“See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God.” As we heard in today’s second reading, we are privileged to be called God’s children; we become his children as his Spirit comes upon us at our baptism. And, as with any good parent, God wants us to be happy and to achieve our goals. And, as any loving father would do, God our Father has given us clear direction on how we are to reach our final goal – heaven. He has even given us his Son to show us the way. And, as we heard in today’s Gospel, Jesus has presented a rather good road map as we make our way to heaven. In the Beatitudes, we see how it is that we become blessed. In following our Lord’s directions, we move closer and closer to God until he invites us to heaven.
So, how do we become blessed? Listen to what Jesus teaches us through the Beatitudes. Those who sorrow now – for their sins and the sins of all humanity – will be blessed by being comforted. The merciful will receive God’s mercy. In just a few moments we will pray together our Lord’s Prayer where we pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Those who are meek will receive the blessing of the Promised Land of God’s kingdom. That kingdom also includes those who work for peace and are faithful in spite of challenges and persecution. And, Jesus assures them often that they will face challenges and persecution – they did in the time of our Lord and we still do today.
And, who heads the list of those who are blessed? The poor in spirit – those who recognize their own weakness and rely entirely upon God, not their own strength or resources. They will be given the kingdom of God.
On this feast of All Saints, we hear the author of Revelation share two visions of those who belong to God’s kingdom. In the first, we hear that 144,000 people from the twelve tribes of Israel are marked as God’s own. This highly symbolic language signifies the immensity of God’s promise of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. It also speaks of the multitudes of people – too many to be counted – just as we remember the famous astronomer Carl Sagan would say “millions and millions” as he was describing the stars in the sky. It speaks of all who have responded to God’s gracious offer of salvation by placing their faith in Jesus down through the ages.
The second vision confirms this as it speaks of more people than can be counted, privileged to stand before the throne of God and Christ the Lamb. This throng includes people from every nation and race, people and tongue. God’s plan for salvation is open to all who die in right relationship with him. These worshippers testify that this is not a do-it-yourself project.
Salvation comes from God. As they proclaim, glory and power belong to God, not to us; our role is to give him thanks.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus paints a picture of those who belong to God’s kingdom, calling them blessed. Notice that he shares this picture – the beatitudes – with the crowds, not just with the Apostles. This teaching is for all of us.
So where do we fit in? As we celebrate today the feast of all the saints, we are challenged to let go of what the world sees as success, and to invest in our spiritual growth instead. Jesus invites us to die to self-will and follow him. Letting go of self-will frees us from egos that say it’s all about us, making us open to living out the beatitudes.
And notice: The beatitudes describe qualities, not actions. We don’t pull ourselves up to God by our spiritual bootstraps. On the contrary, we face our weaknesses, our need for God and for his mercy. We become aware that we are poor in spirit. We grow in healthy humility. God loves us not because we are perfect, but because he is loving and merciful. When we accept this, we become much more likely to show mercy and forgiveness to others. So, we do well to reflect often on God’s mercy and pray that we will, in turn, be merciful; that will lead to great blessings in this world and the next!
And, what is heaven all about? What happens in heaven? It’s beyond our wildest dreams – it’s like trying to explain this world to a child in the womb. But, the Bible uses beautiful imagery to give us some ideas about it: a rich harvest, a treasure of great price, a wedding feast, and – my favorite – a great banquet.
Today, we honor all those who have been welcomed into heaven. And, we pray for our own beloved dead, that they will soon enter heaven, too. Let us also redouble our dedication to live in this world so as to be welcomed with the saints in the everlasting glory of heaven, where we will be like God and one with God in eternal joy. May we all be born into that new life when, with all the saints, we will see God face to face.