Friends
Peace be with you.
In the book “Building Better Families”, the Catholic apologist Matthew Kelly advises parents in nine different ways to be Great Leaders for their children. One of the ways he advises is to be a great storyteller to your children. He says in this rather lengthy quote,
The most powerful story you tell the world every day is the story of how you choose to live your life. This story, your story, affects the lives of everyone who crosses your path...and millions of people whom you will never meet or know...But beyond this very intimate story of your life, let us consider the stories we tell each other and our children in conversation. Are we constantly talking about the latest horrific world event or do we talk about the people who we look up to and why? Are we constantly discussing fame and fortune or do we make time to speak of the ordinary people who are our heroes and mentors? Do you tell your children what you loved about your parents and grandparents? Do they know the stories of the teachers and coaches (I would add nuns and priests) who had the most influence on your life? Do they know the story of your life? Have you told them the story of how you met their mother or father? Stories are powerful, and great leaders continuously develop an inspiring repertoire to have on hand when the right moment arises.
Think about this quote in the context of our readings and our celebration for today. It’s All Saints Day, a time for us to remember the named and unnamed saints who are in heaven. Our readings remind us of this. The first reading, from the Book of Revelation, is situated in a part of that book in which six of seven seals are opened and stories are being read, largely of doom and gloom. They’re talking about a coronavirus pandemic and evil politicians and a derecho. Wait, no, that’s us. They’re talking about signs of the end times that they’re experiencing. However, then they get to Chapter 7 and they remind themselves that, as St. Paul says in the second reading, we are called to be children of God, marked not by the symbols of this world, power, pleasure, and wealth, but with the mark of God on our foreheads. Most of us were signed with this mark at baptism and were renewed with it in confirmation when the bishop or priest marked our forehead with sacred chrism, making us among those who have washed our robes in the blood of the lamb and made them white. The world may not know our story but, that’s okay, because that merely means we are living up to that mark on our foreheads even more because the world also didn’t know the story of Jesus or they never would have put him to death.
In the gospel, Jesus tells us why the world wasn’t interested in his story, because he valued what heaven values not what the world valued. He said we’d be blessed, we’d be happiest, when our stories involved mourning, because we will be comforted. Only those who mourn can desire the comfort of God. Jesus’ story was all about being clean or pure of heart, because only by seeking to be like God can we see God, let alone be known by him. Jesus knew first hand that those who are insulted and persecuted because of him will receive a reward great in heaven, that they’d be blessed by him by living like he did.
What is the story of our life thus far? What would people say were our greatest accomplishments and our greatest failures? Where do we find our deepest pleasure but in God himself? How can we be sure that our lives are telling the story of Jesus and not the story of this world?
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