Saints, and the lessons they teach

Our tradition of faith

Last Thursday, October 11 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.  Some who are present here today may remember images of the bishops and others who entered St. Peter’s Basilica on that day in 1962 for the opening of the Ecumenical Council.  Some of us have had an opportunity to study the findings and decrees of this Council, and some of us have been privileged to see at least some of the wisdom that was born from its deliberations begin to take shape over the past forty-five years or so.  There are some (perhaps even many of us) here today who have only heard of the happenings of the Council, and still others who may be wondering what I’m talking about.

The Second Vatican Council was called by Pope John XXIII as a means of renewing the Church.  Some have said that the past fifty years or so have only allowed us to begin understanding the depth and richness of the vision that was proposed by those who were present in the Council chambers, but one thing is sure: the Church has always been a place where God speaks with his beloved children, and where we attempt to listen for His voice.

One year ago, on October 11 of 2011, His Holiness Benedict XVI announced a Year of Faith, an opportunity for the Church to deepen our understanding of the treasure that is ours, and the ways in which we are called to live it out each day.  This Year of Faith began last Thursday, October 11, and will conclude on the Feast of Christ the King, November 24, 2013.

Coinciding with the beginning of the Year of Faith, there is also a Synod of Bishops being held in Rome this month.  The topic being discussed is The New Evangelization for the transmission of the Christian Faith.  The work of evangelization was entrusted to all of us by Jesus himself who first demonstrated to the apostles and the other disciples the process of explaining the good news of the Kingdom.  Even then, the disciples had difficulty understanding that this message had little to do with power and everything to do with service.  Take for example the discourse between Jesus and the brothers James and John.  In today’s gospel, we hear that these disciples tried to jockey for position.  Power that is born out of politics is nothing new to us.  It seems that it has ever been thus, but this kind of power is far from the understanding that Jesus came to preach.  Instead, he insisted that whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.

This understanding of power based on service has been at the heart of the Church, at the heart of our understanding of faith ever since Jesus first explained it.  It is out of his commitment to service that Jesus, our high priest, was able to sympathise with our weaknesses because he himself was tested as we are, yet without sin.  Not only did Jesus preach this new understanding of authority born out of service.  He also lived it, even to the point of being crushed with pain upon the cross.

Throughout the centuries which have come and gone, disciples of Jesus have always attempted to imitate his example of service.  Those who have provided example for the rest of us are often venerated as Saints.  In fact, this very day, the Church is celebrating with great joy as new Saints are proclaimed in Rome.  Among those who are raised to this honor is the Lily of the Mohawks, Kateri Tekakwitha.  Born in 1656, her mother was an Algonquin Catholic while her father was a Mohawk chief.

She lost her parents and her siblings at a very young age.  In fact, it was thanks to the Jesuit missionaries present at Caughnawaga that she first learned about Christianity.  There and at Kanawake, she strengthened her belief and her faith.  Having suffered with physical ailments for a good part of her life, she eventually died of tuberculosis shortly before her 24^th birthday.  Her life and her example of faith have been celebrated by First Nations people throughout Canada and the USA ever since.  At the Martyr’s Shrine in Midland, at parishes and missions throughout our diocese and beyond, First Nations people are rejoicing today that one of their own has been recognized for her faith.

As we commemorate half a century since the beginning of the Vatican Council, and as we begin the Year of Faith, what better way for us to celebrate than to unite our prayer with this woman of faith who intercedes for us before the face of God!