This coming Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. We give thanks to God for the lives of all saints, the “great cloud of witnesses” who surrendered their lives in service to God on earth, then were called to eternal joy with God in heaven. The awesome mystery of sainthood is that saints are not mighty folks, but ordinary men and women with weaknesses, who open their souls to the powerful embrace of the Holy Spirit.
The Scriptures tell us about canonized saints such as Stephen, Peter, Paul, Matthew, and James. We also know the powerful influence of non-canonized saints such as Martin Luther King, Elizabeth Ann Seaton, Evelyn Underhill, and Bishop Oscar Romero. They passionately lived lives dedicated to God, perpetually relying on His strength to accomplish their calling. Even when it meant severe hardships, persecution, or martyrdom, they understood that nothing matters more in life than living for God in love, for from God we came, and to God we will return. Their spiritual stories of eventual triumph over adversities in their persistent battle against the world’s evils, inspire us with the hope that God’s righteousness will prevail.
We too are called to holiness of life and have a “glorious inheritance among the saints”. Together, with the saints already in heaven, our lives glorify God and usher in His kingdom on earth. The difference between us, the Church, and the heavenly communion of saints is that still in formation, God grants us the gift of choice. We can choose to live like the world, or we can choose to follow Christ’s way of holiness.
Sunday’s gospel (Luke 20-31) invites us to consider our options. To attain to the holiness to which we are called and to receive God’s blessings is to choose Christ’s mandates. To truly be a follower, Jesus mandated a life of love, prayer, non-vengeance and non-violence. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” These mandates are not always easy and oftentimes we fail but by God’s mercy, we are forgiven and keep striving.
Our option for God’s holiness requires radically new interior ways of being. Loving those who hate us is difficult. To counter this difficulty, our interior attitudes are honed towards becoming the humble poor who thirst only for God’s righteousness on earth. Jesus blesses us when we persevere and attain spiritually to these new attitudes. An attitude of holy poverty and humility are so integral to our faith that Jesus Himself lived it when during His Passion, He was flogged and demeaned. Instead of cursing, He lovingly prayed for His abusers, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” We treat others with the dignity with which all God’s children ought to be treated.
Saints on earth, opt for God’s way of love, opening the way toward a brighter, new reality when God’s kingdom will triumph over all darkness. Can we each hear His call to continue the work of the departed saints, ushering in His kingdom on earth? Can our Lord trust us to be passionately committed saints who choose to persevere in love without counting the cost?
A prayer of St. Augustine: This only do I ask of thy extreme kindness, that Thou convert me wholly to Thee. And Thou allow nothing to prevent me from wending my way to Thee. Amen.
