The Solemnity of all Saints
The Solemnity of ALL SAINTS is “our” celebration: not because we are good, but because the sanctity of God has touched our life. The saints are not perfect models, but people through whom God has passed. We can compare them to the Church windows, which allow light to enter in different shades of color. The saints are our brothers and sisters who have welcomed the light of God in their heart and have passed it on to the world, each according to his or her “own” hue.” But they were all transparent; they fought to remove the stains and the darkness of sin, so as to enable the gentle light of God to pass through. …
Today in the Gospel, Jesus addresses his followers, all of us, telling us we are “Blessed” (Matt 5:3). It is the word with which he begins his sermon, which is the “Gospel,” Good News, because it is the path of happiness. Those who are with Jesus are blessed; they are happy. Happiness is not having something or in becoming someone, no. True happiness is being with the Lord and living for love…[The] ingredients for a happy life are called Beatitudes; blessed are the simple, the humble who make room for God, who are able to weep for others and for their own mistakes, who remain meek, fight for justice, are merciful to all, safeguard purity of heart, always work for peace and abide in joy, do not hate and, even when suffering, respond to evil with good...
This is how the saints are: like everyone, they breathe air polluted by the evil there is in the world, but on the journey they never lose sight of Jesus’ roadmap.*
*Pope Francis, Angelus, 1 November 2017.
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