Today's Readings
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
Ps 24:1-6
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12a
Your own sainthood
You are a saint. Don't argue with me, I know you're a saint, because a saint is anyone who's either in heaven or on their way to heaven by following Christ. In the Apostle's Creed we say, "I believe in the communion of saints...." That includes you! It's the whole community of Christ-followers.
And so we come to St Matthew’s Gospel where he gives us the teaching of Jesus, the ‘Be-attitudes’ of a Christian. They are the qualities that are to mark the followers of Jesus. They are a summary of the teaching of Jesus. Many have recognised in them a portrait of Jesus himself.
Jesus is laying out a set of values that would be foundational to the kingdom he came to establish, on earth as it is in heaven. The important be-attitudes are poverty of spirit, gentleness, forgiveness, a hunger for justice, a passion for peace, a readiness to suffer in his name. These are very much at variance with pagan or worldly values such as pride, vindictiveness, belligerence, aggrandisement and war.
But more than enunciating a set of values, Jesus is describing (1) the stuff of which saints are made, (2) the characteristics of those who desire to participate in the life that Jesus would live and for which he would die and (3) the kind of people who would be citizens of his kingdom.
Today we rejoice in all the saints of the Church, all the saints in our lives and what is saintly in each of us. We thank God for all the holy women and men who gone before us and those still among us today, who have enriched the Church and the world with their quiet witness to the Gospel, people whose lives are unheralded and whose names are unknown. And if you feel thanked in the process, don’t feel confused!!
Today’s feast includes all the saints who were never canonised: mothers and fathers who stayed faithful to one another and their families; single men and women who did good ‘unseen’; those who found God through the pain they endured; all those who never thought of themselves as holy but whose goodness was clear to those to them. Do I belong there?
We belong to a community that has a history of goodness and fidelity to the Gospel. We are related to those who went before us, those who linked their belief to those who went before them. We are part of a chain of holiness. We belong to the sanctified brethren.
Finally, this feast reminds us that, to the extent that the life of Christ is still with us, we are all saints!! The only question is the extent to which we try to live a godly life as God’s children.
We need to accept the challenge to become saints. Jesus exhorts us: “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt 5:48). St. Augustine asked: “If he and she can become saints, why can’t I?” (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?). We all can become saints by choosing well by doing good and avoiding evil, by choosing to follow Christ, all the way to heaven.
We need to take the shortcuts practiced by three St. Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to Him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for His glory and for the salvation of souls and by doing God’s will to the best of your ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love. Do something beautiful for God.
Think of those who have been through it before you, and just tell yourself: ‘They did it, so it can be done again.’
Dear Lord Jesus, you offer me your joy by concretely showing me how I should imitate your virtues, such as meekness, purity, and mercy. In addition to your grace, you have given me my older brothers and sisters in the faith who are living icons of you. They inspire me with their lives and sustain me with their prayers. May my increased devotion to them augment my devotion to you. Let me embrace the joy of the cross and console your Sacred Heart.
Today by God's grace, read at least one brief article about the life of a saint. Then say a simple prayer to that saint asking for his or her intercession for your family and yourself.
