No Child Left Behind

Photo by Steinar-Engeland on Unsplash

Yesterday's NY Times had a front-page article about Harvard freshmen.

They were asking each other, and themselves, How did I get in?

They wondered how they came to be chosen.

Picked from among 50,000 other highly qualified students seeking entry.

They were all confident that they did meet the standards,

But they were well aware that the other 50,000 also met the standards.

Did they get in because of some special achievement or talent?

Some special connection, some special quota?

Or were they just lucky?

It’s good that they appreciate their fortune and ponder why they got in.

But there’s something even greater than getting into Harvard.

That’s getting into Heaven.

Yesterday we celebrated All Saints Day.

Commemorating all those who have gone before us

And have already entered into Heaven.

Today we celebrate All Souls Day.

Commemorating and praying for all those who have gone before us

Who have not yet entered into Heaven.

All of them, but especially our departed family and friends.

Except for the relatively few people the Church has declared to be saints,

We don’t really know who’s among the Saints 
And who’s among the Souls.

Is my most holy Aunt Helen who died ten years ago in Heaven yet?

Who knows?

Especially when you toss out the earthly concept of time.

So today, and every day, we enter into the Communion of Saints.

We pray for our departed loved ones and for all the Souls in purgatory—

Those soon-to-be Saints.

And if a particular individual we pray for 
Has already passed into Heaven,

Then we ask and trust that the grace of that prayer be applied

To some other Soul who needs it.

And we ask those already-Saints and those soon-to-be-Saints 
To pray for us.

As we also pray for each other, fellow saints-in-the-making, 
Here on earth.

How do we get to be in that number, when the saints go marchin' in?

Jesus shows us the way.

He’s given us his example and his many teachings.

Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger.
Just yesterday we heard his words:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek,

Those seeking righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart,

The peacemakers, and the persecuted.

And he has boiled it down for us in two Great Commandments.

Two simple commandments that encompass all the law

And all the teachings of the prophets.

Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

So, if we follow the path Jesus has shown us, how many of us will get in?

The other day we heard him give a disappointing answer that question.

Many will attempt to enter, but will not be strong enough.

And a few days before that we heard him say,

It is impossible for man.

So, how do we get in?

To some extent, through our own weak efforts.

But primarily, through the mercy of God.

Through the Salvation that Jesus won for us.

While it’s impossible for man to do it on his own,

Jesus reassures us that, Nothing is impossible for God.

And that God wants us to join Him in Heaven.

We can call him Father, we are His children.

And as we heard in today’s Gospel passage,

This is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.

Do just a few get in?

Jesus has also assured us that he has prepared many rooms for us.

We pray today, as we often do:

May the souls of all the faithful departed,

Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

We might be bold enough to pray:

May the souls of all our departed,

Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.  

With God as our Father, we pray that,
As the Saints go marchin' in,
There be no child left behind.

All Souls Day

Jn 6:37-40  Read this Scripture @usccb.org