All Saints - C

In a letter he wrote in 1605 to a friend to whom he was offering spiritual direction, St. Francis de Sales offered the advice that we should be what we are, and be that well .

This advice is certainly appropriate for us to consider on this feast of All Saints – a feast that itself is teaching us what we are and how we might be that well.

See what love the Father has shown us, in letting us be called children of God, and yet that is what we are.

These words of the first letter of St. John tell us exactly what we are – we are children of God!

If we are children of God, we share the very life of God, we are holy, we are saints, not some time in the future, but now!

Be what you are – St. Francis de Sales teaches us.

Be the saints, the holy ones, the children of God that the scriptures and our feast teach us that we are today.

St. Francis de Sales also teaches us to be what we are, and be that well .

How, we might ask, can we be the best we can be as children of God, as people called to be holy ones, as people called to be saints?

Jesus teaches us in the gospel that blessed are those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, who are clean of heart, who are peacemakers, and who are sometimes insulted and persecuted.

This is not exactly the glamorous life – but it is certainly a blueprint for learning how we are to be what we are, and be that well .

If we need any warning as regards the danger of choosing another vision of how we might pursue blessedness, holiness, the life of the children of God, another vision of how we might be what we are and be it well, let us recall the words of Jesus in St. Luke's gospel:

 

W oe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you

who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you

will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors

treated the false prophets in this way.

 

The Book of Revelation sets before us a vision or an image of what awaits those who persevere in the effort to be what they are and be it well in this life – it is a vision of a multitude of people of every race and tongue and people and nation gathered around the throne of God enjoying an eternal life of happiness and peace.

If we would join in that number, let us be what we are – children of God – and be it well – by being poor in spirit, willing to embrace our pain and that of others, meek, hungry and thirsty for justice, merciful, clean of heart, peacemakers, and even willing at times to suffer insult and persecution at the hands of those who are rich, satisfied, laughing, and well thought of.

When we are willing to be what we are, and be it well , we can rejoice and be glad, for the Kingdom of God will be ours!

Thomas P. Ferguson
November 1, 2007