Revelation 7:2–4, 9–14 / Psalm 23 (24) / 1 John 3:1–3 / Matthew 5:1–12a
Dear brothers and sisters, today the universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints. I would like us to meditate on the meaning of this solemnity, on who saints are and on the path to advancing in holiness.
It should be noted that in the celebration of All Saints, the pilgrim Church shares in the joy of the Church triumphant. In celebrating this solemnity the Church acknowledges the immense multitude of saints, men and women, whether officially recognised or not, who now sit before the throne of God singing His glory. This is what the first reading reveals to us. In this passage, Saint John testifies: “… I saw: and behold, a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev 7:9).
This verse plunges us into the very meaning we can give to this solemnity. The point is to understand that holiness is not the preserve, the monopoly or the privilege of one category of people. It is neither European, nor African, nor Asian, nor priestly, nor religious, nor lay. There is only one holiness, cultivated by all those whom the Spirit of God leads.
Holiness concerns all men and all women created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). It is God’s invitation extended to all to imitate Him, to become like Him: “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2). These words of Scripture also point to what the Church teaches concerning holiness as a common and universal vocation of all the baptised, whatever their state or form of life (Lumen Gentium 40 § 2).
The Solemnity of All Saints also allows us to reflect on the figure of a saint. Who is a saint? The first reading sheds light on this when it states: “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). We can say, in the light of this verse, that the saints are those who lived our earthly life, who knew the trials of suffering and illness, who fell into the snares of sin, but who knew, in all this, how to rely on the grace of God.
In simple language, the saints are not taken from among the angels, but from among sinful men and women, who, despite their falls, came to trust in the Lord and to hear His voice saying to them: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). The saints are those who have been purified and justified by the blood of the Lamb. And the psalmist presents them to us today as: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not set his heart on idols” (Ps 23 (24):4). The saints are those who, despite their weakness, remained faithful to the one true God. They are those who chose to make God the reason for their existence.
The celebration of All Saints must nourish in each of us this taste for holiness. Even if, as the second reading makes clear: “What we shall be has not yet been revealed”, each of us must burn with this desire for communion with God, for “we know that when it is revealed, we shall be like him” (1 Jn 3:2). It is important to know that it is this desire, accompanied by our ardent faith and our constant efforts, that will enable us to advance on the path of holiness.
Thus, we should believe, like Theresa of Lisieux, that the good God could not inspire unattainable desires; we can therefore, despite our littleness, aspire to holiness. By always desiring it, we shall understand that holiness is not far from us. Nor is it a path to be feared. Each day, we can practise it. And to do so, today’s Gospel offers us a path to follow, a programme of life to put into practice: the Beatitudes.
The most common tendency among those who wish to advance on the path of holiness is to seek it in extraordinary things, in special devotions, in sensational practices, forgetting that holiness can surprise us even in the simplest and most ordinary things of our daily lives. That is why, to warn us, Theresa of Lisieux writes: “Holiness does not consist in this or that practice; it consists in a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God.” This is the way of the Beatitudes, which present themselves to us as a contradiction of what the world preaches.
The Beatitudes as a path of holiness mean that true happiness is found in a virtuous life, a life fully devoted to God. It is a path that involves self-transcendence, in order to entrust oneself totally to God. Unlike the happiness of this world, which comes from possessions, power and knowledge, the happiness that the Beatitudes propose is given to the poor in spirit, to those who hunger and thirst for justice, to the merciful, to the pure in heart, to the peacemakers, to those persecuted for justice and truth, to the humble and gentle of heart, to whom the Lord says: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven!” (Mt 5:12).
Although holiness seems outdated, off-putting or banal to our society, for us Christians it is a grace offered to all, which opens the way to the banquet of God’s eternal joy. Even if the world thinks that holiness is promised to those who have failed in life or who have refused to live fulfilled lives, it remains for us a priceless value and a permanent quest. Let us ask today for the grace to desire constantly to be numbered among the saints of God.
By: Jules Kambale Katembo, M.Afr.
