Fr. Lino Moreira: When Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount he was speaking, first of all, about himself, the Blessed One above all others. He was the one who became poor for our sake (cf. 2 Co 8:9). He mourned the death of his friend Lazarus (cf. Jo 11:35), wept over Jerusalem (cf. Lk 19:41) and was overwhelmed with sorrow at Gethsemane on the eve of his Passion (cf. Mt 26:37-38). He was gentle and lowly in heart (cf. Mt 11:29). He was baptised in the Jordan to fulfil all righteousness (cf. Mt 3:15), and for the sake of righteousness was persecuted by sinners. Innocent and without sin (cf. 1 Jo 3:5), he gave himself for our sins (cf. Gal 1:4), making peace through the blood of his cross (cf. Col 1:20). Indeed, Matthew narrates that after Jesus had breathed his last, the guards who were watching said: Truly this was the Son of God (Mt 27:54) – and in this profession of faith it is possible to hear an echo of one of the Beatitudes: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Mt 5:9).
Jesus died on the cross to unite the entire human race into one family of God’s children, and he says to those who wish to be numbered among his brothers and sisters: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mt 16:24). Today, we celebrate all the men and women who have embraced this challenge, and are now called blessed because they share in the glory of God’s only-begotten Son. The author of the Book of Revelation describes them as a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands (Rev 7:9). These myriads include not only those whom the Church has officially recognised as saints, but all the baptised of every age who have followed in the footsteps of Christ, without losing heart in the face of difficulties. We are unacquainted with most of them, and perhaps only a few of them performed extraordinary works or possessed exceptional charisms, but all of them sought to live according to the gospel, and to fulfil God’s will faithfully and lovingly.
We honour this great multitude whom we call “All Saints”, not because they need our praise or glorification, but because their lives encourage us to follow Christ and their intercession strengthens us on the way. The saints were men and women of flesh and blood like us. They knew all the challenges, weaknesses and struggles of our human existence, and some of them were even great sinners. Yet, through their openness to God’s grace, they were radically transformed and bore witness to the fact that the way of the cross, the path of self-denial, leads to the happiness of being close to God and to the blessedness of living in his light.
Looking at their shining example, our desire to be like them is reawakened. We can hear them inviting us in the words of Saint Paul: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Co 11:1). This is not an invitation to copy someone’s outward manner of life, but rather an appeal to contemplate the depth of God’s love for the world, made manifest in the words and actions of Jesus Christ. The saints were always mindful of this love and allowed themselves to be transformed by it. In this way, they mirrored in their own lives Christ’s humble and self-giving love, a love that seeks the good of others even at the cost of one’s life.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 Jo 3:1), says the author of today’s first reading. By believing in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, we became God’s children (cf. Jo 1:12). By contemplating the love that raised us to such dignity, we learn to love as God loves. This is how we are meant to imitate the saints, so that, like them, we can shed all that is false and become ever more authentically ourselves.