I want to point out the stand to my right on the altar which are relics. In the Catholic Church we honor the saints even to the point of keeping their body fragments as not only a sign of their presence but their constant intercession for us.

It started very early in the church. If you read the Acts of the Apostles when Peter was walking down the street people would bring their ill people and lay them there just so his shadow would go by because a lot of times when the shadow covered that person they were healed. Or if you read Acts 19 where Paul is in Ephesus, people would come up to him, take a hankie, touch him and take that hankie to the sick person and touch them and the sick person would get healed. So it didn’t take long for the early church to begin realizing that God who dwells in his saints also doesn’t take back the gifts he gave them. They continue to work miracles for people who pray to them and ask for their intercession.

Some are really outstanding. Here= s a nun in the eighth century, she was very holy, she dies and in those days they buried everybody in the same cemetery so as the group of nuns are taking her to the grave another group is coming. A young man had died and as they crossed the young man rose up. Of course then everybody knew in the village that this was a very holy nun and they made a shrine and they prayed to her. There= s all kinds of saints and there= s all kinds of interesting things that you can have fun with if you are interested in history and the power of saints.

For instance, I was in Mexico and in this big cathedral there are icons made out of little pieces of silver. In Mexico when they get healed they have a custom of making, let= s say they broke their arm, they would make an arm in silver and give it to the church. There are so many of them that they have melted down a lot of them and made his casket out of silver. There he is incorruptible laying there on his side, the only trouble was he had a big nose and gravity is slowly pulling it down. But otherwise he continues to do the work while he was on earth. On one side of his casket are the petitions on the other side are the answers. He died in the 1600 so he= s still working for the church and for the Lord's kingdom. I have to say this because I= m a teacher, of course, and I don= t like to see the relics and maybe not explain them to some of you who have no idea of why we venerate the saints.

But it does raise the issue, what= s the common denominator of all the saints? They are all friends of God. Do you really appreciate the fact that you are baptized and you= re friend of God? Now it= s nice to have the boss on your side, it seems to me. Do you really appreciate this and does it impact on your life?

Rick Warner, a good Protestant, wrote an interesting book that became a best seller called The Purpose Driven Life, the subtitle is What On Earth Am I Here For? In other words, a lot of people even though they= re on earth just live their life without really focusing on their eternal purpose. So the net result is they waste their life. There= s many ways to waste your life and it= s sad really, very sad because instead of growing and blossoming and becoming the person God meant you to be you actually waste all that time and may not make it at all to heaven. So it’s a very important thing. What did Jesus say about friends? He says: A I no longer call you servants but I call you my friend because what the Father has revealed to me I have shared with you.@ So we know the journey and we know the power that God has given us. In fact, Paul tells us A work out your salvation in fear and trembling because God is working in you to act and to accomplish his purpose in you.@ So that= s really a consolation. You don= t have to kind of go to college or get some degree or do some kind of thing, God is already working on you. The question is, are you paying attention and are you responding?

Let me give you kind of an extreme example and then we’ll talk about it. Here= s James Jamison, he= s in prison. He was a Catholic. At least he was baptized Catholic. He’s in prison because he was in a robbery and he killed somebody and then he figured well, if I killed somebody I= m already in trouble so he kept up that way of life until finally he was caught. Now he’s in prison for life. There he is in his cell with his cell mate and they’re watching TV. They happen to flip on the Catholic station of Mother Angelica and they’re discussing Medjagoria, that is the place in Yugoslavia where the Blessed Mother has been appearing for many, many years. As he's listening to this program he begins to realize he could go to hell. Because all the things they= re discussing, sins, etc., he did. So he= s getting nervous and so he talks to his cell mate and says, A Can you imagine this the Blessed Mother is appearing to people in Yugoslavia?@ His cell mate says, "Who is the Blessed Mother?" So he figured that= s useless. So he went out in the compound and began to pray and reflect. He became more and more aware that he was in trouble before the Lord. The Ladies Guild of the local parish which came to visit would come and bring cookies and stuff, and also they would bring their pamphlets to convert the prisoners. He was looking over the pamphlets and he found a pamphlet called Consecration to the Blessed Mother by St. Louis DeMontfort. He said, "If a saint has something to say I had better read this.@ So he read it and he saw the promises given to those who repent and consecrate themselves to the Blessed Mother. The next time the chaplain came he almost choked him. A I want you to follow this ritual perfectly. I want to go to confession. I want to start my life all over!" So he consecrated himself to the Blessed Mother and then he began to think about his cell mates and the prisoners. He thought, man, all these people they may go to hell. I better help them. He began to form prayer groups and eventually he not only formed a prayer group in that prison but got permission to go to other prisons and build the life of people. He sought the eternal good of his neighbor which is the depth and the breadth, and the height of what a Christian does. A Christian is the person who seeks your good, a good that lasts for eternity.

So the real question is, have you decided to become your real identity? You are a child of God and you are a friend of God. But it requires a stance, a decision and that means that you have to put things into practice. So where in your life is the Lord touching you right now? Where is he nudging you and saying, "Look, this is not good behavior, this is not going in the right direction, get it straightened out. I want to help you." If we= re really going to profit from this feast that reminds us that this is the goal of our life God wants to give us a share in his glory.

I don= t know if you ever think about the Transfiguration, when Jesus is in all glory or the Resurrection, that= s what God wants to give each and every one of us here. Just think of your neighbor= s and those people you have difficulty with if they persevere in the right way they= re going to be filled with glory. You too. That= s what God is offering.

I hope that as the Mass continues we’ll pray for each other and especially ask for the grace to make sure we understand our identity and make a decision for it. Because that= s the beginning of your transformation and to become not only a child of God but to share God= s glory.