Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Blessed are they who mourn,
Blessed are the meek,
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
Blessed are the merciful,
Blessed are the clean of heart,
Blessed are the peacemakers,
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you…
All Saints. Who were those people?
Many times we would say that I am not a saint. I cannot live a life like those saints, meaning spend all day on prayer. But is this the way, to become a saint? To pray all day on our knees?
Centrally not!
We have so many saints who during at least small part of their life were against God. Take for example St. Paul. He persecuted the first Christians. But when he met Jesus he changed his life. Then he and others realized the mistake. Many of us make the same mistake these days.
What is that mistake? Well, it is that I have to live according to our society’s rules, not by God’s rules. But that’s not true.
We do have saints living among us. Yes, although they are overshadowed by those who are against God and His commandments. Everyone who live according to God’s commandments, who is a good mother, good father for their family, a good child, all who try to live according the Christian way, is a good Christian.
Today we honor those Saints, who are no longer with us. But today also, let us pray for one another, that God will give us strength to become like those Saints, strong in faith, and not worried about what others will say about us if we stick to God, God’s commandments, to our Christian Traditions and teachings. Let us remember the teaching of Jesus in today’s Gospel: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.