About today
Readings
All saints
Apocalypse 7: 2-4, 9-14. Lord, these are the people who long to see your face – Psalm 23 (24): 1-6. 1 John 3: 1-3. Matthew 5: 1-12.
Make friends with the saints
As a child, I remember waiting to choose my saint’s name for Confirmation and reading the book of saints we had in the classroom (books 1 and 2). A life full of adventure, spirit and for a cruel death or a peacefulness far from this world. As a pastoral assistant, my pastor reminded me to befriend the saints. What did he mean? In their lives, saints were ordinary people who were just as weak as we are. But they show us how to live for God. Australia’s first saint, Mary MacKillop, once asked her mother, “Are you seriously trying to be a saint now?” Did Mary know she was going to be canonized? Her life was dedicated to following Jesus in her life. She learned from her mother to depend on God for all things. Our gospel today gives us the rules of the road for being a saint. They can be referred to as “BE attitudes” – attitudes of being or modes of action: being peacemakers, showing mercy, being pure in heart. The saints lived the lives of people who longed to see the face of God.
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