Mt. 5:1-12A
One of the most attractive faces of the Catholic Church is the presence of saints in her life. Every saint is a sign of her sanctity and a role model for the way of life that she invites us to live. The life of every saint is a sign of great hope for all of us who are in this pilgrim church. Their life reflects the unconditional love of God and celebration of his amazing grace some of the saints while they were alive itself they were quite popular and considered as saints. Saints like Padre Pio, Mother Theresa, and John Paul II, etc. Whereas some others were unknown to the entire world and after their death, the fragrance of their sanctity spreads all around the world. Life of St. Theresa of Child Jesus, St. Alphonsa, etc. was typical examples of this.
The sanctity of St. Alphonsa always amazed me. She lived in a small corner of India unknown to the rest of the world. She lost her mother soon after her birth. Childhood onward she had an immense love for Christ and she wanted to be his bride forever. Her maternal aunt wanted her to enter into married life and insisted on her for family life. Her passion for Christ was so great; she jumped into the fire and burned her legs so that she would be allowed to marry her soul mate Jesus Christ. As a result, Her family members allowed her to enter into the Franciscan Clarist Congregation.
‘The mission that Jesus entrusted to her was the humble acceptance of suffering on behalf of him. Sufferings one after the other came to her life. At the same time, she grew in her sanctity and mystical union with Christ. She had a great devotion to St. Theresa of Child Jesus and she had an apparition of St. Theresa and experienced a miraculous cure at a crucial moment of her vocational journey so that she could profess as a religious. The missionary movement that she initiated under the patroness of St. Theresa ignited missionary zeal in many and grown worldwide after her death.
Coming back to her life, she willingly and joyfully accepted the suffering of others. At times she was misunderstood by her community members. Her intimate union with Christ was misunderstood as a sign of a disturbed mind. On the cross of her intense suffering, she used to say that she is loving. At a very young age of 35, she passed away. A handful of people were attended her funeral. At the funeral oration her spiritual director Rev. Fr. Romulus CMI said these prophetic words:
“Dear sisters of the convent, don’t shed tears of sorrow. Rejoice in the Lord as you got the wonderful chance to live with her and to do service to her. Blessed is the convent she lived and fortunate is this Bharananganam village that has laid to rest her body. If God wills, this Bharananganam will become the Lisieux of India. Pilgrims, not only from Kerala but from all over India, will visit this holy place that has entombed her chaste body. If it is the will of God, not only the bishops of India but even the cardinals as well, will come to pray at the mausoleum of this virgin who led an obscure life here on earth. If it is so, you may ask the meaning of these rites for the repose of a soul. What I feel personally is not to pray for the repose of her soul, but to pray for her intercession who is in heaven…” Yes, no one took into consideration this speech at that time. It is children who recognized her sanctity first. They used to frequent her tomb with her favorite rose flowers. It is said that when the number of children increased, they constructed the wall around the cemetery so that they restrict this unusual that was going on but no wall could stop the fragrance of her sanctity. It spread all around the world as the saying goes: ‘Sanctity is contagious…’ She was canonized in 2009 October as the first woman saint of India. she was considered as a great failure including her community members…yet her life proved that the promise of Jesus, the beatitudes would be fulfilled in our life…
Today we celebrate the solemnity of all saints day. The feast is considered as one of the most important feasts of the Catholic church because this fest presents the foretaste of our divine end for which all of us are called for. In our times we can find ample and convincing rational arguments to prove that there is no continuity of life after death or the state of being in heaven. For those who do not believe, any amount of proof will not be sufficient to make them convince until they pass through the gift of a personal encounter with God. The scripture itself is an assurance of this great reality. The first book of the Bible depicts the beginning stage of humanity through the myth of Adam and Eve. Of course, it is not a historical reality yet the wisdom of the scripture teaches us that our origin is from God and how humanity slips away from his presence because of the misuse of freedom. Then on it is not the human being it is God himself going behind humanity to get back to us into his presence. Every page of the scripture depicts this unconditional love of God to humanity.
Different epoch God chose us different people Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Judges, prophets, and fullness of time sending his only Son. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16). In salvation history, Jesus becomes the bridge between God and humanity. The very life and teaching invited us to reflect on our divine origin and the divine end for which all of us are called for.
The Sermon on the Mount is a manifestation of our divine call. It may not be accepted by all equally because these promises of Jesus would be fulfilled in eternal life. These words of Jesus assure us that there is continuity for our life, even after our death. Jesus says: “Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.” (Jn. 6:47). It indicates the fact that we begin our eternal life here on earth and death cannot separate us from this loving relationship with Christ.
At times we may think as we live in this post-modern world what is the purpose of holding on to these beatitudes? When all are running behind pleasure, profit, prosperity what is the relevance of living as poor in Spirit, gentle, merciful, peacemaker pure in heart, being persecuted for uprightness, hunger for uprightness, mourn? When there are so many crooked ways to live a successful life, why we need to stand for these kingdom values? We can find meaning for the way of life based on beatitudes only when are convinced of the fuller realization of the kingdom of God that all the saints enjoy today.
The solemnity of all the saints teaches us that living out these beatitudes in our day to day life is not at all an easy task. In all the ages these ideals encountered various challenges. The earthly sojourn of none of the saints was a cakewalk, they suffered, misunderstood by others, persecuted, condemned, rejected. They are dead, yet their heroism speaking to us when we believe I Christ we cannot die… death is only a transition to eternal life… “Don’t be afraid to aim for holiness and turn yourself over to the love of God. Holiness does not mean performing extraordinary things but carrying out daily things in an extraordinary way…i.e., with love, joy, and faith…( Pope Francis)… Let us…