They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: "Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen."- Rev 7:12
Friends, God is good, all the time.
Happy All Saints Day to you! We know the saints live with God in heaven. And while we look forward to joining them someday, for now, living in our various neighborhoods and towns is not bad either.
In one of his All Saints Day reflections, St. John Paul II explained John's vision about the great multitude standing before God and the lamb so profoundly as follows, the great multitude includes "not only the saints and blessed we honor during the liturgical year, but also the anonymous saints are known to him: Mothers and fathers of families, who in their daily devotion to their children made an effective contribution to the Church's growth and the building of society; priests, sisters, and laypeople who, like candles lit before the altar of the Lord, were consumed in offering material and spiritual aid to their neighbor in need; men and women missionaries, who left everything to bring the Gospel message to every part of the world. And the list could go on."
As the head of the Church that goes at length to declare some members of the Church who gives us outstanding examples as saints, what the pope said must be both encouraging and inspiring to all of us. And I will add to his comment that these mothers and fathers indeed held to a higher standard the dignity and sanctity of Christian marriage and the family and passed on the same meaning to us to carry it out so that both our Church and our society may continue to survive.
But this is only one understanding of being saints. All of us who believe that the greatest joy and happiness we seek are not found in the “conveniences and pleasure of this life” and are willing to keep our rest in God and offer material and spiritual help to others are saints too. I remember about a year ago, on a snowy day, my car went to the ditch on the Mount Vernon Road as I was returning from Mass at Cedar Rapids. A man who was following me stopped immediately to make sure I was alright, took me in his car to bring me home, and gave me all the assistance I needed to get my car towed. He was not going my way but took the time to render all such help to me. He is a saint.
Do you remember when derecho occurred? I was caught in it on Springville Road, and after everything was over, I was left without a car to drive home and looking soaked and messy. A woman happened to go by me and stopped ahead. Seeing that she was backing up, I walked towards her and head her say to me, “come right in, you must be stranded.” She brought me home. She is a saint.
But that is not all. As a priest, I can't tell you enough how all of you live the most part as saints of God in the parish. How you serve in your ministry, come to Church to join the brothers and sisters to worship, render support to people who need you. All these inspire and encourage me.
One thing you should remember though, is that no one who is living as a saint today ceases to be a saint tomorrow. Therefore, let's go on living as saints. Let's go on chanting with the saints: praise, honor, glory, and thanksgiving to our God as John's vision reveals what the saints do in heaven. Don’t stop praising God in your heart and in the church. Don’t stop being merciful, pure in heart, thirsting for righteousness, and being poor in spirit towards others. Don’t stop. Let’s go live as saints.
Prayer blessings: Great and awesome God, make us your saints. Amen.