All Saints Homily - Being Fully Human

What does it mean to be human?   Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all have an idea of what it means to be human. Technically, the concept or the philosophy of what it means to be human is called “anthropology”.

Humans are simply complex chemical reactions contained in matter, nothing more. This would be the anthropology of materialism, or those who think we are nothing more than machines.  This also believes we can be predicted and therefore manipulated. It also believes when “Faulty” or undesired, it is okay to shut them down.

Another anthropology: Humans are animals, complex animals, but animals nonetheless. Our actions are all about preserving ourselves, getting more and more to survive. We consume and consume and we are driven by basal drives. 

Yet another one: Humans inherently seek their own well being; are self-serving. Humans are isolated from others. Therefore all will disappoint us, including politicians. We don’t need anyone else, only “I” matter, and my choices. 

These are three common anthropologies that infiltrate our society, and probably us.  They guide our economic systems, our politics, our judicial systems.  They clearly have an effect on how we live.

Salvation is the freedom to be human. Salvation is the freedom to be those Children of God. A human person is a Child of God. This is our Catholic anthropology.  This is explicitly declared in our baptismal ritual for children.

A child of God with goodness inherent, with dignity inherent; with the capacity to do what is good for others. 

Humans, yes we evolved from more primitive life forms, but nonetheless, we are infused with Spirit.  Humans live with the connection to the fullness of reality, Heaven; we are with Spirit.  Thus, with Spirit, able to choose for the good of others, eg. Love.  

Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Human, brings this to fullness.   Jesus instills within us that desire to transcend, to be all that we are meant to be. Jesus shows us the freedom in being defined by God, and by nothing else, including no other person, no other government, no other system.

Jesus’ beatitudes powerfully and subtly speak of the freedom of what it means to be human. Jesus speaks about that realization when we grasp that our understanding of being human differs from the world. And that the more secular views do not offer life. They will disappoint us.

Saints are Humans; fully human. They experienced this life in the full as humans, and once experienced did not relinquish it. They lived out the freedom; they loved.  The earliest Saints were our martyrs. Rome told them “We define you!” The martyrs said “no”. Think of St. Lawrence, burned for declaring that the riches of the church were the poor, the crippled, the homeless; when Rome demanded the actual money. 

The Greatest of Saints experienced this insight too, and lived it: Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Liseux, our Mexican Martyrs; the Jesuit Martyrs, Pope John XXIII, Archbishop Romero.   Disappointed by the world around them, they sought deeper meaning.  Mourning the loss they encountered, they found something more glorious.  Hungry for more, they went to search for more and encountered it in serving people around them. 

Our Saints inspire us to follow the way of Christ to true freedom.  A freedom to choose love. The freedom to do good for the other.

Look at the good being done through our Church with Catholic Charities; the families from this parish that last week sponsored someone who lives in poverty; those that work to bring people out of poverty, find affordable housing; that visit the sick.  These are the actions of Human persons, children of God.

The Saints remind us to not give up. When disappointed, this means search for a new way; find the better way!

These seem to be challenging times. Some People struggle right now, looking for clarity, for direction. People are disappointed, and rightly so.  Institutions, including the church, have disappointed us. Our politics, because of their faulty anthropologies, have disappointed us.

I think this is an opportunity to reassess.  What does it mean to be human?  What does it mean to be a follower of Christ in this day and age?  How can we change direction?  There is an opportunity for finding Hope in this world, the Kingdom of Heaven.

It may mean that we admit that we have had the wrong idea of what it means to be human; we may have a more secular view, a more economic philosophy, a more materialistic concept.

The Christian way offers us life.