All Saints

The Solemnity of All Saints

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; Psalm 24; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a

Do you consider yourself holy, that is, a saint? Now before you answer that question, you may need to reflect on what you consider it means to be a saint?

I think much of our understanding of holiness and whether we are holy arises from making comparisons. “I’m not holy like Saint Theresa of Lisieux or I don’t give of myself like Saint Teresa of Kolkata or Saint Paul. I could never reach the mystical heights of Saint Theresa of Avila or be as committed as the martyrs.”

I find it interesting that in the addressing his letters to the early Christian communities Paul presumes the first and essential character of a Christian is holiness:

“to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy…”

“to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified [made holy]…” 

“Paul, to the holy ones who are in Ephesus…” 

“Paul and Timothy…to all the holy ones in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi…” 

“Paul, to the holy ones and faithful sisters and brothers in Christ in Colossae…”

The quality of holiness is not borne out of comparison with another person but is a presumption of God’s people.

Pope John Paul II was criticized for canonizing 483 Christians during his pontificate while only 300 canonizations took place in the previous 600 years! Pope Francis to date has canonized 899 Christians and between these two popes, 2,600 Christians have been beautified. Is the process of declaring people with the titles ‘Blessed’ and ‘Saint’ becoming a production line or is the Church recognizing the inherent holiness in her people from various ages, peoples and nations?

The call to holiness is the universal call of every Christian. Numerous passages throughout the Bible declare the fundamental call found in the Book of Leviticus: “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” [Leviticus 19:2] Saints are not perfect or sinless beings. They are people in their circumstances who are aspiring to love God and others as Jesus taught us. Some saints spiritually fought with God. Others initially reacted against God. Mother Teresa of Kolkata’s admission that God was silent to her for 50 years still jars many people or that Dorothy Day had an abortion.

If the saints are to be models, might they be models not of some perceived perfectionism we call holiness but models of our humanity through which the grace of God flows? Then there is no need for comparisons, is there.

Did you ever consider then that saints are people just like you and me? Fallible, imperfect, incomplete, broken, searching.

Holiness is not something we attain but receive from the Holy Spirit. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church he began, “to you who have been sanctified [made holy] in Christ Jesus…” We do not achieve holiness as if it were a goal or a reward for good behavior. Rather we receive through the sacramental life of the Church grace, that is, the life of the eternal God through the Holy Spirit. Holiness is then living out that gift wrought for us by the blood of Jesus Christ.

The gift of holiness does not liberate us from our humanity but allows us to enter more deeply a humanity infused with divine life arising within us.

Now consider the question, do you consider yourself holy?