Today,
we celebrate the Feast of All Saints.
The Epistle gives us the picture of the Church triumphant, in heaven,
worshipping the Lamb Who was slain, the 144,000, which represents a great multitude. It is this great multitude, the saints, those
named and unnamed, who we honor today.
But what we are really celebrating is not really what has been accomplished by humans, but what God’s providence, and the inevitable triumph of God’s love for humanity has accomplished. He created all things, and He must have loved His creation very much, because when sin entered in, He chose not to destroy it, but to save it. He began the whole history of salvation, culminating in Christ, the Redeemer.
God is holy, that is, He is set apart, not just by human estimation, but more fundamentally. He is totally other, and must be seen over and above creation. Even this, He has imparted to us, in the Sacrifice of Christ, that great exchange, which we receive by our faith and baptism, the Eucharist, He, Himself, as food for the journey, and all the sacraments. He gives us sanctifying grace and made us sanctuaries of His presence.
We do, however, celebrate also what the saints have accomplished, the only accomplishment which matters in this life, who did the will of God. The Gospel gives us the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes. They are a model for blessedness, for holiness. This comes to us in the Gospel of Matthew, written for the Jewish Christian community, rejected by the religion of Israel. They were poor, having nothing but our Lord, they were gentle, harboring no resentment or vengeance, they were peacemakers, they lived longing in a world in need of redemption. And so, we recognize ourselves, in this way of faith.
But there is more. They are blessed, because they are listening to the word of God. They do not see their own blessedness, but our Lord sees it, and calls them blessed. And this we are, and can always do. Every moment is a moment of grace. In any moment, we can turn our hearts towards our Lord, towards His word, towards His will, and find that blessedness, which is holiness. It is of this that saints are made.
But what we are really celebrating is not really what has been accomplished by humans, but what God’s providence, and the inevitable triumph of God’s love for humanity has accomplished. He created all things, and He must have loved His creation very much, because when sin entered in, He chose not to destroy it, but to save it. He began the whole history of salvation, culminating in Christ, the Redeemer.
God is holy, that is, He is set apart, not just by human estimation, but more fundamentally. He is totally other, and must be seen over and above creation. Even this, He has imparted to us, in the Sacrifice of Christ, that great exchange, which we receive by our faith and baptism, the Eucharist, He, Himself, as food for the journey, and all the sacraments. He gives us sanctifying grace and made us sanctuaries of His presence.
We do, however, celebrate also what the saints have accomplished, the only accomplishment which matters in this life, who did the will of God. The Gospel gives us the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes. They are a model for blessedness, for holiness. This comes to us in the Gospel of Matthew, written for the Jewish Christian community, rejected by the religion of Israel. They were poor, having nothing but our Lord, they were gentle, harboring no resentment or vengeance, they were peacemakers, they lived longing in a world in need of redemption. And so, we recognize ourselves, in this way of faith.
But there is more. They are blessed, because they are listening to the word of God. They do not see their own blessedness, but our Lord sees it, and calls them blessed. And this we are, and can always do. Every moment is a moment of grace. In any moment, we can turn our hearts towards our Lord, towards His word, towards His will, and find that blessedness, which is holiness. It is of this that saints are made.
