Rev.7:2-4,9-14; 1 Jn. 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12
We
are Called to Be Saints
Who is a saint? A saint is a sinner who falls into sin many times and gets back up again. At baptism, we were called to sainthood when we promised to renounce evil and profess our faith in God. We promised to reject Satan and turn away from all forms of darkness or spiritual harm to our souls: sin, dishonesty, bullying, empty promises, false values, materialism, superficiality, and actions that go against God’s will. Then we professed our faith in God the Father, acknowledging Him as the Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth; in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, died, rose from the dead, and is seated at the Father’s right hand. We also profess our belief in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Renouncing Satan and professing our faith in God put us on the path to sainthood. But we often fall into sin and fail to keep our promises to God and ourselves. We need God’s grace and mercy to continually answer the call to sainthood.
Today, we celebrate the solemnity of All Saints, as we think not only of those whose names are recorded in the Church’s martyrology, but also of men and women in our families, our friends, and those we knew who lived exemplary lives and kept the promises they made on the day of their baptism. We especially celebrate those who fail many times under the weight of their sins, had the courage to rise again, change their lives, and keep moving. Through their lives and struggles, they teach us how to be saints and what the path of sainthood looks like. We are grateful to them and pray for their intercession so that we, too, may find the path to sainthood. Today, the Church on earth and the Church suffering rejoice with the Church triumphant and proclaim, as we do every Sunday, “We believe in the communion of saints”.
Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus as the preacher of good news (11:5), the teacher of the kingdom (5:2), and the one in whom the prophecies of the old dispensation have been fulfilled (8:17). In today’s gospel, Jesus preaches the good news that the kingdom fulfills the Old Testament promises and turns the world upside down. Through him, the poor in spirit, the hungry, the persecuted, the mourners, and the meek will be satisfied; through him the compassionate and the peacemakers will have their reward. They are the sons and daughters of the kingdom.
The second reading highlights the expectant hope the Christian must have while awaiting the Lord’s manifestation. First John points out that God loves us and has made us his children. “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.” (1Jn. 3:1). Yet we await the Lord’s coming to see him face to face. We long not only for his coming at the end of time, but also, and even more importantly, for his coming at the end of our earthly existence, when he will take us by the hand and lead us into that heavenly city.
To access the heavenly city, we must be marked with the seal. “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:14) They won their victory not only by words alone but gained a right to the victorious celebration by washing their robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb. The number of the redeemed is a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue, and they all acclaim, praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might. They were praising God because they were protected from death, and they were given a protective shield, which is the name of the living God.
On the solemnity of All Saints, Matthew, 1 John, and
Revelation remind us why we rejoice and celebrate this solemn festival here
today. Our life is a pilgrimage to the heavenly city. We must fully commit our lives
to Christ, make our robes white in his blood, and fulfill our hopes. In him we
live and hope to die. We are pilgrims on our way home. The path is found in the
beatitudes, and the end is found in heaven. The beatitudes give us a clear path
to the kingdom of heaven. The saints lived out the beatitudes that highlight
spiritual dependence, comfort in grief, gentleness, a desire for justice,
compassion, purity of heart, peace, and endurance in faith. This is what the
saints went through: with great persecution and endurance, they won the victory
to eternal life. May we follow their lead so that one day we may join the Church
triumphant, celebrate the life of grace with God, and sing joyfully before
our God.
Rev.
Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP.
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