May the Lord give you peace in the Holy Spirit. It is 01st November 2023. We celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. We reflect on Rev. 7:2-4, 9-14; the second reading is from 1 John 3:1-3; and the Gospel from Matthew 5:1-12.
The first reading presents the presence of the white robed army of people in the presence of God in heaven. Their purity comes through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
The responsorial Psalm prays, “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” (Ps.24:6).
In the second reading, we are reminded by St. John that God has lavished us all with God’s love. Since God has accepted us God’s sons and daughter and offering us an honourable in place in God’s presence, we must aspire to love and respect all people as God’s people. In the Gospel, we are given a road map to heaven by the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.
As soon as one is born on the earth, God keeps an invitation to reach heaven by following the Way of Good Deeds. Some of us truly take this invitation seriously and begin to live and demonstrate the love of God through our selfless service to humanity; during this fully human process of doing good to the others, we begin to forget our human vulnerabilities, and frailties and limitations eventually ended up meeting God in an unusual way.
A saint is a person who does the extraordinary acts in an ordination situation. A saint is someone who sees God in the human flesh and spirit. A saint is a human person untiring connecting and reconnecting when all signals are lost. A saint is a person who fans the flames of God when the ashes of the world sets on a person.
It is through the utmost expressions of charity and faithfulness to God; one begins to emerge as a saint.
Pope Francis recently suggested that the identity of a saint is found in the Beatitudes of Jesus. “For us as Christians, however, “eternal life” does not merely mean a life that lasts for ever but rather a new quality of existence, fully immersed in God’s love, which frees us from evil and death and places us in never-ending communion with all our brothers and sisters who share in the same Love.”
We are all invited to participate in the Holiness of God. As God is holy and merciful, so let us try our level best to be good, kind, gentle, peaceful, loving, generous and willing to sacrifice. May you have a good day.