OMELIE / Omelie EN

01 nov 2018

01/11/2018 Solemnity of All Saints

01/11/2018 Solemnity of All Saints

Reading 1, RV 7,2-4.9-14 * Psalm 23 * Reading 2, 1 JN 3,1-3 * Gospel, MT 5,1-12

Today we are all invited to rejoice because many, so many of our brothers in faith have reached the glory and light promised by God to whoever had welcomed, loved and served the only Son of God Jesus Christ!

The first reading is opening our eyes on the joyful multitude that is following the Lamb in heaven. Saint John in the second one is revealing the secret of the true sanctity, and in the gospel Jesus Himself is showing us the safe ways and situations that are going to make us citizens of heaven.

Who are those who stand in front of the throne of the Highest in order to eternally sing the beauty and the joy of His love? Who are those that are waiting for us in order to share with us their glory, to teach us the song of eternity and proclaim the praises of the God of the universe? “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb”! The great distress is martyrdom, the death chosen for the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, as a testimony that He is the only savior of men. Among the Saints we cannot see only the proper martyrs, but also all of those that have been and are witnesses of Jesus, and they have been so or they are so living in a way to be ready to die for him. All those who, in order to be faithful to the Lord, have faced and face the misunderstandings of their parents, friends, of the entire society! All those who have overcome the derision of their faith and marginalization, because of the name of Jesus, coming from their contemporaneous, the contempt coming from their colleagues, the oppression coming from their husband or their wife, the authorities or from the very people they benefited, the clear injustice or not so clear, coming from their brothers or human tribunals. To be faithful to Jesus is the reason to be hated by the enemy, Satan, which has been defeated by him, but he is still undermining the Church.

Among these sufferings and distresses we can have experience of the great love of the Father, that makes us aware to be children of God. We already are, thanks to His love, even if now we can see very little of our glory. This will be shown when we will be glorified completely and when our eyes will be used to see His face. Then “we shall be like him”. Our similarity to Him is starting already, now, and is growing the more our eyes linger on the son of God to enjoy his beauty and share in his suffering because of all the offences He receives from the spits and the thorns of His crown.

If we focus our eyes on Him the desire to live his word grows, to guarantee that whatever he said becomes our life! Our way to be will make clear to our brothers and to the world the God’s wisdom, hidden in His words! Today we can hear some of them, those that summarize His entire message: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are the clean of heart, blessed are the merciful, blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness…!” We are always searching for blessings. There they are, right there where nobody is looking! The true blessing is in Jesus’ heart that is poor, pure and meek, merciful and morning because of our sin, persecuted because He follows the Father’s will. We will cling on him, gain access to His heart, welcome Him in ours, and the joy will fill us! “Look to him and be radiant!” says the Psalm, and it’s really true. Today we are taking part in the blessing of the Saints, that lived keeping themselves hidden in God’s heart with Jesus! We take part in the blessing of Jesus, who is enjoying the faithfulness of the Saints, the fruit of their sacrifice. While enjoying God’s joy we receive strength in order to keep following the journey of our sanctity, a journey that becomes important for many of our brothers. They will be helped by our joy and the firmness with which we are following the Lord! Our life too will be a blessing of God for many!

“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”