This is how we transform the world……..One “pure drop of water” can do more then 1000 graduates from Harvard or Yale…If you are who you were meant to be, you will set the world on fire!

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Matthew…In this text Matthew writes about the genealogy of Jesus…He notes…”the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generations”…….While Jesus was God, he was also “fully man”, born into a family, like all of us…And as with every family, there are all kinds of people in it…Saints and sinners alike…I read a commentary this morning about this particular Gospel from a Trappist Monk…This is what he said….”God creates and transforms from what he already created, he does not contradict himself, nor does he scrap everything at a troubled moment in order to start again “from scratch”. His Son is born within time from a race of saints, sinners, ruffians, exiles, wisemen, poets, quarrelers”……..As it is with all of our families - What can we learn from this reality?…That God works with and uses everyday and normal people…God can transform a person into his instrument, which will produce an enormous amount of good in the world…I don’t think we believe that! - Why?…….Because we allow the world to “label us”…To “limit” us…And we believe the lie too!……All you have to do is read the lives of the saints…They were no different then you….The Council of Vatican II wrote about what is commonly referred to in Catholic circles as the universal call to holiness…..That means, not just the clergy can become holy…Holiness is for everyone and it is possible…We have been given as Catholics all the tools we need by the Catholic Church to become a holy people…And sadly, most people do not utilize these tools nor do we prioritize this goal - To become holy…..I will publicly state this right now…There is no greater goal to strive for on this earth than to become a holy person….There is no greater achievement!…..Why?……Because one “pure drop of water” can do more than 1000 graduates from Harvard or Yale……God can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary…Why should we settle for the ordinary?

“O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!”

If you have ever met someone who was truly holy, you will remember that person for the rest of your life…I have been blessed to have encountered many holy people…Most of them were nuns…But I have also met many selfless “regular people”, like you and me, who have witnessed these holy nuns and in turn gave their lives to serving their fellow men and women…There is power contained in a holy life - Such a witness is contagious - Saints make other saints!….When a person sees for themself what holiness really looks like…A person will want that “something” and ask, "Why can't I be like that too?"……..When I was going to India to serve with Mother Teresa’s sisters every December I met a lot of interesting people from around the world…One of those people was a retired nurse from Bologna, Italy named Teresa…Teresa never married and when she retired in her fifties she traveled to Kolkata to meet Mother Teresa….When she met Mother Teresa, Mother Teresa told Teresa from Italy, we need you to stay in Kolkata!….How does one respond to such a bold request from a world famous saint?….So Teresa, the retired nurse from Bologna, Italy spent 30 years of her retirement (spending 8 months of each year) in Kolkata India serving along side Mother Teresa’s sisters…I met Teresa when she was very old…..One year we both rented rooms in a Church not far from the Missionaries of Charity Convent …..Mass was always at 6:00am…At 5:00am, I would smell Teresa making Italian coffee before Mass..She was an old woman at this point - I always admired how brave she was - She traveled to India all alone…..Teresa, the simple retired nurse encountered Mother Teresa…And that one encounter propelled her to become a holy person…Because saints make other saints!…The last year I was in India and saw Teresa we were both working at the Home for the Dying and the Destitute…One morning, a poor street woman came into the home ready to have a baby - The woman was heavily pregnant….Teresa the nurse from Bologna Italy, who was almost 80 years old delivered the baby all by herself - No doctor needed!…… This story is another example of God taking an “average person” and transforming them into something they never thought possible…..Because to become holy is possible…Its the greatest thing you can do while you walk this earth….It is something we were ALL created to become - A holy people!……This is how we transform the world……..One “pure drop of water” can do more then 1000 graduates from Harvard or Yale…If you are who you were meant to be, you will set the world on fire!

“Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever”

Today’s gospel from Mass tells us a little bit about the family of Jesus…How his family was far from perfect….Just like all of our families…However from that very “normal” family came the savior of the world…Now, none of us are called to save the world - That job has been taken, however, each of us are called to become holy and a holy life is within the grasp of every person - We each have something very special to do!.....…Like anything else in life, you have to really want it!…You need to make it your life’s priority…And if you make this decision….If you strive to follow the Carpenter from Nazareth with reckless abandon…Trust me when I tell you this….Your life’s example will set the world around you on fire!…Don’t believe me?…Just ask a simple retired nurse from Bologna Italy….One encounter with a holy person changed the direction of her life forever…She was transformed…And the rest is history….This is how we transform the world……..One “pure drop of water” can do more then 1000 graduates from Harvard or Yale…If you are who you were meant to be, you will set the world on fire!