Readings of the day: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a
Who are saints? Has anyone here ever
thought that there may be many more saints‒ people who have entered heaven‒
than our Church has officially named, or canonized?
Here are some figures on saints: From
the year 1000 to 1978, when John Paul II became pope, “fewer than 450” saints
were canonized. St. John Paul II, ordained a priest on the Solemnity of All
Saints 68 years ago today, alone canonized over 480 saints and beatified 1 300
more people in his 28 years as pope. There are more than double the canonized
and beatified people (those declared “blessed,” with one more attributed miracle
needed to be canonized a saint) now than before John Paul II became pope. And
those are just the named saints. They are more than the number of days in the
year on which we Catholics celebrate saints.
Fortunately we have this Solemnity of
All Saints on which we celebrate literally all
saints, those named and unnamed. This, I think, is our Church’s way of saying
that there are many more saints than those we formally recognize and canonize.
This is not some strange idea. Our
readings for today resonate with this sense that there are many saints,
officially recognized or not. Some saints (for the first few centuries of
Christian history these were all the saints recognized) are martyrs; those who
have given their lives for our faith. Our first reading, from Revelation, speaks
of these saints, courageous witnesses to Christ whose “robes” have been “washed in
the blood of the Lamb.” Our second reading includes all people who have lived
with the purity of “children of God,” and in our Gospel reading Jesus calls
many people “blessed”: “The poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness… the merciful… the clean of heart… the
peacemakers” and those “who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.”
Our Responsorial Psalm is especially inspiring
to me because it speaks of all who long for God. We have all prayed here, “Lord,
this is the people that longs to see your face.” Is this not the first step
toward being a saint: To long for the face of God; to desire to be with God for
eternity? Do we not all have this desire in some way?
Please allow me to say with confidence
that I do not think we would be here if we did not desire to be with God. We
all desire to be with God, now and forever. Am I right? We are all called to be
saints; called to be among the holy people of God.
There are many saints-to-be here now who
live this universal call to be saints, to be children of God who “long to see
God’s face,” better than I could ever preach it in words. Our Church and our
world have many anonymous saints; I believe more than the saints whose names we
know. This, more than just the saints canonized by our Church, is our cause for
celebration. This is why we are here on this day to remember All Saints.
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