A reflection on Matthew 5:1–12a for All Saints Day.
A painting makes a saint fairly easy to spot. There is usually a halo, perhaps a book or a palm branch, and a name helpfully attached. It can be less obvious when I talk to someone in everyday life. She may disagree with me at a parish meeting. She may ask a question I wish she wouldn’t. I wonder how often I have found someone irritating when I might have seen something saintly in her.
On All Saints Day, the Beatitudes give me plenty to consider. Jesus blesses the merciful and the peacemakers, those who hunger for righteousness and those who suffer for it. I admire these qualities in general. In practice, mercy can look like a second chance for someone I have already written off. Peacemaking can involve stepping away from a conversation instead of escalation.
I might think that a merciful person is naïve. Doesn’t she understand what happened? Has she considered the consequences? She allows for repentance, or understands the cost of being remembered only for one failure. I’m not always patient enough for that.
Of course, an unpopular opinion does not make someone a saint. Kindness is accompanied by judgment, and peacemaking can mean speaking up for what is just. But I quickly examine another person’s motives when her goodness isn’t part of my plan.
The saints we celebrate today have finished their earthly lives. Their holiness is no longer being worked out in awkward conversations and imperfect attempts. Mine still is. So is the holiness of the woman sitting beside me at Mass, whose patience I may have mistaken for weakness.
I would like to be less eager to write her off as too soft, too persistent, or making things unnecessarily difficult. I might pause and think about what she is trying to protect. There may be someone’s dignity at stake that I have barely noticed.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me recognize your goodness in people I find difficult to understand. Give me patience to listen and humility to learn. Through the prayers of all your saints, help me live your Beatitudes today. Amen.
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