Homily
Solemnity of All Saints
1 November 2022
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
AMDG
Am I afraid of the 'phog?'
Opponents of KU basketball are supposed to beware. The message is clear. The bad guys can't win here. There is too much tradition to overcome, a culture of winning that spans generations, and a fan base that demands basketball is played at the highest level.
Beware of the phog!
The phog that we Catholics play in and pray in today goes much deeper. The 'phog' of the Fieldhouse is a nice metaphor for the cloud of witnesses, the saints, who are urging each of us to victory. The 'phog' which is the intercession of the saints is meant to be unstoppable, so much so that none of us can lose in the quest to become a saint, to participate fully in the eternal and ultimate victory of life over death.
Bill Self's dad famously told him that if he was afraid of losing at Kansas, he shouldn't be the head coach at Kansas. So much so for us. If I'm afraid of the phog, I should move aside and let someone else play for keeps.
Take courage, saints! The victory is at hand to be had. Each of the saints, many of them much worse off at one point than you are, prayed just like you are praying today, with access to the very same graces and mercies that are mine and yours in this Mass. It was enough for them to do the impossible, to conquer fear with love and to pass over from death to life. The transubstantiation of the Eucharist is enough for you too. It's enough for me to be transformed myself, into the saint I was made to be.
What am I ultimately afraid of? I can't be afraid of my chance to truly live! Yet in so many ways I am. My sins show that I am not afraid of death, for I slowly and surely put myself to sleep every time I choose the fantasy of pretending to be someone I'm not. Halloween is easy, putting on a costume to fantasize about who I could be. All Saints day is scary! For today I am confronted by the lives of the saints who are rooting me on to put away my excuses. Today is a singular day for me to decide anew if I will dare to become who I really am, and embrace without excuse the wonderful and terrible responsibility that I have to become a saint.
Today is a singular day to renew my belief in the truth that the greatest tragedy is not to become a saint, and that the future of the world depends on my not being afraid of the phog. This isn't hubris, putting myself at the center of the universe. It's having the courage to engage the reality of who I am and what I was made for.
In the end I believer there are two fears. I'm either more afraid of death, or life. Pray God let is not be the latter. Pray God let me not be afraid of the 'phog.'
+mj
