Do you know that the word: Benediction, which is the Latin form for the word Blessing, means “to say (dicere) good things (bene).”
Today, we celebrate the feast al all saints, all blessed ones. Of course, we will honour all saints who canonized or not.

However, we often omit the very important point about the Blessed One.
Jesus is the Blessed One. Jesus is the one whom God has spoken good things of: “This is my beloved Son; my favour rests on him.” (Matthew 3:16-17). Thus, all saints are the blessed ones because God has spoken good things through their life in Jesus.

Another point is the Beatitude. Do you see that the Beatitude is Jesus’ Self-Portrait?  In this modern language, we can call the Beatitude is Jesus’ Selfie.

Jesus is poor, gentle, mourning, hunger and thirsts for Uprightness, merciful, pure of heart, peacemaker, persecuted. Hence, today we are invited to be blessed, to be holy, that means, to be become like Jesus. Jesus showed us the way, do you want to be like Jesus:

– Jesus is poor because he freely chose powerlessness over power, vulnerability over defensiveness, dependency over self-sufficiency.
– Jesus is gentle because he responds to people’s suffering, heals their wounds, and offers courage to the faint-hearted. He reveals God’s immense compassion.
– Jesus mourns over all losses and devastation that fill the human heart with pain. He grieves with those who grieve and sheds tears with those who cry. He shows God’s consolation.
– Jesus hungers and thirsts for uprightness. He abhors injustice. He longs for a just world. His whole being yearns for people to treat one another as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the same God.
– Jesus is merciful. His mercy comes from a compassionate heart; it comes from a desire to be an equal. He wanted to become one of us and feel deeply with us.
– Jesus is pure of heart. Having a pure of heart means willing one thing. Jesus wanted only to do the will of the Heavenly Father.
– Jesus is a Peacemaker. His peace does not mean only absense of war. His peace is the fullness of well-being, gratuitously given by God. Peace is Shalom- well-being of mind, heart, and body, individually and communally. It can exist in the midst of a war-torn world, even in the midst of unresolved problems and increasing human conflicts. Jesus made that peace by giving his life for his brothers and sisters.
– Jesus is persecuted. It can be seen Jesus, the blessed one, is not welcome in this world. His way becomes a threat to the established order and a source of constant irritation to those who consider themselves the rulers of this world. When we strive to become like Jesus, we cannot expect always to be liked and admired. We have to prepared to be rejected. That’s why we have many martyr saints.

Happy feast day of all saints, in that group, there are you and me, who are following and becoming like Jesus.

With love,

Little-pencil reflected on Henri Nouwen’s writing.

Photo: https://sseds.org/