Celebrating ALL the saints

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he began to speak and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.                      Matthew 5:1-12 

On All Saints’ Day, 1 November, we remember not only the famous saints of history, but also the everyday ones – those who’ve shaped our lives with love, faith, and quiet witness.  We give thanks for all the “official saints” – those the Church has specially acknowledged – and also for the saints we’ve personally known: those who’ve helped us on our journey, who’ve spoken God into our lives.  People like a godparent, a Sunday School teacher, an old friend.  And we also thank God for calling us to be saints.  That might be a scary thought, but the New Testament tells us clearly that we are all saints – loved by God, healed by God, called by God to live out our faith in our world. 

This reading, called the “Beatitudes” because of the Latin word with which each begins (“blessed are the …”) has been associated with All Saints Day since the medieval period.  That’s because people saw the Beatitudes as naming both the virtues and the rewards of the holy.  Those who are holy are merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers; those who are holy will see God, they’ll know God’s compassion and be called God’s children.

What we shouldn’t do, though, is treat the Beatitudes as a recipe for how to live a blessed, spiritual, “saintly” life.  Only the final one tells us to “do” anything – and that’s to “rejoice and be glad.”  All the others are declarations: this is how it is.  This is what the new community Jesus created looks like.  These are the attitudes and values of Jesus.

The Beatitudes are a bit of a challenge though, aren’t they.   They challenge us to be merciful, loving and pure in heart.  To be dedicated to justice and peace.  To realise that we don’t have any righteousness of our own and so to hunger and thirst after God’s righteousness, which comes to us through Jesus.  And I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I could handle all that on my own.  So part of the task of a Christian community – your parish, my parish, your house group or school “Jesus club” – is to help one another demonstrate some of those values and attitudes of Jesus  as we go about our lives.  How could we live out a beatitude life as we go off to work or school, dig the garden or prepare food?  How can we help each other to do that?

All Saints Day is a time for looking forward to when all of God’s saints – those of the past, all of us alive today, and the folk who’ll come after us – will be gathered around the throne of God.  It’s also a time for giving thanks – and one of the things we can give thanks for, when we think of our own call to be saints, is the imperfection of some of the saints we remember.  A saint is someone trying to live a holy, God-filled life.   A saint isn’t someone who’s got it all sorted out, who’s perfect in every way and never puts a foot wrong.  Which I find very comforting, because if you had to be perfect to be a saint, I don’t think any of us would ever qualify – I know I wouldn’t.  Neither incidentally would the heroes like St Paul, St Augustine, or Mother Teresa – and they’d be the first ones to admit it. 

Image: window at All Saints Taradale; photo: D Broome

(Reflection by the Ven. Dr. Deborah Broome)