Given at Mass on the Mount of Beatitudes on the Solemnity of All Saints, 1st November 2017.
On the solemnity of All Saints, could there be a better place on earth to celebrate the Mass? We gather on the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus taught his disciples the Way in which they must live as his followers and that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life which will lead them to true and eternal life, life in its fullness. He taught them, as he teaches us, the way to become saints for that is our calling.
As he looked over the beauty of the Sea of Galilee he said to them, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for what is right, the peacemakers...’ He invited them to trust in him to satisfy their needs, to quench their thirst, to feed their hunger and to give rest to their souls. We gather today as his followers and friends to begin our pilgrimage and walk in his footsteps. As we walk on this soil, it is sacred ground because Jesus has first walked in this place.
We may feel overwhelmed on this holy site. So might Peter have been overwhelmed as he began his new life as a follower of Jesus having left his fishing nets behind. He took a risk to follow Jesus as we too take that risk and place our hearts into the embrace of his mercy. As we look at the sea we can imagine how his heart burned as he walked with his Master and desired to love him more dearly, know him more clearly and follow him more nearly.
On that morning when he heard the call of Jesus, Peter did not know where the Lord would lead him. He did not know that later he would betray his master by denying that he knew him in the courtyard at Jesus’ trial. Earlier this morning we gathered at the Primacy of Peter where the Risen Christ restored Peter to his friendship. We too may deny him in little ways and great but like Peter we know that we can receive again the gift of his mercy.
Being a follower of Christ means carrying the cross. It is perhaps hard to imagine that fact on this beautiful morning by the Sea of Galilee. We recall that when Peter went to Rome to preach the gospel, he would be arrested and finally crucified upside down and follow his master into death. However, Lord, through your cross and resurrection, you have set us free.
The feast of All Saints speaks of the victory of Christ over death by his resurrection. We rejoice in the hope given to us through our baptism that we die to sin and rise to glory. The promise of being faithful and accepting God’s mercy means that we too can share in the resurrection and hope to join the communion of saints. We celebrate the saints in heaven in the wonderful vision presented to us by the first reading. There we see the saints above who remain with us as members of the Body of Christ risen in glory. In our prayer we join with them in the praise of God. In the words of the wonderful hymn of Charles Wesley, we sing ‘come let us join our friends above’.
We ask their intercession for those who have asked our prayers and we pray for the Church both rejoicing and suffering in this land. With the help of the saints may we become saints through the ‘little steps of love’ to which we are called on a daily basis. May God bless us on our pilgrimage.