REJOICE WITH THE SAINTS.
November 1, 2023.
Solemnity of All Saints.
"Let us all rejoice in the Lord, as we celebrate the
feast day in honor of all the Saints, at whose festival the Angels rejoice and
praise the Son of God."
A Sicilian proverb says: “Blessed is the one who cares for
his soul.” An Ivorian proverb adds: “Happy is a man who goes hunting for rats
and catches an elephant.”
Today is a day of great rejoicing. The whole assembly of
believers is brought together to celebrate our common vocation, which is
holiness. The Church, both in Heaven and on Earth, is invited to celebrate the
triumph of God's grace, which makes all of us sharers in the holiness of God
himself. In the Book of Leviticus, the Lord exhorted his people: "For I am
the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am
holy." Lev 11:44. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus emphasized this call to
holiness and made it a must: "You therefore must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48 The Apostles Peter and Paul will not cease
calling the people to embrace that holiness of life. It is something we are
urged to practice while living here on earth. And our ancestors in faith, who
have already completed their earthly journey and lived holy lives, now
intercede for us so that, one day, we too, may be united with them around the
glorious banquet that God, in his merciful love prepares for all the peoples.
What we celebrate today is not only our common and universal
vocation but also the concretization of what we profess in the Credo when we
say: "I believe in... the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body and life everlasting." We profess a
tripartite communion that forms the three dimensions of the Church: The Militant,
the Suffering, and the Triumphant Church. The Militant Church is you and me,
who are still alive, rambling or walking on this earth, in this valley of life
and tears with all our struggles to correspond to God's will. The Suffering
Church are our deceased brothers and sisters, the souls on a journey of
purification before entering God's glory. And the Triumphant Church is the
Saints, those who have been found worthy to enter God's embrace and inherit his
glorious kingdom.
There is an intimate and unbreakable communion between these
three entities of the Church. The Militant Church sings the glory of God and
gives him praise for the Saints. We also offer intercession prayers for the
souls, of our Suffering brothers and sisters in a period of purification. And
the Triumphant Church serves as a channel to bring our petitions before the
Heavenly Father. The Saints intercede for us, and we pray for the soul of our
departed. In that sense, today's solemnity is intimately linked to what we will
commemorate on November 2nd, the All Souls Day.
We are all called to heaven. And while still here on earth,
we should live like in preparation for our future life. The Catechism 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
While celebrating the Triumphant Church, the readings open
us to the beauty of Heaven. St. John, in his Apostolic vision, speaks of
"a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race,
tribe and language..." It is the assembly of the saints. They are our
brothers and sisters in faith, from every nation, race, tribe, and language...
this tells us of the universality of holiness. No one is excluded. All are
called to be holy. All are called to be like God, and to see him face to face.
In one word, we are all called to rediscover our original image. We were
created in the image and likeness of God; may we not forget it. If through sin
we have lost it, God wants us to rediscover it. What then could be the way for
us to be restored to our original beauty and perfection in God? The Lord
teaches us the way in the Gospel. It is to live according to the Beatitudes.
What are the Beatitudes, and how do they lead us to
holiness? They are just eight basic principles of life. The Beatitudes are the
eight declarations of blessedness spoken by Jesus at the beginning of the
Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes describe the ideal disciple and his
rewards, both present and future. The person whom Jesus describes in this
passage has a different quality of character and lifestyle than those still
"outside the kingdom." To enter the kingdom as described by Jesus,
one needs to:
- be poor in spirit,
- mourn the injustice,
- be gentle (meek),
- hunger and thirst for righteousness,
- be merciful,
- have a clean heart,
- be a peacemaker,
- accept persecutions for righteousness sake, and as a
bonus, be ready to accept all kinds of insults and persecutions for Christ's
sake...
The Lord, through this proclamation on the mountain, points
to us the way to heavenly rewards. He tells us that God blesses those who live
these virtues of the Beatitudes because they live only for God and not for
themselves. As a consequence, he will open them widely the gates of his
kingdom.
The Beatitudes are the life of Jesus himself. Therefore,
they are the identity card of every good Christian. They teach us how to
imitate Christ and walk in his footsteps. The Catechism can say: "The
Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts:
God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each
individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made
up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith." CCC
1719.
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