Shikrot Mpwi – All Saints Day Synopsis
Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints, Year B – 1st November 2024
Readings: Revelations 7:2-4, 9-14; Responsorial Psalm Ps 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6; 1John 3:1-3; Gospel Matthew 5:1-12A.
On All Saints Day, the Church prepares us for heaven by urging us to have our garments washed by the Blood of the Lamb like the elect whom St. John saw in the first reading. In the second reading, John emphasises that we must purify ourselves for the eternal journey. The gospel presents us with Jesus’ blueprint for candidates of heaven – being poor in spirit, gentle, anxious about what is right, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and accepting persecution for the cause of right. He assures that this is the ladder for making it to Sainthood.
Introduction
Friends in Christ today is the Solemnity of All Saints. Our celebration has an ecumenical dimension. This is because the Anglican Communion, Methodist Church, Lutheran Church, and other Protestant churches also observe this day. This celebration is predicated on the fundamental belief that there is an unbreakable spiritual bond between the citizens of heaven (the Church triumphant) and the living (the Church militant). Our reflection entitled “Journey to sainthood” aspires to spur us to sainthood.
Background and Summary of the Readings
The first reading (Revelations 7:2-4, 9-14) reveals the beatific vision that the saints who have washed their garments by the Blood of the Lamb enjoy. It suggests that where the saints which St. John saw in his apocalypse are, we too may be.
In the second reading (1 John 3:1-3), St. John admonishes that based on our hope in the Lord Jesus, we should purify ourselves for the eternal journey. He maintains that although what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed, “all we know is, that when it is revealed, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
In the gospel (Matthew 5:1-12A), Jesus presents the blueprint for candidates of heaven. By listing the Beatitudes, Jesus presents the Militant Church with the demands of the kingdom namely being poor in spirit, gentle, anxious for what is right, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and accepting persecution for the cause of right. In all, he assures of the crown of eternal glory.
Who are the Saints and what is Sainthood?
A Saint is viewed as someone who did ordinary things in an extraordinary way. A Saint is not an extraordinary human being. Saints are people who heroically underwent the struggles of this earthly life and pleased God. They are not angels but men and women who though not immune from sin tried to live above sin. They were normal human beings who struggled with their weaknesses, were enthusiastic about God, and appropriated divine graces. They are people who became friends of God and our ancestors in the faith. Saints are virtuous people who loved God and their neighbour and were found worthy to be canonised by the Church.
Sainthood is a platform that offers holy people who have died an opportunity to stand on the shoulders of heavenly powers. That way, these spiritual ancestors constantly intercede for us. Since God doesn’t limit the gift of holiness and sainthood to biblical personages like Peter, James, and John, the Holy Spirit still raises virtuous men and women in the Church today hence, sainthood.
The Church canonises those who have lived exemplary lives. Because she enjoys the power of binding and loosing (Matthew 18:18 & 16:18), the Church can adjudge that a person has lived a good life. Through a thorough process by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints spanning through years, the person is declared, Servant of God, Beatified, and eventually Canonised after miracles have been associated with him or her.
In what is described in theology as Dulia, the Saints play an intercession role. Just as you can ask a fellow human being to pray for you (Cf. Heb. 13:18 & Eph. 6:18-19), so too, the Church invokes the saints to intercede on our behalf because they are before God. The scripture is replete with texts which support invoking the saints: “Job, my servant, offers prayers for you. I will listen to him with favour” (Job 42:8-10). Proverbs has this to say: “Yahweh stands far from the wicked, but he listens to the prayer of the virtuous” (Proverbs 15:29).
Pastoral Lessons
- Be Detribalised: In a country where the masses are sadly divided by ethnic, religious, and political fault lines, the message of the first that “a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe, and language were standing in front of the throne and front of the Lamb,” urges us to be detribalised mindful that only those who are large-hearted can enter heaven.
- Be a Peace-Maker: Those St. John saw in his apocalypse who were “dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands” are those the Beatitudes reveal as peacemakers – children of God – this challenges countries at war – Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine to embrace lasting peace.
- Be Ambitious towards Heaven: The message of St. John in the second reading that when what we are meant to be is revealed, we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He really is, implies that pilgrims who want to make heaven must be ambitious enough to want to see the face of God.
- Be Pure in Heart: The elect wore white robes and Jesus insisted on being pure in heart and thirsting for righteousness as criteria for climbing the mountain of the Lord.
- Be Heroic in Faith: We are called to demonstrate heroic faith by loving and serving God and our neighbour well.
Summary Lines
- The first reading reveals the beatific vision that the saints who have washed their garments by the Blood of the Lamb enjoy.
- In the second reading, St. John admonishes that based on our hope in the Lord Jesus, we should purify ourselves for the eternal journey.
- He maintains that although what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed, “all we know is, that when it is revealed, we shall be like him …”
- In the gospel presents the blueprint for candidates of heaven.
- By listing the Beatitudes, Jesus presents the Militant Church with the demands of the kingdom.
Conclusion
The militant Church enjoys the spiritual patrimony of the Church triumphant: “Remember your former leaders, who spoke God’s message to you. Think back on how they lived and died while imitating their faith” (Heb. 13:7). Therefore, we have a great bond because the Church is a communion of both the living and the dead. God refers to himself as the Lord of the living and the dead (Mark 12:27). May the Saints intercede for us now and forever. Have a wonderful celebration!
