01 November 2023 – All Saints’ Day

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

As we celebrate All Saints’ Day today, it is a joyous celebration because we celebrate what God has called us to be. The invitation that He offers to each and every one of us is to belong to Him. And that lavish gift is offered to us so that we can grow towards this holiness of life that God promises us.

And the church’s understanding, dear friends, of the church is in three parts:-

The Church that is on a journey. The Church Militant, which is all of us, who are called to participate in this church where we go and struggle with the good and evil that is within us but trusting that God has called us into His life, entered into His relationship and to do what we can so that we can live and see that face of God as expressed in the Responsorial Psalm today:
Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

And that journey that we take, dear friends, is challenging. It is difficult but it is a journey towards God’s eternal dwelling. 

And the church goes on to this journey of the Church Suffering  and this is where we look at those who are in purgatory, those who are waiting to enter into heaven, those anticipating, waiting into heaven that goes through this moment of purification so that they can be united with God.

And lastly, the Heavenly Church. The Church Triumphant where together with all the saints, enjoy in this dwelling place, in this banquet of love. In that deep union and that relationship to be together with God in heaven. And all of us, dear friends, are on that path and on that journey so that we can be united with God.

And as we look at our own journey of life, our pilgrimage of life here on earth is a preparation towards that eternal dwelling to be together with God. And you and I, dear friends, as I mentioned are part of that journey because all of us are not distinct in a way but all of us come into this union of this whole church coming together, praising God and the way that we praise God is to adore Him in His fullness and His love.

And as we look at today’s Gospel, we see the aspect of the Beatitudes, where those Saints who are in this triumphant church have followed through this journey and this path that Jesus offered to His disciples. And these have led them towards where they are today, to be in God’s eternal dwelling. And that path requires humility, that path requires compassion, meekness, justice, peace. And all these are formulas or recipe of so many of those who have gone before us; our parents, our loved ones, our forefathers, those who have been on that journey using this path towards, reaching towards, seeing the face of God.

And you and I, dear friends, continue to seek that face of God in every aspect of our lives and this is where we struggle too. But as we struggle in this Christian discipleship, reaching towards that heavenly kingdom, there are two characteristics that come to mind.

The first thing is as a Christian disciple, we must be joyful. We must radiate the love and the joy of God, of encountering Him in and through our lives so that we are able to continue to bring about the joy and happiness that God offers us.

And the second thing is this aspect of being counter-cultural. Because the ways of the world will tell that we need power, prestige, we need to be accurate, we need to be sure of ourselves, but the path that Jesus offers us is the path of the poor in spirit, those who moan, those who hunger, being peacemakers and those who are pure in heart.

And that is why, dear friends, these two aspect of the recipe of the world verses the recipe of this heavenly kingdom, and Jesus offers us these recipes, so that we can attain that eternal life to be together with God. Beatitudes means, dear friends, being blessed, being joyful with the discovery of being able to acknowledge ourselves as a child that is loved by God. And because we are loved by God, we are blessed.

And as Christians, joy comes to us when we acknowledge that God dwells within us. Each time we receive the Eucharist, each time we allow God’s graces to flow in and through us by the way we reach out to one another, is indeed making God present in our lives.

I am sure that God is already present but we become more and more aware of who God is because of the love that He has for us. And whatever circumstances of joy that we experience comes from that knowledge that God is with us. And when we face the joy, dear friends, we also need to acknowledge that the joy that Jesus offers is very different than the joy the world offers.

The joy that Jesus offers, not just optimism of something that we do just on our minds, but from that certainty of love that God has been together with us. That whatever circumstances that we are confronted with, the loving gaze of God is upon us. And because we know that God looks on us favourably, we have the courage, we have the strength to be persevering in that journey even though it may be difficult.

And as you can see all the Saints are examples and they are great witnesses of how we ought to live our lives. They are there to encourage us, they are there to inspire us so that we too can be that witnesses of Jesus in everything that we do.

And the beatitudes as well, dear friends, as I mentioned is also counter-cultural. It says poor, persecuted, those who seek for justice. And these earthly joys that the world speaks about is far, far different than the joy that the Lord offers us. And for that, dear friends, if we are to enjoy the fullness of happiness that God offers each and every one of us, we need to embrace that challenge, to be trusting that God has the final say, that God is there together with us in whatever circumstances that may come.

But as we look at this celebration of All Saints’ Day, it is once again a reminder that we, here on earth, are not alone on this journey. We are accompanied with all the Saints and the Angels and they too watch over us, pray for us, and assist, comfort, inspire us to be on that journey so that we can reach to see God’s eternal dwelling.

And for that, dear friends, the Responsorial Psalm says once again: We need to seek the face of God. And how do we seek the face of God? It is by following the ways of the Beatitudes.

Because when we are counter-cultural, when we follow the ways of Jesus verses of the ways of the world, we may be ridiculed, we may be challenged, we may be rejected but we know that our joy comes from acknowledging that God is there together with us along that journey.

So let us pray, dear friends, that as we celebrate this Feast of the All Saints’ Day, a celebration of all of us being on this journey, the Church Triumphant, the Church Suffering and the Church Militant, all going on that journey to reach that eternal dwelling to be together with God in heaven.

And I am sure, dear friends, each one of us, our names, perhaps carry the name of a particular Saint. Do we acknowledge the Saint’s name in our lives? Do we know about what are the qualities and the characteristics of those Saints in our lives? And if we know, then we praise God. But if we do not know, then perhaps we need to dig deeper, we need to seek further and see where those Saints can continue to help us and inspire us to be on that journey, to be in God’s eternal dwelling.

Let us pray, dear friends, that as a community of faith, that we may support one other, that we may encourage one another to be living saintly lives, to live lives of holiness that is reflected after the heart of Jesus. Because we are called to be merciful just as our Heavenly Father is merciful. We are called to be holy just as our Heavenly Father is holy.

Let us praise and thank God for this opportunity that God has blessed us with. And let us look forward to that eternal face of God as He leads us in that path and that journey of the Beatitudes all the days of our lives. 

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