Saints We Are

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”

All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever.  Amen." 

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14)

Today is All Saints Day, and our readings just do not seem to fit the occasion.  Our first is from Revelation, and our Gospel provides the beatitudes.  Perhaps the saints are “those who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” Many saints suffered greatly due their refusal to abandon their faith at the hands of persecutors. Then again, do the saints comprise “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue?”  If so, then we are all saints – potentially – by being receptive to God’s grace.  

Let’s listen to Pope Francis who spoke on November 14, 2014 to pilgrims at a General Audience in St. Peter’s Square. He is quoted as having said: “We are all called to be saints.”  We must remember that holiness is a gift from God – not something we can achieve on our own.  Holiness is not “granted only to those who have the opportunity to break away from the ordinary tasks, to devote themselves to prayer.”  Rather, everyone is called to holiness in their own state of life. “Indeed,” he said, “it is by living with love and offering Christian witness in our daily tasks that we are called to become saints…Always and everywhere you can become a saint, that is, by being receptive to the grace that is working in us and leads us to holiness.”

So, let’s wear our robes made white in the Blood of the Lamb.  Let’s be the saints we are meant to be.

Deacon David Pierce