Solemnity
of All Saints
Rv 7: 2 – 4 . 9 – 14 / Ps 24 / 1 Jn 3: 1 – 3 /
Mt 5: 1 – 12
We
replace things and people when we are no longer happy with them. When you are
no longer happy with your cellphone, then you begin to save in order to buy a
newer version of it. When you are no longer happy with your car, then you make
a car loan. And for some, when they are no longer happy with their wives, then
they look for other women. We replace things and people when we are no longer
happy with them.
This
can also happen in our spiritual life. Since the God whom we love is not
someone whom we can easily see, touch, and hear, then little by little we begin
to replace Him with other “gods.” No wonder St. Thomas Aquinas names four
substitutes to God: wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. We replace God with
these things because they seem to fulfill our desire for happiness. I’d rather
make an overtime in my work than go to Mass – wealth. I’d rather go to the
beach and have some “party party” than visit the dead in the cemetery –
pleasure. I’d rather aim for public office than volunteer in an orphanage –
power. I’d rather donate a large amount in the parish than spend for my family –
honor. The moment we fail to acknowledge God as the source of our happiness
then we slowly replace him with “lesser loves” – wealth, pleasure, power, and
honor.
We
heard in our Gospel today Jesus’ inaugural speech as he begins his ministry in
Galilee. After calling his first disciples, he now gathers them together with
the rest of the community and begins his famous “sermon on the mount.” If we
take a closer look on the “Beatitudes” we realize that Jesus is highlighting an
important truth – that the Kingdom of God is at hand; that God is already in their
midst. We should not replace God rather we should give him a place in our lives
for He is already with us. Thus, when he taught the “Beatitudes,” Jesus was
reminding us of the counter values to wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. For
us to be able to place God in our lives, we have to gain poverty in spirit and
not wealth; to mourn with those who mourn and not pleasure; to be meek and not
to seek power; and to suffer with those in the horror of pain and not to aim
for honor. Right at the start of his public ministry, Jesus is reminding his
disciples and us today that to be blessed, to be happy means to have a place in
the Kingdom of God and not to replace Him with “lesser loves.”
And
such teaching of Jesus is made real in the lives of the saints of the
contemporary world. “Blessed are the poor in spirit!” Zelie and Louis Martin,
the couple saints, gave all their children to God for they became religious
sisters. “Blessed are they who mourn.” St. Anna Schaffer, a German, was
bedridden at the age of 19 until her death in 1945 yet she inspired a lot of
people through her letters. “Blessed are the meek.” The Cebuano Teofilo Camomot
was never attached to his power as a bishop. Instead, he used his office in
serving more the poor. “Blessed are the persecuted!” Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan
of Vietnam was imprisoned for 13 years, nine of which were spent in solitary
confinement. Despite such persecution, he remained a magnet of God’s love
inside the prison through his secret celebration of the Eucharist.
We
replace things and people when we are no longer happy with them. When God seems
far and distant, we too replace him with wealth, pleasure, power, and honor.
But Jesus in our Gospel today is teaching us that real blessedness, authentic
happiness can only be achieved if we place and not replace God in our lives.
And our saints are witnesses to this truth. May we not only like the saints
today. Rather, may we be like the saints now and forever. Amen.
Photo taken from
... to be happy means to have a place in the Kingdom of God and not to replace Him with “lesser loves.”
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