Homily originally presented November 1, 2020

by Monsignor Deering

Be in that Number ... when the Saints go marching in!

Many years ago I was a Sales Rep in San Francisco working for a great Regional Manager. Her name was Barbara Jean and she was one of the first women to hold such a position in the Eastman Kodak Company.

BJ, as she was known, had two reputations.

To many of the reps and managers across the country who did not work for her,

BJ was considered a tough, demanding and difficult boss.

But to all the reps and managers who did work for her,

BJ was considered a very kind, caring, and compassionate boss.

I myself experienced her both ways ... and both descriptions were accurate.

You see, I knew of her during the 3 years I worked under the District Manager in Seattle, Washington. One day I got her invitation to fly down to LA to interview for the job of Sales Rep in San Francisco ... working for her.

The interview went very well ... she definitely wanted me to work for her, but based on what little I knew of her, I was still debating whether I wanted to work for her.

She invited me to get together after work for a drink to meet her other sales reps.

What a delight it was! I joined 8 other reps around a big table

and all of them were radiating happiness and energy!

Could these be the reps who worked for BJ ...

who was known as a tough, demanding, and difficult boss?

They were indeed.     And here’s the explanation ... you see ...

once you became one of her employees, you became part of her family.

Yes, once you came under her mantle of authority ... you couldn’t help but feel ...

her care ... her concern ... and her commitment to your success.

If any of her employees ever needed something, she would go to the wall to help them. And she never ceased to seek ways to acknowledge, to applaud and to advance her good performers.  In short, BJ considered all of her employees as her family!

Needless to say, I took the job and flourished in that environment ...

(within 3 yrs I made Masters Club, became a Regional Mgr. moved Corp. NY Ofc)

Her way must be a contagious way of leadership in San Francisco because

I knew another person there, who demonstrated this same quality of leadership ...

Eddie DeBartolo, the former owner of the San Francisco 49er’s ...

the Team that during the late 1980’s won a record 4 Super Bowls!

And when Mr. DeBartolo was asked how he managed to accomplish

such an awesome achievement, he simply gave his motto which was:

“Pay ‘em like royalty, treat ‘em like family!”

Wow! How special! You see, money only goes so far.

There are many players on many teams that are paid handsomely for their talents, but not every player flourishes.

So something has to be said for the environment in which they operate. And it was obvious that the family environment of the 49er’s enabled all the players to flourish.

Well. It’s the same way with God!

It’s being a part of God’s family ... that enables all of us to flourish.

You see, all of us are born as creatures of God ...  

loved for sure ... but we’re outside God’s family.

Now, just as I was invited to experience San Francisco to be part of BJ’s family ...

God invites everyone to experience Baptism to be part of His family.

You see ...  through the waters of Baptism, we become adopted Children of God. Yes, we become His sons and daughters!                 We become ... His family!

And just as Kodak employees outside the Western Region looked on BJ as:

a tough, demanding and difficult boss ...

people outside of God’s family frequently look upon Him the same way as ...

a tough, demanding and difficult God.

But for those of us who have been adopted into God’s family by Baptism ...

we experience Him as a very kind, caring, and compassionate Father.

St. John emphasizes this in his First Letter that we read from today, writing,

“See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God.”

So, now that we’re in God’s family, we get to experience God in a fuller way ...

not a perfectly full way ... that will come when we get to God’s home in Heaven.

Jesus promised this declaring “Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God.”

St. John put it this way today: “(for) we shall see Him ... as He is.”

And St. John described how we get to attain this great reward, writing:

 “Everyone who has this hope based on Him makes himself pure, as He is pure.”

So the way to attain Heaven is to be in God’s Family

and remain pure & clean of heart.

Can we do this?     Can anybody do this?     Fortunately, the answer is YES!

How do we know that Heaven is attainable ...

because countless men and women have gone before us and made it to Heaven!

In our First Reading from the Book of Revelation,

St. John describes what he is blessed to see as he gazes into Heaven writing:

“I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people and tongue. They stood before the Throne and before the Lamb.”

Who were they? The Church calls them Saints ... the English word that means “The Holy Ones”

Today we celebrate the Saints!

These are the souls that we celebrate and reverence today, on the Feast of All Saints.

Today we celebrate them, we honor them and we applaud them

as we thank God for giving them to us as models of right living.

Many of them had to overcome the same obstacles and temptations that we face

 in our lives and now they reign in everlasting peace and happiness with God.

Jesus promises that we too will one day be Saints ... if we demonstrate certain

characteristics ... the characteristics that He spoke of in our Gospel today...

the very characteristics that He modeled for us.

Jesus was meek and merciful and a peacemaker.

He thirsted for righteousness and He was persecuted for the sake of righteousness. 

He calls us to do the same things. That’s why it’s so important that we stay close to Him.       Because doing so leads us along the sure and certain path to Heaven.

Realize that Our Lord called 12 average guys to follow Him, His Twelve Apostles. All of those guys were working class people just like you! Most of the Apostles were fisherman, a common trade of the time. One of them was a tax collector.

None of them were Scribes or Pharisees, in the Jewish hierarchy.

And all of these working class people, except one, became saints!

St. Peter & St. Andrew ... St. James & St. John ... St. Matthew & St. Philip,

St. Simon and St. Jude ... everyone but Judas, who betrayed Him.

Now, it’s important to realize that all the souls in Heaven are Saints, regardless of whether the Church has recognized them with a special feast day.

Countless souls are now saints in Heaven,

some were rich, some were poor, some were lay people, and some were clergy.

What does this tell you?

It tells you that each and every person has the chance to make it into Heaven.

What does it take?

It takes entering into God’s family by Baptism ...

 and staying in God’s family by His Grace and Mercy.

and all of this takes desire and determination ...

We hear of this desire and determination

in the refrain of the great Spiritual Song written 100 years ago entitled:

O when the Saints go marching in!

Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.

Where do you want to be?     Oh Lord, I want to be in that number!

Last week, I wrote in Pastor’s Desk about how wonderful it is to see the words:

“BE IN THAT NUMBER”

WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN!”

stenciled on the walls of our High School Lobby!

where all of our Students and Parents and Visitors can see it

and be reminded of their calling

to be in that number ... when the Saints go marching in ... to Heaven!

Pope Francis put it this way:

“In the Saints, we glimpse our future and celebrate what we were born for:

we were born to never die again,

we were born to enjoy the happiness of God!”

That’s our destiny ... if we choose!

So let this great celebration ... this Solemnity of All Saints

deepen our desire and our determination

to model the Goodness of Jesus each and every day

so that we’re absolutely sure

to be in that Number!