We indeed are the saints in the making
 
My dear Parish members in Christ Jesus,
 
In our celebration of this All Saints Day we remember all the holy women and men in heaven, from different times and places, who have given witness by their faith, courage, love, forgiveness, humility, or commitment, among other virtues. Some of them have been canonized saints, others have joined the communion of saints by being who they were or by doing the best that they could: Cooking in kitchens for their families, filing papers in crowded offices, teaching naughty children in classrooms, or by tilling the fields under the hot sun, and even terminally and chronically ill and physically and mentally impaired from their birth, plus bed-ridden for life.
In today’s Gospel (Matt. 5: 1-12) Jesus exclaims that they were “blessed” for they lived patiently and loved unselfishly. So many among them refused to conform to the values of the world, to live self-centered lives. Rather, as Jesus proposed, they were sensitive to the needs of their neighbors. They chose to be meek rather than arrogant, to live with a poverty of spirit rather than with inflated egos, to work for what is right according to God’s will, and to live with pure and sincere hearts. People may have laughed at them and even rejected them from enjoying earthly rewards, but they got their reward of possessing the Kingdom of Heaven.
 
The Spirit invites us today to reassure ourselves that one day we will join these saints who have gone before us. We hold such hope as we remember that God wants all of us to be saved; as we hear from John’s Book of Revelation (Rev. 7: 2-4, 9-14), The countless multitude of humans like us stand endlessly face-to-face before God in awe and joy; they were the ones who had survived the time of great distress and they are washed in the Blood of the Lamb; additionally our relentless hope of our eternal thrice-holy life in heaven is founded on the assertion of John in his Letter (1 Jn. 3: 1-3) where he writes: 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, for we shall see him as he is.
 
If we continue to live holding firmly this faith, hope and love and ceaselessly worshipping God in Spirit and Truth with the people who long to see God’s face, we will, as the Psalmist declares (Ps. 24), slowly ascend the mountain of God and steadily stand in his holy place and ultimately we will receive abundant blessing from the Lord as a reward from God our savior. Let our prayer today to God be for the ability to emulate the saints; for the strength in following their example; for fortitude in the face of the challenges that face us in that mission; and for a heart that is open to the Lord and guided by humble service.
 
Let us pray,
Almighty ever-living God,
increase our faith, hope and charity,
and make us love what you command,
so that we may merit what you promise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
– Amen.
 
God bless us,
Father Valley