Sunday, November 1st is the feast of All Saints. It invites us to ask what marked the saints as holy? Is sainthood something we aspire to, for ourselves, today?
Sunday’s gospel (Matt 5:1-12) addresses the criteria Jesus uses to declare one “blessed”. It is so poetic that it deserves to be repeated in its entirety.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Jesus expressed God’s preference for the economically and socially marginalized. He told his disciples, and all who could hear him and his words repeated in the gospel, that the poor, mourners, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, those who lived with integrity (the pure of heart), peacemakers, persecuted and reviled, were blessed. In effect, he was calling them saints.
Jesus promised that they will receive
· the kingdom of heaven (twice)
· comfort from their sorrows,
· the earth as an inheritance,
· their fill
· mercy
· the sight of God
· the title “children of God.”
Sainthood comes with a lot of benefits!
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Still, some questions arise. For example, what is it to be poor in spirit? Is that different from being economically poor? Can wealthy people live with detachment from their money and property, sharing their goods with those in need? Do they see their good fortune as a gift from God and treat it as something to be used in the same spirit? (What about Matt 19:24, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God?) On the other hand, a poor person may crave goods and riches, so while they are poor, they are not poor in spirit. Perhaps Jesus was also referring to poor people who, nevertheless, are willing to divide what little they have with others in need.
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Another beatitude that begs clarification is Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Being pure of heart is not, primarily, about sexual purity. Purity of heart refers to integrity. It means that the motives and heart are consistent with the outward actions. This will encompass sexual purity, but it is far broader. Integrity, for example, means that one does not do good in the hope of being praised by someone in power. Nor is it purity of heart if one helps another in expectation of reward.
But the second part of the beatitude ... for they will see God raises the question of how is ‘seeing God” a great blessing? Sure, he is the creator of all! But if it is just sitting around and looking at God, that might become boring after a few hundred years.
In Exodus 33:20, God told Moses You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. God’s face was/is so awesome that it would make mortals die. In heaven, seeing God may be more than watching God, but living in a personal relationship with him, exploring his infinite insights.
Gregory of Nyssa, the 4th-century Cappadocian theologian, said that the spiritual perfection of the saints in heaven is not a static state, but an infinite, insatiable journey of the soul moving closer to God. Since God's goodness is limitless, and as God's goodness is essential, God is also limitless.
The consequence of Gregory's belief in the infinity of God is that God, as limitless, is essentially incomprehensible to the limited minds of human beings. We can never reach a full understanding of God. There is a constant progression towards the unreachable knowledge of God, as the individual continually transcends all which has been reached before. Like the horizon, we will never achieve a complete vision of God. But the journey towards that will be thrilling.
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· Re-read the gospel substituting the words “happy” and “holy” for the word “blessed”. Does the flavour of the gospel change? Or are the changes so subtle that they don’t make a difference?
· What is the most challenging beatitude for you? What behaviours does that beatitude invite you to change? Why is it so hard?
· Which of the benefits of the beatitudes do you consider most attractive... the kingdom of heaven, comfort from your sorrows, the earth as an inheritance, your fill, mercy, the sight of God, the title “children of God.?
· Do you imagine that you could be a “saint”? ... You can be.
Peace,
Deacon Michael