Dear Folks,
We celebrate All Saints this Sunday.  If you study the saints, you’ll quickly see that they are a varied lot.  Some are wealthy, some are poor. Some are very well educated, and some couldn’t read. Some have traveled to the far reaches of the known world and some have and some have never gone far from the place they were born. Some sought solitude, and some were always with other people. Some loved God from earliest days, and some were horrible people who repented.

They all loved God very much, and they sought to became what God made them to be.

We all learned about the Ten Commandments when we were kids. If sure if someone asked you, you could recite them without trouble (and you never know when someone will ask) and explain what they meant. But many of us did not learn much about the beatitudes when we were growing up. There are probably far fewer Catholics who can recite and explain the Beatitudes.

We have the Gospel of the Beatitudes from the sermon on the mount. It presents a vision of what we are meant to be. You will notice that it is not about doing tasks, but about the type of person that one is called to become. We can’t get there with our own mighty effort, but we depend completely on God and His grace.

When Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” he is talking to all of us. However we have worldly stuff, that does not impress God (who made all of it). We come to Him as people with nothing to offer, completely dependent on God’s mercy (See Matthew 8:1-13)

“Blessed are they who mourn.” Only people who care about something will mourn. If we cannot change things, we mourn they are not better (See Matthew 23:37-39).

Blessed are the meek (see Psalm 37). To understand what it is to be meek, we look to Jesus. He would sometimes be at the center of attention and sometimes be silent. This was because He wasn’t about doing His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness (being in right relationship with God). We cannot hunger and thirst just by wanting to (imagine choosing to hunger and thirst for fruits and vegetables more that chocolate and bacon). It is only in union with Him that we are transformed.

Blessed are the merciful. Any reading of the Gospels emphasizes this.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God (see Psalm 24). Let’s be honest. A part of us wants to follow Jesus, and a part of us still wants to sin. Growing in holiness is evangelizing that part of us that still wants to sin, so that we can be purely dedicated to God.

Blessed are the peacemakers. It is not enough not to make trouble. We are called to actively build peace. I think we need both the will and the skill to do it. I recommend the book “Redeeming Conflict” by Ann Garrido.

Blessed are they who persecuted for the sake or righteousness. If we are truly to be faithful, it will sometimes put us in conflict with the world around us. Blessed are we if we keep striving to be faithful, whatever it costs.

This will keep us busy for the rest of our lives.

God calls no one to mediocrity. You (yes, you!) were made for greatness and called to be heroically holy. If God could get anything He wanted from you, how would your life be different?

Blessings,

Fr. Jim