Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Edwin Fernandez SVD – Divine Word College of Laoag
Solemnity of All Saints – November 1
The late Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare nun who founded Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), once said: “Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: Saint.”
The call to holiness is a grace given by God to make us share in His divine life, meant not for a privileged few, but for all who have been made children of God in the baptism of faith. We have a task to do so that God’s gift will grow and bear fruit in our lives. It is important, then, that we desire and strive to be holy through our daily choices and actions.
Through the centuries, the Church has manifested God’s infinite goodness and love through the extraordinary witness of her sons and daughters to their faith. We refer here to officially recognized/canonized saints and to those who are not known and yet genuinely live the Gospel joy in their families and communities.
There are countless people in the Church who tread the path of holiness through the little things they do with great love and humility; who silently do good, “not letting their left hand know what their right hand is doing;” who are risking their lives in order to bring about justice, peace and reconciliation in many parts of the world.
Perhaps, there are those who think that living a holy life is something sad and boring, and that saints are abnormal and unhappy people. For sure, Jesus did not invite his disciples to live an unhappy life but to discover a happiness different from the happiness that the world offers.
Jesus taught them the way of the Beatitudes – the way of radical dependence on God, the path of patient love and waiting, of persistent commitment to doing good no matter what happens, of trusting fully in God’s ways and promises. The Beatitudes actually refer to the life and attitudes of the happiest person who ever walked on this earth: Jesus, the Holy One. His loving sacrifice bore the fruit of unending peace and happiness: the Resurrection.
Saints who love Jesus so dearly and follow Him so nearly are truly happy people. Their happiness is founded on God’s unconditional love for them and their joy to share that love unconditionally with others. Their consistent desire is to be one with God and to do His most loving will at all times and in all circumstances.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus challenges us when she wrote: “You cannot be half a saint. You must be a whole saint or no saint at all.” The words of Saint John Paul II should also awaken us: “Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Do not be afraid to become the saints of the new millennium!”
HAPPY ALL SAINTS DAY!
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