Saints in Our Midst Today

(The Feast of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco) (July 2,2005)

Right now, we are in the midst of a number of celebrations of the saints. Last Sunday was the Sunday of All Saints; today we celebrate St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco; and tomorrow, all the saints of Russia. But this is appropriate as we begin the season after Pentecost, for saints, among other things, reveal the great glory and greater mercy and grace of God. They make known to us the reality of God’s grace and mercy; they make known to us the truth that the Day of Pentecost was not merely an event that took place “long ago and far away.” The truth is that the Holy Spirit is always and continually present in the Church and in the world – and in us. We are also called to be saints.

There are people alive today who remember when St. John was present in his earthly life, when they saw him serve the Divine Liturgy, and the other services of the Church. They saw this holy man of God in their midst, preaching the Gospel of our salvation in words and in deeds, caring for his flock, visiting the sick and the troubled and the poor and the needy. They may have seen a miracle; they may have been blessed by a miracle. Not everyone recognized him as a saint while he was with them; indeed, some opposed him, and tried to have him removed as their bishop. But today, he is greatly loved and revered; and no one I know of who has been to his relics at our cathedral in San Francisco has not been moved – and this includes people who are not – at least, not yet – Orthodox Christians. It is amazing, that we can be in the presence of this holy man of God even today; and all who call upon him for his prayers are answered.

There are saints in our midst today – maybe even here, in this part of the body of Christ known as Holy Archangels Orthodox Church. If there aren’t, there should be! If there aren’t, it is because we are not willing to make the struggle, to take the steps necessary to live more fully the life given to us in our baptism, the life in which we are guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit given to us in our chrismation, the life nourished in us when we receive the wondrous grace of God in the Holy Mysteries – the same mysteries which strengthened and sustained our holy father John of Shanghai and San Francisco – the same mysteries by which he was sanctified. Do we not, when we receive in worthy fashion, prepared by confession and repentance and prayer and fasting, receive the same grace in the same mysteries? If we do – and we do – it stands to reason that our lives should more closely resemble the life of our holy father John. If the resemblance is missing, who is responsible, except each one of us?

Brothers and sisters, called to be saints: Let us love God more than we love ourselves. Let us love the ways He has appointed for us to keep more than we love the things and pleasures of this world. Let us pray, and fast, as did St. John; let us give to the poor, and did St. John; and let us struggle against our sins, as did St. John, calling upon him to help us to do what he has done, and does even now, showing forth in himself, and in us, the life of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

Holy hierarch, Father John, pray to God for us!