Christ the Cornerstone

We are called to be saints, to grow close to Christ

Today, the Solemnity of All Saints, is the day that our Church recognizes and celebrates all the people—known and unknown—whose closeness to Jesus distinguishes them as outstanding in holiness.

The first reading for today refers to “a great multitude” who are gathered in heaven singing God’s praise:

“After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb’ ” (Rev 7:9-10).

The Church calls this immense gathering “the communion of saints.” It includes both the living and deceased—all those who throughout salvation history have lived righteous lives and have shown themselves to be holy.

All the baptized are called to be saints. This is the universal call to holiness that invites, and challenges, baptized Christians to conform their lives to the person of Jesus Christ, the source of all holiness. The Hebrew word for “holy” is “qadosh.” It means to be separate or set apart from the ordinary. God is the one who is “Most Holy,” totally other, and absolutely separate from the world that he has created.

To become holy requires that we reflect the holiness of God in the way that the moon reflects the sun’s brightness. Saints do not produce their own light, their own holiness. The light of Christ shines through them and makes visible to us the holiness of God.

The image of a great multitude of men, women and children praising God recalls the experiences that more than 50,000 of us had last summer when we gathered for the National Eucharistic Congress held here in Indianapolis on July 17-21. This truly was a gathering of saints—not perfect people, but faithful missionary disciples who came to be close to Jesus in the holy Eucharist and to grow in holiness together.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus outlines the path to holiness. He tells us that we are blessed when we live our lives for others. When we live the Beatitudes, we are holy—on the road to sainthood—and we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, living as he did.

We become holy when we learn to make the Beatitudes the program for living that is our own:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven” (Mt 5:3–12).

We are all called to be holy. This does not mean we are supposed to consider ourselves as better than everyone else (“holier than thou”).

On the contrary, holiness demands humility. It requires us to walk with all our sisters and brothers and to share in their struggles as well as their joys.

To be holy means to grow closer to Jesus and, in so doing, to reflect his light. Saints are not perfect. They are repentant sinners who are getting better because they have allowed the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to enter their empty hearts and make them whole.

All sinners are called to be saints. If we are open to God’s grace, and if we can learn to say “yes” to the way of life entrusted to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are truly blessed.

Today’s second reading makes this clear: “Everyone who has this hope based on [Christ] makes himself pure, as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:3). It is in drawing close to Christ that we learn to live like him. We learn to set aside our own interests and begin to live for others.

This is the way to be holy, to become the saints we are all called to be.

May God’s grace be with us—and all the saints—in a special way today. May we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints with gratitude and great joy! †