Nov. 1—Solemnity of All Saints
Reading 1: Revelation 7: 2-4, 9-14; Psalm 24, R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.; 1 John 3: 1-3; Gospel—Matthew 5: 1-12A
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints (Todos los Santos), one of the revered traditions we observe as families. Since we cannot congregate in cemeteries or crypts, it is indeed providential that it falls on a Sunday, when we can pray together as a family.
Spending time to remember and to pray for our departed loved ones in our homes, as a family, truly makes us part of the communion of saints. This is part of our faith, i.e., we are all spiritually united, in communion, with one another, both the living and the dead.
The communion of saints is composed of the Church Militant, we who continue our journey here on earth. This gives us the image of our ongoing battle between good and evil under the standard of Jesus. Another image I like is the Pilgrim Church, we who journey here toward our home in heaven.
There is the Church Penitent who are the souls in purgatory awaiting entry into heaven. Then the Church Triumphant are those who are in heaven.
Today is a special day for us to pray together, reminding ourselves that our citizenship is in heaven, and at the same time remembering that we are called to build God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Today’s Gospel, the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, gives us the horizon of what we pray for.
In his 2014 message for World Youth Day, Pope Francis gave us excellent points for our prayer and reflection.
“It is always a joyful experience for us to read and reflect on the Beatitudes! . . . He shows us the way to life, the way that he himself has taken. Jesus himself is the way, and he proposes this way as the path to true happiness. Throughout his life . . . Jesus embodied the Beatitudes. All the promises of God’s Kingdom were fulfilled in him.
“Jesus asks us to follow him . . . It is not an easy journey, yet the Lord promises us his grace and he never abandons us . . . “The Beatitudes of Jesus are new and revolutionary. They present a model of happiness contrary to what is usually communicated by the media and by the prevailing wisdom . . . This is the great challenge of faith. Jesus was not afraid to ask his disciples if they truly wanted to follow him or if they preferred to take another path (cf. Jn 6:67). Simon Peter had the courage to reply: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ (Jn 6:68). If you too are able to say ‘yes’ to Jesus, your lives will become both meaningful and fruitful.”
Vision and path
The Beatitudes form the vision and the path that many saints, many holy men and women, many of our own loved ones who have gone ahead of us, have taken.
When we talk about the proleptic presence of God’s Kingdom, it means the Kingdom is already-but-not-yet. It’s already present in our midst, in us, in our many acts of kindness and good deeds, in building a more just and egalitarian society that is more compassionate and caring—but not yet, as its fullness is still to come in heaven.
It is in this context that we pray for and pray with all our departed loved ones. Today, as a special remembrance of a particular departed loved one, choose one of the beatitudes that represents the grace this loved one shared with you. Pray with this beatitude, remembering how the departed loved one channeled this grace into your life, and set you on this path.
When Pope Francis visited in 2015, in his gathering at the University of Santo Tomas, two young kids, a girl and a boy, stood with him on stage, and the young girl in her speech asked why kids like them are made to suffer the evils of our world.
There is the powerful image of Pope Francis standing up and embracing the child when she broke down and cried.
This is an eloquent image of the communions of saints, the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven . . . Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” —CONTRIBUTED