1ST READING: Rev 7:2-4. 9-14
2nd READING: 1 John 3: 1-3
GOSPEL: Matthew 5:1-12a
On one of his visits to Rome, St. Francis de Sales hired rooms for himself and his servant in a small hotel on the banks of the Tiber River. When he returned to his hotel to sleep he found his servant arguing violently with the hotel manager who wanted to rent the rooms to someone else. St. Francis told his servant: “No quarreling. Come, we will find quarters elsewhere.”
With some difficulty they finally found rooms, just in time to get out of the rains which fell so heavily that the Tiber River overflowed its banks and swept away several buildings, among them the hotel where our saint and his servant had planned on staying. Several of the guests perished in the waters. Another story: A mother and father got into a very hot and heavy argument. They were shouting and screaming so loudly that they did not hear their eight year old son, Bobbie, come into the room. The boy jumped up on a chair, stretched out his arms and cried out: “Peace, be still.” Both parents looked at the boy and burst out laughing. “Where in the world did you hear that?” they asked. “In Catechism” said the little boy. “We had a story about Jesus saying that when the waves were growling in a big storm. He made everything keep still.”
What is the same and what is different between these two stories, you might ask! St. Francis de Sales and little Bobbie were both peacemakers. Both did what they could to bring peace. The difference: St. Francis de Sales is listed among the officially recognized or canonized saints of the Church. Little Bobbies name is not on that list.
It is not to say that a child cannot be a saint. How many of you have heard of Maria Goretti? She is among the youngest if not the youngest of all the saints, canonized on June 24th, 1950 by Pope Pius XII. St. Maria was stabbed to death in 1902 at the age of 11 by an attacker who was said to have seen an apparition of her in prison that caused his conversion. Some of her last words was: “I forgive you.”
Now, is little Bobbie a saint? I am not one to say, however, on this All Saints Day, we honor not only those like St. Francis de Sales, Maria Goretti, and those we know so well, like St. Mary, St. Josepth. St. Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and all those listed as canonized by the Church, but also the unknown heroes of the faith, and the unrecognized peacemakers like little Bobbie.
We probably know some of these heroes, in our eyes, whose names are not listed in the official list of the Church. They live around us. They work with us. They worship with us. They talk with us. Look for them and you will find some of them. How many times have we heard someone say, “There a saint?”
The all-knowing Father knows them all. He knows the Christians we honor today. They are countless as St. John tells us in today’s 1st reading from Revelation: “I saw before me a hug crowd which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the thrown and before of the Lamb.” John saw a vision of heaven.
The gospel today is quite familiar to us and we know the first items in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount! The seven “Blessed are you.” These words are a celebration of all that we have given up-this worlds stuff, fame, fortune, prestige, position and on and on, all that keeps us from following Christ’s prescription for a healthy spiritual life, a saintly life.
Why is it so hard for us to do this? Well, it does take work. It does take some effort on our part and there are many ways, many avenues we can be involved within this parish to help us accomplish what Jesus expects of each of us. We just need to make the choice. This coming weekend we will have a ministry fair here at St. Hubert. This would be a good time to check out the different ministries and to pick one that you could participate in. God knows we need servers, extraordinary ministers, Lectors, Choir members, cantors and much more. I’ll be looking for you.
As you reflect on what ministry would fit you think of that “HUGE CROWD” of men, women, and children that St. John talked about who are special friends of God, who are blessed and happy because they tried to carry out the precepts, the Beatitudes that Jesus gives to all of us in today’s gospel. Let me say again, gives to all of us!
Yes, we are all called to be saints. Our charge today as we give thanks to God for the saints past, present, and future, is to reflect on that which is holding us back from sainthood. Read the prescription to holiness, The Beatitudes, again and again and again. Make an honest effort to carry them out. Try to put money in its right place. Try to be a peacemaker like little Bobbie and of course St. Francis de Sales.. Try to be merciful. Try to be pure of heart, single-hearted.
This Holy day is a reminder of the sheer scale of God’s providence. Today we are not so much celebrating what human beings have achieved as celebrating the fruit of Divine Providence and the inevitable triumph of God’s love for humanity. St. John in our 2nd reading speaks of the love that the Father has lavished on us and it is this love that achieves the likeness of God in us.
So, what is it then that makes a saint? The Beatitudes may appear to be a sort of practical guide to this state of holiness. Jesus is telling us if we are gentle, if we hunger for what is right and merciful, if we are always pure and strive to be peacemakers then we might be standing before the Lamb in a white robe? The Beatitudes, these qualities, as He tells us, are indeed the fruits and expectations of discipleship. But the source of beatitude is Jesus himself.
The crowds standing before Him are indeed blessed and if they, if we, are attending to the Word of God, that Word cannot fail to bear fruit in them, in us. Can we see our holiness, most likely not for it is a way of life that is lived, however, the Son of God can already see Himself in them, and if we live this way of life the Son of God will see Himself in us!