ALL SAINTS DAY

During Religious Education classes, I enjoy visiting our students to discover what they are learning. In one class, they were studying the fifth chapter of Matthew, the Gospel reading we heard today.

I asked the students what they thought it meant to be blessed. One quickly responded, "It means to be touched by God."

I smiled and said, "That is one of the best meanings I have ever heard for the word blessed."

Perhaps the Beatitudes could be better understood if we meditate on them by substituting "touched by God" in place of "blessed." Let's try that:

Touched by God are the poor in spirit ...

Touched by God are they who mourn ...

Touched by God are the meek ...

Touched by God are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness ...

Touched by God are the merciful ...

Touched by God are the clean of heart ...

Touched by God are the peacemakers ...

Touched by God are they who are persecuted ...

Touched by God are you when they insult and persecute you because of Me ...

Obviously, poverty, hunger, suffering and grieving are not conditions a person chooses, but we know they exist for many. We must realistically face life as it is, rather than viewing it through rose-colored glasses.

Jobs are lost, loved ones die, car crashes happen, and we can lose everything in a fire. This is life. Bad things do happen to good people.

But no matter what happens, regardless of what life may bring, it is mentally and spiritually healthy to remember that all of us are touched by God. In fact, that is the definition of a saint.

Are not those who have been touched by God truly the saints we honor on this Feast Day dedicated to All Saints?

There are millions of saints known only to God. Our first reading from the Book of Revelation says, "A great multitude which no one could count."

The Book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible and the most difficult to understand. It is filled with apocalyptic text, a style of writing that uses imagery that is sometimes contradictory but rich in symbolic meaning.

The last verse from today's reading says, "... they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” The image is washing in blood, and the contradiction is that this makes the robes white. In other words, through the death of Christ, we are promised eternal life.

The Beatitudes that Jesus taught also seem contradictory. Jesus declares that those people who aren't particularly fortunate are actually touched by God.

I believe this reading is selected for All Saints Day because the Beatitudes summarize the path to sainthood.

The canonized saints of our Catholic faith are usually portrayed as having superhuman powers. But I prefer to see saints as ordinary people who fought the same battles to serve the Lord that you and I face daily.

I take comfort in knowing that some saints had terrible tempers, like St. Jerome and St. Paul. Some had to go into recovery, like St. Augustine and St. Ignatius. Others lived their early lives in ways that could be described as anything but saintly.

Pope Francis emphasized that saints are not supermen or superwomen. They are ordinary people doing ordinary and extraordinary things in a joyful way. He is quoted as saying, "Saints are men and women who have joy in their hearts and spread it to others."

Touched by God are the poor in spirit, such as St. Teresa of Calcutta. She led a simple and humble life, had unlimited compassion for the poor and set an example for us on how to treat all people with dignity.

Touched by God are those who mourn. Father Damien ministered to lepers banished to the colony on Molokai. He cared for them, washed their clothes, bandaged their stumps and mourned daily with each death.

Touched by God are those who hunger and thirst for justice. St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian priest, fought for social justice and racial equality.

Touched by God are the pure of heart. We can start with the parents of Jesus, St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Their pure hearts totally trusted God and they followed His will. St. Therese of Lisieux had a deep love for God and a simple, humble approach to spirituality.

Touched by God are the peacemakers. Our patron saint, Francis of Assisi, was committed to peace. He inspired a vision of serenity, reverence and care for God's creation.

Touched by God are those who are persecuted. There are so many martyrs who died for their belief in God and the Catholic Church, especially in the early days of the church but also more recently. St. Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) and St. Oscar Romero come to mind.

Touched by God is each and every one of you. We are tasked with improving the community in which we live by practicing the Beatitudes every day.

Jesus tells us why it is possible to be touched by God: "... because of me." Our faith is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, not just the doctrine.

I especially like the story of a teacher who asked her fourth-grade students what they had to do to be a saint.

Jimmy quickly raised his hand and said, "You have to be dead."

Well, technically Jimmy is correct, but we can all strive to live like saints while on earth. We have many role models to inspire us.

During this month of November, pray in thanksgiving for all the dearly departed and for the ways in which they have touched our lives.