Word to the Wise
Sunday, November 1, 2020 - Nov. 1 - All Saints
[Rev 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matt 5:1-12a]"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb." [Revelation] "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him as he is. " [1 John] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven, etc....." [Matthew]
The Sunday celebration is not often replaced with another celebration, but the feast of All Saints is one of those replacements. Of course, Catholic humor will speak of relief that this "holy day of obligation" falls on a Sunday this year so that a "two-for-one" fulfillment of liturgical duty occurs! Nevertheless, this does not take anything away from the joyful duty to celebrate not just "sainthood" but the real "ticker-tape heroes" of faith. Furthermore, it's not just those who have been "canonized" but also those whom we have encountered whose lived faith stands out to us. The great English spiritual writer, Evelyn Underhill, warns us that there is "no such thing as a saintly type. What is called the saintly type is often an objectionable and showy form of pietistic character. But there is a steady sanctification of every sort of character once it has been given to God and died to self. Indeed the idea of the Communion of Saints as a society of persons all wearing the same patterned white robe, stiffened by the same starch, is a very depressing one."
A quick look at any list of "official" saints will show us that the variety is as broad as the human race! I think of the list from my own Dominican family and note the difference between a St. Thomas Aquinas and a St. Martin De Porres or between a St. Catherine of Siena and a St. Rose of Lima!! The saints are really all around us everyday in the lives of those who take their faith seriously and live it with integrity through love of God and neighbor. I have in mind the Dominican layman, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, for example.
We may encounter the variety at the celebration of the sacrament of Confirmation in the "confirmation names" chosen by the participants. Or we may see it in the statuary in older churches. But we can see it everyday everywhere in faithful people of the kind that Jesus describes in the beatitudes. If we can remember what the First Letter of John tells us today, "Beloved, we are God's children now..." we are experiencing the notion of sainthood. We may not receive the "ticker tape" recognition of being canonized, but I don't think that will matter to God or neighbor! AMEN