Saints, a summary of my Solemnity of All Saints homily

There are so many ways, so many things we can say about the saints. By and large though, who are the saints? First, we can say they are people in heaven. But! To be more relatable, they are people like you and I who sought to live out their faith to the best of their ability. They are people who took their faith seriously, even those whose histories were at times somewhat checkered. As the saints took their faith seriously, they listened to what God called them to do with their lives and they made God's will theirs. Sort of like Bartimeus in the Gospel last week who when Jesus said to him, "Go on your way," chose to make his way, the way of Christ as Bartimeus with his new found sight, followed the Lord. For us in this day and age, faced with the fact that we are the saints of today, we are called to claim our own sense of sainthood in our lives. Contrary to the casual laxidaisical comment: I'm not worthy; nothing could be further from the truth. What makes us saints is if we, like those before us, seek to live out our faith to the best of our ability everyday in every way and follow where the Lord calls us to be. It is possible for each and everyone of us to do this, it simply comes down to a choice to do so. Dear Lord, who calls us to be the saints of today, help us be unwaivering witnesses to you, now and forever more. Amen!