To read the texts click on the texts: Rev 7:2-4,9-14; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12
“I
want to be in that number when the Saints go marching in”. These words from the
popular spiritual song “When the Saints Go Marching In” can be regarded as one
of the two important reasons why we celebrate the feast of All Saints.
In
the eighth century, Pope Gregory III consecrated a new chapel in the Basilica
of St. Peter to all saints on November 1, and he fixed the anniversary of this
dedication as the date of the feast. In the ninth century, Pope Gregory IV
extended the celebration of All Saints for the entire Church and since then,
the Church celebrates the feast of all Saints on this date.
While
the celebration of this solemnity may be seen on the one hand as a remembrance
or memorial of the numerous courageous men and women who lived lives of
selfless love, it may also be seen as an event which makes each of us aware
that we, too, as those who have gone before, are capable of living such lives.
It is a celebration of possibilities, potential and promise. They could, we
also can.
This
possibility and potential is brought out vividly in the first reading from the
Book of Revelation. While on the one hand there are the chosen one hundred and
forty four thousand made up of twelve thousand each from the twelve tribes of
Israel, there is also the great multitude from every nation and tribe and
language. This great multitude is a demonstration that the possibility of being
included is a very real one and that everyone who desires it can receive it.
While it is true that the choice is made by God, we as humans can desire it by
being willing to be washed in the blood of the lamb. This means the willingness
to undergo persecution, trials and tribulations and resisting the pressure to
conform to values of the “world” which include selfishness and self
centeredness.
This
willingness not to conform is precisely the reason why, in the Gospel text of
today, Jesus can declare as “blessed”, those who in the eyes of the world might
seem as those who are cursed. This declaration is a confident assertion of the
reality that is now and here. The beatitudes are not a “wish list” nor a
projection of the future state of what is to come. They are not conditions for
discipleship or preliminary requirements for an initiate. Rather, they describe
those who belong to the community of the Lord. They describe the Saints.
The
nine pronouncements, or declarations, are thus not statements about general
human virtues. Rather, they pronounce blessing on authentic disciples in the
Christian community. All the beatitudes apply to one group of people. They do
not describe nine different kinds of good people who get to go to heaven, but
are nine declarations about the blessedness, contrary to all appearances, of
the eschatological community living in anticipation of God’s reign.
“Poor
in spirit” definitely includes being economically poor, but goes further than
literal poverty. It refers also to an absence of arrogance and the presence of
dependence. It refers to an absence of ego and a presence of awareness that
one’s true identity is found only in God.
The
“mourning” of disciples is not because of the loss of something personal or
because of the death of a loved one. It is a mourning that is outward in that
the mourning is because things are the way they are. The mourning is because
God’s will is not being done and represents also a desire to do it. It is
mourning because of what is not and also because of what can be.
Meekness
in the third beatitude represents not a passive attitude of endurance or as is
sometimes understood: gullibility. Rather it is an active disposition that will
refuse to use violent means. This refusal does not represent inability,
weakness or impotence. It represents instead a deliberate choice of one’s way
of proceeding.
This
is also what is meant by the desire or hunger for righteousness or justice. It
is the courage to do God’s will here and now with the confidence and optimism
that the kingdom is indeed now and here.
The
disciples are pure in heart or have a single minded devotion to God and will
not be swayed by things that are temporary and passing. They will not be
divided or serve two masters. They will serve the Lord and the Lord alone.
This
single minded service of the Lord will also enable them to work for peace and
reconciliation. They will bring together people of different experiences,
races, religions, and languages not through any kind of coercion or force, but
through the example of consecrated and selfless lives. All this they will do
with a deep sense of joy, because they know that this is really the only way to
live fully and completely the life that God in his graciousness has bestowed.
It
is the same God who calls them his children and to whom he is Father. The
disciples know that this is indeed what they are because they live lives that
are in keeping with their call.
The
elder who invited John to identify those robed in white continues to invite us
not only to identify them today, but also to have the confidence that, if we
dare to live as Jesus has lived and shown us and as the Saints who have gone
before us have lived, then we too can be counted in that number.
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