Rv 7:2-4, 9-14
Ps 24: 1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
I Jn 3:1-3
Mt 5:1-12a
The Church’s practice of venerating and invoking saints is an ancient one. Saints have been venerated since the 4th century. Saints were declared by popular acclaim and their graves became sites of pilgrimage. Rome only took control of the formal declaration of sainthood in about the 13th century.
Over time veneration was contaminated by elements of superstition that have nothing to do with holiness, sainthood, or even reality. For example, burying a statue of St. Joseph upside down in the lawn so as to sell the house can be charitably described as bizarre. But, a 4-inch statue of St Joseph for selling a house complete with double-sided prayer card is available on Amazon for less than $8. I checked yesterday.
Weirdness aside, the Saints are critical to our spiritual lives. Saints are important guides and models for living the Christian life. They are models of that life. And they are intercessors on our behalf at the throne of heaven.
The Church sets the first day of November as a holy day of obligation in honor of all the saints. The root meaning of Halloween, the day before All Saints, is holy eve, the night before All Saints. Somehow though, a religious observance degenerated into a festival of cross-dressing, vandalism, and begging for candy.
The Solemnity of All Saints honors all saints, those who have been formally canonized and those known only to God. The readings help to explain sainthood.
Revelation is the most wildly misunderstood and misused book in the entire Bible. It is part of the difficult form of biblical literature known as apocalyptic. It is not Ancient Near Eastern science fiction nor the progenitor of Star Wars. Apocalyptic literature was meant to give hope during times of persecution. It was written in a such a way that it was understood only by those who were persecuted, it was written for those who were suffering. Apocalyptic literature remained unintelligible and mostly incomprehensible to those on the outside, something like the way teenagers speak when their parents and teachers are around. The symbolism is dense. The meaning of some of the symbols and allusions is, and will remain, unknown.
Numerology is part of that symbolism. It cannot be taken as concrete and literal. There are meanings attached to numbers in apocalyptic that go beyond the mere amount, similar to the way that 13 is considered unlucky in the U.S. and 4 is inauspicious in China.
Sainthood, seeing the face of God, is not limited to just 144,000 as detailed in Revelation. Certain fundamentalists would argue against that to the death but that it their problem and pathology not ours.
In Revelation the number 1000 signifies an immense number, the equivalent of a bazillion today. Remember, hyperbole is not a 20th century American invention. One hundred forty-four is the square of twelve (a number which carries its own symbolism within the tribes of Israel). Thus, 144,000 signifies a multitude beyond counting, an infinite number. Few of us will be canonized. But we are all called to sainthood. Despite the claims of the rapturists, there is room for everyone.
Who can hope to be numbered among the saints? Who can hope to ascend the mountain of the Lord? One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. As John wrote in his letter, God the Father has bestowed such love on us that we are the children of God. We are his beloved because of Jesus’ radical self-surrender that brought sinful humanity to redemption. His obedience opened the path to those who wish to ascend the mountain of the Lord. The stepping stones of that path are outlined in Matthew’s Gospel which includes far and away the most well-known part of the much longer Sermon on the Mount.
Read through these “Blessed are” statements some time today. They answer the psalmist’s questions as to who can ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place. The Beatitudes tell us how to be those whose hands are sinless, whose hearts are clean and who desire not what is vain.
We do not know what it might be like to be in God’s presence or to be numbered among the saints. But Matthew tells us it will be blessed. There is no reason to quibble with that.
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Photos are from tertianship in Australia
The opera house taken from the vantage point of the Jesuit High school roof. 
The Church in Warrnambool, Victoria
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The shore (aka beach) near Warrnambool. It was a thirty minute walk from the church.
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| The pastor's hobby was making candles. |
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St. Mary of the Angels Church where I spent five happy weeks running things in the pastor's absence.
Fr. Jack, SJ, MD |
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