Don't forget what you signed up for

Dominican All Saints

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Albert the Great, Irving

There's an old joke in the Order of Preachers: “If you want to be a Dominican saint, then live with a Dominican martyr. If you want to be a Dominican martyr, then live with a Dominican saint.” The implication here is that surviving life with a either a Dominican saint or martyr is a sure-fire way to get at least a memorial Mass with your name on it. Why? B/c living saints and martyrs can be challenging housemates. The religious fervor of a still-living Dominican saint easily convicts the evident laxity of less fervent brothers and sisters. And the self-sacrifice of the still-living Dominican martyr similarly exposes the selfishness of those confreres less inclined to surrender their preferences for the common good. Of course, the joke is: the religious fervor of the saint and the ease of self-sacrifice in the martyr is usually only present in the mind of the Dominican in question. The rest of us just chuckle and wonder. And probably pray a little harder for the grace of sainthood and martyrdom. You know, just in case. This feast taps all Dominicans on the shoulder and whispers, “Don't forget what you signed up to do and be.”

It never hurts to be reminded of our ideals. Dominic started this whole thing to “preach the Gospel and care for souls.” From the start, he sent us out two-by-two to universities to study God's Word so that our preaching would be grounded in the ancient apostolic faith. He gathered us together in community so that that ancient faith would always have a contemporary expression. He made sure we prayed together so that we'd learn to express that faith with one voice and at the same time shape that one voice to speak in different tongues. He knew that the Truth is always the Truth. But he also knew that our understanding of Truth grows by nature. So, he gave us the enduring habit of study, the habit of always seeking out the “manifold wisdoms of God.” Most importantly, most fundamentally, he gave us the grace of preaching, the gift of giving the Eternal Word a human voice to bring souls to Christ. On the more practical side of our life together, we have the vow of obedience, our only vow. It binds us, frees us, and makes everything we do and are possible. It gives life to Peter's declaration to Christ: “We have put aside everything to follow you.” Ideally, you could ask any Dominican, “What have you given up to follow Christ?” And he/she would answer, “Everything.” “And what have you gained?” The answer, “Even more.”

Our saints, blesseds, and martyrs show us what “even more” means in light of what they all sacrificed. From the 13^th c. to just a few weeks ago, they still bear witness to the power of Dominican life to bring the preaching of the Gospel to every nook and cranny of this needful world. Jesus promises Peter that his surrender will result in a hundredfold multiplication in this world and the world to come. That promise is our inheritance. What will we do with all that wealth? We'll pray, study, care for souls; and live together with one heart and one mind; forgiving one another; loving the grumps, the self-made martyrs and saints; correcting, teaching; and being docile to the Spirit, waiting for the advent of our Christ; and never forgetting that we do all of this willingly, freely for the sake of the Gospel. IOW, we'll spend our inheritance in the same way it was given to us – with generous abandon for the salvation of the world.  

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The dead minister to us

All Souls

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Albert the Great, Irving

The Christian dead minister to the living by reminding the living that we too will one day be dead. That's not exactly a cheerful reminder for a Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. But it is a necessary reminder. While we move about in this space and time-limited world, we can neglect the reality of the possible worlds we'll come to haunt. With faith lived in earnest hope, we look forward to haunting the Lord's table at an eternal wedding feast. That's one – hopeful – possibility. Another possibility – despairing, at best – is to choose to live eternally rejecting God's love. And then there's a third possibility, the Between Possibility, where we haunt for a while while being purged of whatever keeps us from the feast. If we're honest, most of us will confess to shooting for the third option. Fingers-crossed, relying on the prayers of family and friends, we are confident that purgatory seems our best after-death bet. Here's where the already-dead do their best work. We pray for those in purgatory and in doing so keep our hearts and minds turned toward the inevitable day of our own death. The dead minister to us by just not being here.

If all this talk of death and purgatory seems funereal, it's meant to. In its way, the Feast of All Souls is a funeral Mass for all the faithful departed. One day, one celebration for the repose of all the souls who are no longer with us. And like any funeral Mass for a single soul, this Mass has a double purpose: to pray for the eternal rest of the deceased and to shake the living out of their spiritual complacency. Mourning the dead is a ministry of the living. Shaking the living is a ministry of the dead. If we think the passing of “just souls” is a tragedy, their leaving us behind an affliction, remember that they are at peace. The Book of Wisdom says, “...chastised a little, [the souls of the just] shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself.” Of course He did! Paul writes to the Romans, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Jesus himself says, “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me...” Why wouldn't the just souls be greatly blessed and found worthy of God Himself? Even if they must be chastised for a little while.

It's too hard to think that one day you and I will be laid out in a box or poured into an urn. But that day is as inevitable as sunrise and sunset. That we are here this morning asking for God's mercy on the faithful departed is just one clear sign that we know our time is short. While we are here, still breathing, our work as those given to Christ by his Father is sanctifying; it's designed to bring us to and keep us in holiness. That work is the work of living freely in the hope of salvation, living freely in the love of God, and trusting absolutely that we are beloved sons and daughters of the Most High. If we are truly free to live as Christ remade us to live, then we will expend what time we have left in proclaiming in word and deed the mercy our Father offers to sinners. And we will be compelled in our proclamation by the reality that at some unknown hour it will be our turn to pass through the purging fire and onto the Narrow Gate. One mercy we can do for the dead is to pray for them. And ask for their prayers. In every sense that matters, they are more alive than we are. Even if they are being chastised, they are closer to God. Mourn for your dead joyfully b/c grace and mercy are with His holy ones. Allow them to bring you into the Wedding Feast.

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