THE SAINTS NEXT-DOOR.

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November 1, 2021
Solemnity of All Saints.

READINGS: Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6; 1 Jn3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a.

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” (Mt 5:12a)

A Hebrew proverb says: “Whoever has not tasted sinfulness does not qualify for holiness.” And an Italian proverb adds: “All saints do not work miracles.”

Communion and fellowship with the Saints is one of the articles of our Catholic faith. We profess in the Creed that we believe in the Communion of Saints. From there, the Saints become our daily companions of life.

In the liturgical calendar, every single day has its mentioned saint. So, the whole year, one after another, plenty of known saints are namely commemorated. The Saints, however, are more than those we recall in one year. And not only so, but many other saints are also unknown. Today's feast celebrates all those unknown saints who, we believe, are now in Heaven. Holiness is within everyone's reach. Through the Communion of the Saints, each part of the Mystical Body of Christ that is the Church helps every other to grow towards holiness.

The solemnity of the All Saints teaches us two great lessons: that holiness is our common vocation and at reach, and that Saints are our next-door's neighbors.

The Saints Next-door is an expression borrowed from Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, entitled “Gaudete et exsultate” (Rejoice and be glad). It speaks of the call for universal holiness. Francis praises parents who raise children with “immense love” and who work hard to support their families, and he concludes, “Very often it is a holiness found in our next-door neighbors, those who, living in our midst, reflect God’s presence.” He calls such folks: “the middle class of holiness”

Holiness is a reflection or replication of God's presence and love in our daily existence. As such, holiness is to be pursued in every single gesture, action, word that one puts every day. It is to live thirsting for trinitarian perfection, though holiness is not a search for perfectionism. The Catechist says: “This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called "heaven." Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.” CCC 1024.

In today’s liturgy, the first reading raises the point on the universality of holiness. The Apostle John, in his vision, says to have seen a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe, and language. It is clear that the flock of Saints is huge, but not only is it huge, but God also makes no discrimination. All are called and welcomed to the banquet of holiness. The salvation of Christ is opened to all.

Then, how can we become saints today? Here thus, the concept of the Saints Next-door's gets its meaning. God wants us to be like him, to see him face to face and be with him. That is why he created us. That is what we are called for. Sainthood is our primary vocation, and holiness is at reach for all. We are created in the image and likeness of God. We are also called to be Christlike, to imitate Jesus' life in all we do. For, the Christian life is an imitation of Christ and a ‘Sequela Christi’.

However, we can fully achieve that vocation and incarnate Christ only through a life of Beatitude. The Beatitudes are the vade-mecum of perfect Christian life. They provide us with eight shortcuts to perfection and sanctity. They are the eight attributes of the Kingdom of God and the perfect summary of Jesus' life. The Lord is the first "Poor in Spirit", expression of the continual need of God. The Lord is in those who mourn. The Lord is the perfection of meekness. For he is gentle, lowly, humble. The Lord shines in those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He came to seek justice in this world. The Lord is the perfection of mercy. The Lord is purity per excellence. In him, there is no corruption, no fraud, no stain of sin. The Lord is the greatest peacemaker. For that reason, he reconciles himself with the sinners. The Lord is the first persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

Reading step by step the life of Jesus, we can only exclaim that Jesus is the Beatitudes made flesh. As his followers, he teaches us the way to perfection by inviting us to incarnate in our lives those Beatitudes. To be a saint today is to walk that way of the Beatitudes. This, even though demanding, is at reach for all. Sainthood is next to us.

With the present situation of the COVID-19 in which the world is immersed, the Saints Next-doors are those hidden heroes who day after day sacrifice their lives to save others' life. The medical and healthcare workers (doctors and nurses), the food and agriculture workers, manufacturing, corrections and penitentiary workers, grocery store workers, transportation and logistics workers, food services, religious and spiritual leaders, Media workers, humanitarian workers... These people, through their abnegation and daily sacrifices for the suffering brother, incarnate Christ in his compassion and care for the needy. This solemnity of the All-Saints Day is a call for us to praise God in the sacrifice of these heroes and also to become ourselves heralds of holiness in the little things we do in the ordinary of our lives. For, holiness means to live in an extraordinary way the ordinary of our life.

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