Solemnity of All Saints
“Come on! Let’s all go to heaven! Ask our brothers for their courage; we have their weapons. We are a battalion, not a procession.” – Saint Peter Julian Eymard, A Thought Per Day, November 1st
One of the watershed moments in our marriage happened years ago. I was adamantly arguing with my husband about something or other, when he looked straight into my eyes and said, ‘I am not your enemy.’ That truth broke through my misplaced defenses and allowed me to see the truth. I was not fighting him, but something deeper inside of me.
“Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield, man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 409)
Our enemy is not our neighbor, nor the one we perceive as against us, but rather the one who seeks to divide us. The battlefield is in our hearts, where walls of self-defense have been erected. It is there, in the hidden places, where we find the source of the ugliness around us.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us our marching orders for the spiritual battle. We are to be poor in spirit, like Saint Francis, and mourn, like Saint Monica. We are to be meek like Saint Thérèse, and hunger and thirst for righteousness like Saint Oscar Romero. We are to be merciful like Saint Faustina and clean of heart like Saint Maria Goretti. We are called to be peacemakers, like Saint John Paul II, and willing to be persecuted, like Saint Maximilian Kolbe.
If we do this, together, Jesus promises: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven” (Matthew 5:12).
Let us pray:
“Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, today we rejoice in the holy men and women
of every time and place. May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. – Amen.” (Concluding Prayer Office of Readings)
