Our responsorial psalm beautifully sums up the heartfelt yearning of all human beings: the most exalted of all of God’s creations:
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face!
If all of us human creations could go deep inside of ourselves and identify our deepest longing, we would ultimately see that it is to see the face of God. This longing was born on the day when our first parents lost sight of that vision of God’s face - when they were cast out in the cold, stark darkness of the world outside the Garden Gates!
And from that moment on, their deepest desire was once again to see the face of God; and God immediately set a plan in motion for them to be able to do just that. And that plan included sending Jesus into the world to “reverse the curse” - to give a never-ending promise of hope that would keep us on the track as we journey towards a prepared place in our eternal home.
On this feast of All Saints we celebrate the Church triumphant! The Church in heaven who are very much alive, and who are very much spending the beginning of eternity both praising and worshiping God; but also enjoying one another’s company, and most importantly of all - who are still loving us, watching over us, and praying for us so that we can safely join them when our time comes to do so!
Whether the members of Jesus’ Body are in heaven already, or whether they are us, here, now and throughout the world - we are all God’s children - as St. John tells us in the second reading. When Christ our Life comes to take us all with him, then apparently something even more wonderful is planned - something that St. John only hints about in the reading! But whatever it is! It will be marvelous - and for those who base their lives on hope in this coming reality - they will be blessed indeed.
In the gospel passage Jesus gives us the formula for a sure-fired way of keeping our hope alive, keeping our lives headed in the right direction, keeping our sights fixed on eternity. The beatitudes beautifully sum up the life of a true and real follower of Jesus. They call happy (blessed) those who are poor in spirit (those who are making room to be filled with God’s fullness); those who mourn for their sins; those who are meek and mild; those who are merciful (for this is the condition for receiving God’s great mercy); the clean of heart (those who make God the center of their lives come what may); peacemakers (in the midst of a chaotic and stressful world); and especially the persecuted for Jesus’ sake - these will be highly blessed for they are experiencing what Jesus himself experienced - and they will have a special degree of blessedness given them. Rejoice and be glad! Your reward will be great in heaven.
We are so happy to celebrate with the whole Church today those who in every age - sought one thing: to do the will of God, because it was the will of God, and because they loved God. If we try to do that, each and every day, then we too are saints - and this is our feast day too!
If your hands are sinless, if your heart is clean, then you shall receive a blessing from the Lord; and in seeking for God, one day you will see his face!
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