“Curriculum” for holiness. All Saints (C)

In his Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of the Solemnity of All Saints which we celebrate today, Jesus gives us the “curriculum” for holiness. To climb the mountain of holiness we need the encouragement, the action of the Holy Spirit. Without his grace we would quickly tire and give up. It is the Holy Spirit who inspires in us both the desire for holiness and the effective will to work toward it. But Jesus outlines for us the way of life that the Spirit inspires in those who truly follow his movements. And since holiness is like climbing a mountain, Jesus climbs one to tell us how we must live to attain it.

“He sat down and his disciples came to him.”. Jesus speaks to us from his “cathedra”, as a teacher. He alone knows the way to holiness, because he alone is the mediator, the ladder, the way between earth and heaven (cf. 1 Tim 2:5; Jn 1:51; 14:6). He alone knows the way to the Father's house (Jn 14:2). Therefore, instead of exhausting ourselves trying to devise our own way to Heaven, the best we can do is to “draw near” to Jesus, through whom we come to the Father (Jn 14:6).

The first four beatitudes are related to humility, to the recognition of our own spiritual poverty. If we are poor in spirit, empty of ourselves, we let God fill us. We weep because nothing on this earth can satisfy us and we are well aware of our own sinfulness and the evil that surrounds us, which alone we cannot overcome. We are meek in peacefully accepting our limitations and the imperfect situation in which we find ourselves, but always trusting in God. And we hunger and thirst for justice, to live as God wants us to live and for society to function as God wants it to, always knowing that only He can satisfy our hunger and thirst and bring about positive change.

But this awareness of our own need leads us to see the needs of others. It leads us to a merciful and pure heart that seeks to give to others and not just seek their selfish pleasure. We strive to build peace in society, the peace that Christ himself has given us (see Jn 14:27; 16:33; 19-21:26). And we courageously offer Christ to others, even at the cost of persecution.

It is by living the beatitudes that we too will be among this multitude“.“that no one could count”unknown perhaps to the world, but known to God, who, as we read in today's first reading, cries out praises to God in Heaven, thanking him for the salvation that comes only through his Son Jesus Christ.