Today is Nov. 1, the Solemnity of All Saints
At today’s Mass, we hear St. John’s vision of the heavenly throng from the Book of Revelation: “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” (Rv 7:9).
Pope St. John Paul II compared the lives of the saints to candles lit before the altar of the Lord. I like this image very much. A candle shines the light, and the saints are those who burn brightly with the love of Christ. Imagine a church full of candles, brightly illuminated with the dancing flames of the men and women who shine in glory now.
It’s not an overly romantic image, however. Consider that as a candle burns, it is consumed. Becoming a saint demands the pouring out of one’s heart. Life and love are taken up by Christ and exhausted in and for him.
And what’s the recipe for that? How do the saints live? They follow the pattern of Jesus laid out in the Gospels, especially in the Beatitudes. John Paul II says: “The saints took these words of Jesus seriously. They believed that they would find ‘happiness’ by putting them into practice in their lives.” Meekness. Mercy. Standing firm in the face of persecution. This is the way, and it is an all-consuming way.
But being consumed by love isn’t a bad thing. It may be painful at times, but the Lord’s promise is that it will give great happiness. As John Paul II says, “And they realized their truth in everyday experience: despite their trials, moments of darkness and failures, they already tasted here below the deep joy of communion with Christ.”
Candles were made to give light. Each of us was made to be a saint. Today, as we celebrate the known (and multitude of unknown) men and women who gave themselves in love, may our lives shine a little more brightly with the love of the Gospel.
Let us pray for the grace to live the Beatitudes the way the saints have lived them:
Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in one celebration the merits of all the saints, bestow on us, we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors, an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we earnestly long. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
My Daily Visitor spiritual reflections are a dose of daily Catholic inspiration from Our Sunday Visitor magazine.
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