In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
And now, with the power of your Son, and with the power of your Holy Spirit.
Our Lady, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
St. Joseph, St. James of the Marsh,
St. Catherine Laboure,
our patron saints and guardian angels,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There's so many things that could be commented on today.
We have today, of course, Thanksgiving Day,
which for any good Catholic should recognize.
We recognize that every day is Thanksgiving,
because we celebrate the Eucharist, which means Thanksgiving.
And that that should always be part and parcel of our daily life of faith,
is to thank God for all the many blessings that he has bestowed upon us,
particularly and especially through his Son, Jesus Christ.
And today, of course, is the feast day of St. James of the Marsh,
a famous Franciscan preacher, missionary,
and St. Catherine Laboure, the recipient of the Miraculous Medal,
who we celebrated yesterday, the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
And I wanted to share with you, because I think this is something that,
from St. James, which is part and parcel of all these different things,
you might say, that ties them all together.
Thanksgiving,
St. James,
St. Catherine Laboure,
even the first reading, you know,
with King Darius and recognizing a pagan,
recognizing God's presence,
and recognizing the true God,
even though he was a pagan and didn't have all the graces that the Jews had,
he recognized that Daniel's God was the true God.
And he praised God for that.
And in many ways, he was open to the truth.
But St. James, in the reading from the saints today,
because he was a great preacher of the Word of God,
he saw the importance of the preaching of the Church.
And we know that our Lord said in the Gospels that faith comes through hearing.
And what is the heard but the Word of God?
Some people say that preaching is kind of a quasi-eighth sacrament of the Church,
you might say.
I would say that it is at least a sacramental,
that the preaching of the Word of God, especially done at Mass,
is a sacramental, because when it's the Word of God that is being preached,
the teaching of the Church, sacred Scripture,
that it is a sacramental because it disposes us to receive grace.
It should help dispose us to be open to receive the grace that God wants to give to us.
And since our Lord says that it is only through the preaching
and the hearing of the Word of God that faith is received,
it would seem to be very much part and parcel of how God gives grace to men.
But St. James says this, and I think it's important that we meditate on this.
He says,
Beloved and most holy Word of God,
you enlighten the hearts of the faithful,
you satisfy the hungry,
console the afflicted.
You make the souls of all productive of good
and cause all virtues to blossom.
You snatch souls from the devil's jaw.
You make the wretched holy,
and men of earth,
citizens of heaven.
When is the Holy Spirit received?
During the preaching of the Word of God.
When do you deplore sins?
When have you forgiven an injury?
During the preaching of God's Word.
When have you put aside ill will?
During the preaching of the Word of God.
When do you acquire patience,
and when have you found a soul that was lost?
During the preaching of God's Word.
When have you come to know God?
During the preaching of God's Word.
When do men steeped in vice become good?
During the preaching of God's Word.
When are countless misdeeds,
homicides,
fornication,
betrayals,
hatreds,
and the like put aside?
During the preaching of the Word of God.
What keeps people in the faith?
The preaching of God's Word.
Because those who do not listen to the Word of God,
are like wild animals.
What destroys errors and heresies?
Preaching the Word of God.
What converted the world?
Preaching the Word of God.
What did Christ command his apostles to do?
To preach.
What plants grace and virtues in souls?
Preaching the Word of God.
Because it is not you who speak.
And the Word of God, I would say,
is very much attached to
why we celebrate St. James of the March,
or St. Catherine Laboure,
or any saint.
And that the Word of God is attached very much
and essentially to the Will of God.
How does God make known His Will
to us and for us?
By His Word.
You might say you could take all that
St. James said and replace that with the Will of God.
When is, you know,
when do people come to faith
by the preaching of God's Will?
You know, when they hear God's Word,
they hear what God wants for them
and intends for them.
And to the degree that we do God's Will,
whether it be a St. James of the March
or St. Catherine Laboure,
two very different types of saints.
One, you know, an active and zealous preacher,
a priest.
The other, a simple religious sister
who all she did was care for elderly men,
and a home for the aged in her day,
and cooked and did laundry
and did simple tasks,
but was a great mystic
who was able to receive a visit
from the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But both of these souls,
and anybody who wants to become a saint,
the key is to do the Will of God.
And for us to be able to do the Will of God,
as St. James would say,
how do we know the Will of God?
It's through the preaching of the Word of God.
And so today as we reflect on Thanksgiving,
for all the things that we are thankful for,
we must thank God that He loves us enough
to put us on this earth
and has made us for one thing.
One thing, you might say above all others,
is to do His Will.
God has created us to be
united with Him.
And the only way we are truly united with Him
is to the degree that we do His Will.
And we all know that the essence of the spiritual life,
in its highest purpose,
you know, why we pray,
why we do penance,
why we come to Mass,
why we receive the sacraments,
is all to help us to do the Will of God.
Because it's in the Will of God
that is our sanctification.
And the mystical marriage
that is the highest of,
you know, you might say the terminal point
of all the things that we do in the interior life,
is really the mystical marriage,
is the uniting of our Will to God's Will
so that for all purposes
we only have one Will,
to do the Will of God.
And so we should be thankful to God
that He has manifested to us
You know, He does every day His Will.
And it's key and essential to the prayer
that He taught His disciples,
you know,
Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
To the degree that we do His Will,
then we will truly be happy,
and we can have a happy Thanksgiving
because we are doing the Will of God.
One of the things that is the Will of God
is that we give Him thanks,
that we thank Him.
Not because God wants us to,
not because God deserves it,
I mean, that He wants it,
of course He deserves it,
but not because He needs it
because He's lacking if we don't thank Him.
We need to thank God
because we are creatures
who need to recognize the Creator
and all that He has blessed us with.
If we don't thank God
and we're not a thankful person,
then we're probably very proud,
like the devil.
Who was created by God,
you know,
to be the highest of the angels,
was given a very special place
in God's plan,
but because of his pride,
not willing to recognize
that he was created
and that God is above all things,
refused to acknowledge
and to accept God's Will.
Thou, you know,
non serviam,
I will not serve.
So we today have to, um,
ask ourselves,
are we doing the Will of God?
Are we truly striving
to know the Will of God
in our life every day?
It's really important
if we start the day out
and have not yet discerned that
or are not at least open,
we have to at least be open
to God's Will.
Say that maybe I,
all that I have planned today,
some of it may not be
what God wants me to do,
and He may manifest
in a very clear way,
you know,
by not permitting some things to happen
and by allowing other things to happen,
that, you know,
He manifests to us His Will
in very clear terms.
And to the degree that we are united
in prayer
and that we seek to know His Will,
we'll be able to recognize,
even in those unexpected events,
or in those things that we don't,
that we would not necessarily recognize,
as being God's Will,
we would have the faith
to see God's hand in it,
even in those things which are bad,
you know, that the evil
that is allowed to happen
or the bad things that happen
are also permitted by God as well
for our sanctification,
for our growth and holiness,
for our,
for an opportunity for us
to exercise virtue,
you know,
Daniel,
in the first reading,
was persecuted.
In many ways,
it sounds just like Christ,
you know,
people were watching
for an opportunity to turn Him over.
And so,
these people knew that Daniel
was a man of God,
that he was worshiping the true God
in private,
you know,
because he wanted to,
to acknowledge the true God.
He wasn't going to do anything
to deny the true God.
And so,
like the men who turned our Lord
over to Pilate,
you know,
they turned Him over,
Daniel,
to King Darius.
And King Darius recognized
he had made a law,
yet he was torn between
the law that he had made
and his love
and respect for Daniel.
So,
he eventually gave in,
but was reluctant to,
to do so.
But in the case of King Darius,
maybe because he was truly a man
who,
who had an openness to the truth,
whereas we can see that
Pontius Pilate did not,
that even as a pagan,
he was at least open to the truth.
God rewarded him
by sparing Daniel as well
from being devoured by the lions.
So that we can also,
you know,
recognize that God permits things
to happen to us at times,
which if we were not people of faith,
we could become quite,
we could despair
or we could become enemies of God
instead of recognizing that He
allows all these things to happen
for a greater purpose.
You know,
today we live in a world
which is quite opposed
to our Christian faith,
is opposed to Catholicism.
That's not that we should become,
you know,
woe me, woe me,
but rather it's an opportunity for us
to witness to the truth.
And as we heard in,
you know,
the book of Apocalypse,
where our Lord relates to Saint John,
who are these all dressed in white robes?
He says,
these are those who have testified,
who have given testimony,
who have shed their blood
for the Lamb of God.
That they have had the faith
and were willing to do God's will
to the utmost,
even to the point
where they would be required
because only God can require for us
to lay down our lives for Him.
So today,
as we celebrate Thanksgiving,
as we celebrate these saints,
you know,
each and every one of us,
our own sanctity,
to the degree that we do God's will,
then someday,
maybe,
even if they don't acknowledge us
on the altar as a saint,
at least at the end of the world,
those who have done the will of God,
who have heard the word of God
and fulfilled it,
as our Lord said
when that woman praised Him
for His mother,
blessed is the womb that bore you
and the breast that nursed you.
What did He say?
He said,
far better is those who heard
the word of God
and kept it,
who heard the word of God
and fulfilled it,
who did the will of God.
Let us pray that we'll truly be
hearing that same kind of praise
for us at the end of our lives,
that we have heard the word of God
and done the will of God,
and to be able to thank Him
for that opportunity every day,
that we are given the opportunity
to do His will,
for it is truly a gift.
For it is truly a gift from God
that we are able to do that.
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.