The Present of the Saints, Our Glorious Future!

 (Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints)

          The Holy Mother Church teaches the simultaneous existence of the Church in heaven, on earth and in purgatory. As we celebrate all the saints today both canonized and non-canonized, we prefigure the celebration in heaven. And as a matter of fact, today’s feast reminds us of the Church in heaven (The Triumphant Church). The pertinent question we might ask ourselves is this: who are the saints? The saints are not perfect beings or those who became righteous solely as a result of their human effort. Rather the saints are or were human beings like us who made a sincere effort in collaborating with the grace of God. Holiness indeed is not a state that one can achieve by one’s personal effort, it’s God’s gift. It equally reminds us of the continuity and unity between the pilgrimage Church on earth and the triumphant Church in heaven. The solemnity of All Saints is for each and every one of us an invitation and a reminder to holiness of life, which is the vocation of all the baptized. Our Eucharistic celebration today begins (Entrance Antiphon) with the invitation to joy, which the Church as Mother and Teacher directs to all of us, thus:

 

                                            Let us all rejoice in the Lord, as we celebrate the feast day in honour of all the Saints, at whose festival the Angels rejoice and praise the Son of God.

 

         In today’s first reading (Ap. 7:2-4.9-14) John recounts a vision he received about the heavenly celebration of the saints. The words of the book of Apocalypse in the seventh chapter are illuminating: “I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted aloud, “victory to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb” (7:9-10). The number of saints cannot be counted. The number of 144,000 is a multiple of 12, which in turn is four times three, that is the sum of what has no measure, which reaches the extremes of the four cardinal points of the earth. These saints are of every race, people and culture, of every age, sex, state or profession. The latest popes, but especially John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have highlighted this universality, by beatifying and canonizing numerous men and women of faith in the different continents. The number is without measure, because in truth a saint is everyone who lives and dies in a state of grace and in friendship with God. Besides, he was equally told why they are in heaven, “These are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb” (Ap. 7:14). The saints in heaven were faithful to God despite the many hardships and persecutions they had to endure. Little wonder, they have been crowned and graced with white robes. The saints won victory over trials and tribulations through their collaboration with the grace of God. St. Paul captured the efficacy of divine grace when he opined that “what I am now I am through the grace of God” (1Cor 15:10).

          Furthermore, many a times, we are confronted with the question, “why do we pray to the saints?” We pray through the saints because they can help us on our sojourn towards heaven, because they are already there. John saw an earlier vision when he narrated that he “saw golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints” (Ap. 5:8). So they can intercede for us, and they do intercede for us. The prayers of the saints are powerful. In fact, before the beatification or canonization of a saint there is always a preceding miracle. More than that, the vision of the author about heaven gives meaning to our long and existence here on earth, it reveals that we are not wandering here on earth, we have heaven in view.

          Today’s Gospel periscope (Mt 5:1-12) features the episode of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, his teaching on the Beatitudes. Jesus is master of the beatitudes. In the Sermon on the Mount, He expressed in a glaring manner what he had lived and would have lived until his death. He proclaims blessed the poor, and he will have nowhere to lay his head (Lk. 9:58). Blessed are the meek, and he defines himself as meek and humble of heart (Mt. 11:29). Blessed are those who weep, and he wept before Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and does not receive those who are sent to it (Lk. 19:41). Blessed are the pure in heart, and sin never lurked in his heart, to the point of asking: "Which of you can convince me of sin?" (Jn. 8:46). Blessed are the peacemakers, and Jesus is the prince of peace, who enters Jerusalem on a donkey, like a peaceful king (Mt. 21: 1-5), also we remember his words to Peter: "Put your sword back in its sheath, because all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt. 26:52). Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice; Jesus had no other food than the will of the Father (Jn. 4:34) and his thirst is none other than the redemption of the world (Jn. 19:28). Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice, and he was treated as a criminal and led to the torture of the cross (cf. Lk. 23, 1-25).  Indeed, it has been often observed that the beatitudes describe the life of Christ himself. The beatitudes that were proclaimed by him were not abstract precepts or theoretical enunciations, rather they are portraits of Jesus himself, who first lived and experienced them integrally. He is the poor in spirit per excellence, the One who hungers and thirsts for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, peace-maker and the persecuted. It is necessary to clarify the thoughts of Jesus, thus, by proclaiming blessed or happy some categories of people in certain life conditions, Jesus didn’t intend to exalt or to beatify the situations of suffering and pain that would be a sort of masochism. The saints and therefore the disciples of Jesus Christ. Like Christ and with him, the saints are the champions of the beatitudes. Among them, there are those who excelled in a special way in a particular beatitude. Nonetheless, today’s celebration has to lead us to spiritual introspection, we have to cross-examine ourselves and see if we are making effort to sanctify ourselves and those around us.

          The first beatitude proclaimed by Jesus which summarizes all the discourse on the mount, is according to Mathew: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs”, that is, blessed, happy are those who choose to be poor. Poverty in spirit does not signify only interior detachment, of the heart from earthly things, but it also signifies poverty, a choice, not imposed by necessity or suffered out of a particular circumstance. The poor in spirit is one who renounces the accumulation of earthly things, who chooses to live without making money, power and carrier absolutes, who refuses the idolatry of money and of power. But this does not mean to wallow in idleness and fatalism, rather it hinges on not counting on human means and security. They are those who have placed their trust in the Lord, convinced that He does not disappoint, and that is why they are happy and blessed. Little wonder, at the heart of today’s Gospel the word “Blessed” was repeated for nine good times. The second beatitude: “blessed are those who mourn”, does not mean that God is pleased when people suffer or are in sorrow. In the prophecy of Isaiah, those who mourn are those that do not have house to live in or fields to cultivate, those their fathers’ heritage has been taken away from them by foreigners, as such, they suffer injustice and humiliation (cf. Is. 61:7); to these categories of people, those that are heart-broken, those who sit in ashes and those who mourn (cf. 61:3) Jesus announces a message of hope in the beatitudes.      

          A profound reflection on this passage reveals that the saints are men and women of Beatitudes. Little wonder, at the heart of today’s Gospel the word “Blessed” was repeated for nine good times. The beatitudes are proclaimed by Jesus in a fascinating way. The choice of the Mount by Mathew for this sermon is in line with his conception of these sets of teachings as the new law, which corresponds with the old law given by Moses on Mount Sinai. For Mathew Jesus is the new law giver, the second Moses. Though for Luke the Sermon took place on the plain. Indeed, it has been often observed that the beatitudes describe the life of Christ himself. And as such, in connection to ‘All Saints” it denotes that all saints are those who manifested a Christ-like character as expressed in the beatitudes. St. Paul in his letters uses the word “Holy” to denote many a times, what should be the spiritual existential state of Christians and their vocation: “to all God’s holy people in Christ” (Phil. 1:1); “to God’s holy people, faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1); “to God’s holy people in Colossae” (Col. 1:2); “To you all, God’s beloved in Rome, called to be his holy people” (Rm.1:7).

          Be that as it may, the road to sanctity or holiness is the road of the Beatitudes. Spiritual poverty or humility and detachment from the things of this world, meekness and the rejection of violence, bearing pains, thirst for justice, comprehension and mercy towards ones neighbour, purity of heart, spirit of peace: are the roads to holiness. And the saints we are celebrating today teach us by their exemplary life that it is a road that can be plied by all. However, we may ask a pertinent question thus: why are these categories of people proclaimed blessed by Jesus? Not because to them Jesus assured success and wealth, but they are blessed because the “Good News” of God’s kingdom has been announced to them, and they were disposed to welcome it, from here springs joy, happiness and blessedness. We too can be called blessed if we welcome the Good news and all that it comports, for by so doing we will be on the road to holiness.

          God wants us all to be holy according to our vocation and our living conditions. Nobody should feel excluded, however unworthy the person considers himself or herself. For this reason, God does not ask us for anything extraordinary, since, if it were so, only some would be capable of attaining holiness. He asks us only to live, in the simplicity of daily life, the spirit of the Beatitudes, making it present in everything we will undertake every day. He asks us to carry out our daily task in honesty and joyfulness. He asks us to live our family life happily, as fathers, spouses, children, brothers, grandchildren.  He asks us to always give a good example to others, wherever we are. He asks us to help those most in need, even when we ourselves are poor and suffer from needs. He asks us to raise our hearts to God during the day, to praise him, bless him, thank him and adore him.

          Interestingly, the second reading (1Jn 3:1-3), invites us to aspire to be where the saints are. So that, there present can become our future. He reminds us that heaven is our destination, and this is the first message emanating from this passage that we have to take to heart, “we are God’s children, but what we shall be in the future has not yet been revealed. We are well aware that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is” (v.2). As such, St. John enjoins us: “surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ” (1Jn 3:3). This passage brings to our consciousness the fact that the divine life that will be manifest in the hereafter, is already present here.

          Above all else however, with the Solemnity of all Saints the Church draws our attention to few paramount messages: ►That Heaven is our destination, as St. John said, “Beloved we are now children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed we shall see Him as He is” (1Jn 3:2). Analogically, St. Paul expresses that “for now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face” (1Cor 13:12). Really the saints are beholding God face to face. And we hope to do same too! ►The second message comes from the first reading, the fact that we are all called to holiness. St. Peter affirms this when he vehemently posited: “this is the will of God: your sanctification” (1Pt 1:15-16). The conciliar document of Vatican II reminds us equally of this universal call to holiness (LG 40). We are not called to an exceptional holiness, rather we are all (the first reading talks about a great multitude from every nation, race, people and language) called to essential holiness. We pray that the Saints may continue to intercede for us on our journey of perfectibility, so that we too may become partakers of the saints in light!

May the Saints continue to intercede for us!! Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M. C. Unegbu, SC)