I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU HAVE EVER HEARD OF SAINT JOSEPH MOSCATI. HE DIED IN 1927. HE WAS A PHYSICIAN IN ITALY, WHO PIONEERED SOME OF THE EARLY RESEARCH WITH INSULIN. HE WAS ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED FOR A BRIEF PERIOD, BUT ULTIMATELY HIS FIANCE DECIDED THAT HE WAS TOO DEDICATED TO HIS MEDICAL PRACTICE. SHE BROKE OFF THE ENGAGEMENT AND ULTIMATELY MARRIED A MAN WHO WAS A MEMBER OF THE FASCIST PARTY OF ITALY. HE HAD HAD A PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIP AND THAT HAD RESULTED IN A SON. HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT. ONE DAY HE WENT TO TALK TO MOSCATI, WHO STILL MAINTAINED A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WOMAN AND HER HUSBAND. MOSCATI TOLD HIM THAT HE HAD A CHILD, AND TOLD HIM WHERE HE COULD FIND THE CHILD, AND URGED HIM TO BRING THE CHILD INTO HIS OWN HOME, BECAUSE THE MOTHER HAD DIED. LATER, THE MAN FOUND THAT MOSCATI HIMSELF HAD DIED SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE ALL THIS TOOK PLACE. IN THE MIRACLES THAT RESULTED IN HIS CANONIZATION – A CURE OF LEUKEMIA, A CURE OF END STAGE ADDISON'S DISEASE, AND A CURE OF MENINGITIS, IN EACH CASE HE APPEARED TO THE SICK PERSON AND ASSURED THEM OF THE CURE WHICH ULTIMATELY TOOK PLACE. IT APPEARS THAT DOCTOR MOSCATI KEPT BUSY EVEN AFTER HE DIED.
THIS IS THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS. WE ARE CELEBRATING THE FEAST OF ALL SOULS, HOWEVER. IT IS WHAT THE CHURCH CALLS A FIRST CLASS FEAST, WHICH MEANS THAT IF IT FALLS ON A SUNDAY, THE READINGS FOR THE FEAST REPLACE THE READINGS FOR THE SUNDAY. CHRISTMAS AND A FEW OTHER FEAST DAYS SHARE THIS CHARACTERISTIC. SO IT MUST BE PRETTY IMPORTANT – AND IT IS, BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT YOU AND I AND HOW IMPORTANT WE ARE TO THE FATHER. AS THE GOSPEL TELLS US, THE FATHER'S WILL IS THAT EVERYONE WHO LOOKS TO THE SON AND BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE IN PURGATORY. IN THE MIDDLE AGES, IT WAS CONCEIVED OF AS A PLACE – SOME ARGUED THAT IT WAS JUST LIKE HELL, BUT THE PEOPLE SUFFERING THERE KNEW THAT IT WOULD END SOMEDAY. I SUSPECT IT ISN'T A PLACE AT ALL, AT LEAST WITH RESPECT TO WHAT WE MEAN BY PLACE. OUR IMAGINATIONS, BOUND BY TIME AND SPACE, CAN'T STRETCH FAR ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH. ONE COMPARISON I LIKE IS THAT IF YOU ARE OUT WORKING IN YOUR GARDEN, GETTING ALL DIRTY, AND SOMEONE CALLS YOU TO COME TO SUPPER, YOU ARE GOING TO DELIBERATELY GO AND WASH, AND MAYBE PUT ON A CLEAN SHIRT BEFORE SITTING DOWN FOR SUPPER. THE GREAT SAINTS WHO WERE MUCH MORE AWARE OF THEIR SINFULNESS THAN WE ARE, INDICATED THIS IDEA IN THEIR OWN WRITINGS. PURGATORY IS SOMETHING WE CHOOSE OURSELVES, SO THAT WE CAN BE COMPLETELY PREPARED FOR THE GREAT BANQUET.
THERE IS AN ELDERLY LADY I VISIT. SHE KNOWS THAT SHE DOESN'T HAVE LONG TO LIVE. SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE WASN'T ASKING FOR HEAVEN; SHE JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT TO PURGATORY. BUT GOD DOESN'T WANT THAT FOR ANY OF US. PURGATORY IS NOT WHAT ANY CHRISTIAN SHOULD WANT – WE SHOULD LONG FOR HEAVEN.
LIKE PURGATORY, WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HEAVEN IS ALL ABOUT. JESUS CALLS IT “ETERNAL LIFE”. WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF OUR BODIES. WE TALK ABOUT THE “BEATIFIC VISION” WHICH REFERS TO THE FACT THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE GOD IN SOME WAY, SOME WAY THAT WILL FILL US UP SO COMPLETELY THAT WE WILL NOT WANT ANYTHING MORE. BUT THAT DOESN'T TELL US MUCH ABOUT HEAVEN EITHER.
I THINK, HOWEVER, THAT WE CAN SAY SOME THINGS ABOUT HEAVEN, KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT OURSELVES. WE HUMAN BEINGS ARE MADE TO WORK. A FEW OF US HAVE LOUSY JOBS, BUT MANY OF US HAVE WORKED IN FIELDS WHERE WE ENJOYED MUCH OF WHAT WE DID. I KNOW I ENJOYED PRACTICING MEDICINE. AND IF WE COULD TAKE AWAY ALL THAT IS BAD ABOUT WORK – GETTING TIRED, HAVING LOUSY BOSSES, HAVING EMPLOYEES WHO WERE NOT QUITE AS BAD AS THEY NEEDED TO BE TO BE FIRED; WORRIES ABOUT MONEY; HAVING TO COMPROMISE BECAUSE OF OUTSIDE PRESSURES, I THINK WE COULD ALL AGREE THAT WORK WOULD BE MORE LIKE PLAY; IT WOULD CONSUME US.
WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE THAT THE BLESSED MOTHER IS IN HEAVEN, BODY AND SOUL; AND WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT HER? SHE KEEPS BUSY. SHE KEEPS APPEARING TO PEOPLE BRINGING THEM THE SAME MESSAGE SHE GAVE THE YOUNG COUPLE AT CANA: DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU. WE KNOW SHE INTERCEDES FOR US; SHE HAS THE FATHER'S EAR BECAUSE SHE IS THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN. AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT HEAVEN WILL BE LIKE FOR ALL OF US. IN SOME WAY WE WILL SHARE IN THE WORK GOD STILL PLANS, THE WORK OF BRINGING EVERYTHING IN CREATION BACK TO GOD.
GREEK ORTHODOX THEOLOGIANS TALK ABOUT “THEOSIS”. THEY SAY THAT THE ULTIMATE DESTINY OF HUMAN BEINGS IS TO BECOME GOD-LIKE. IF, AFTER ALL, WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD, SURELY IT ISN'T UNREALISTIC TO EXPECT THAT WHEN WE GROW UP, WE WILL BE LIKE HIM. AND GOD, AS SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS TOLD US, IS PURE ACT, PURE ACTION. THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT GOD THAT STANDS STILL. YOU HEARD THAT WONDERFUL READING FROM THE BOOK OF WISDOM WHICH DESCRIBES THE FUTURE OF THOSE WHO DIE IN THE LORD:
“IN THE TIME OF THEIR VISITATION THEY SHALL SHINE,
AND SHALL DART ABOUT AS SPARKS THROUGH STUBBLE;
THEY SHALL JUDGE NATIONS AND RULE OVER PEOPLES,
AND THE LORD SHALL BE THEIR KING FOREVER."
WE PRAY THAT OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS AND RELATIVES HAVE ETERNAL REST. BUT PERHAPS WE SHOULD PRAY THAT THEY ARE GIVEN THE PURE UNADULTERATED WORK THAT GIVES THEM TRUE JOY, THE WORK THAT COMPLETELY FILLS THEM UP AS HUMAN BEINGS, WHO WERE CREATED TO WORK, EVEN BEFORE ORIGINAL SIN, WHEN GOD TOLD ADAM TO CARE FOR THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
ST JOSEPH MOSCATI WORKED AFTER HIS DEATH AND CONTINUES TO WORK. THE MOTHER OF JESUS CONTINUES TO SHOW HERSELF TO HER CHILDREN AND URGE THEM TO LISTEN TO HER SON. AND YOU AND I WILL WORK IN THE NEXT LIFE, AS WE DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO MAKE THE EARTH, OUR HOME, LIKE HEAVEN.
