fact is you are all
holy! In the Scriptures the word holy means set apart for God. By
simply coming to Mass this morning you are, at some level, set apart for
God. You aren’t out fishing on the
opener slaying the walleyes (which I think makes you even more holy!). You aren’t out at Perkins. You aren’t packing up. You are here with God at Mass, and that
makes you holy.
The
trick is, we all must strive to grow in holiness and let God set us apart even
more. Whether our faith or prayer
is something you think about often, daily, weekly, or hardly at all, God wants
a relationship with you. He wants
to show you His love and mercy that is without end and He will gently lead you
into greater union with Him from wherever you are at.
When
I attended college here I was always proud to put on my racing jersey for
cross-country meets. The one word
on the front: Saints. This jersey made me wish I had heard
the conversations of coming up with a mascot for our college. How exactly do you find a mascot for a
saint? Somewhere we came up with
our beloved Storm…but remember we are not the St. Scholastica Saint
Bernards. We are the St.
Scholastica Saints!
Seeing
you the past couple of years wearing saints apparel—sweatshirts, hats or
sweats—makes me think: you are the
mascots for our college. You are
called to be a saint, both here and forever in heaven.
In
his book East of Eden, John Steinbeck sets this mission forth in a profound
way: “I believe that there is one story
in the world, and only one, that has frightened and inspired us…Humans are
caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in
their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of
good and evil…There is no other story.
A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will
have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?”
My
prayer for you on this, your graduation day, is that you will be a saint both
here and in heaven forever.
Indeed, the world needs more saints!
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