The Solemnity of All Saints
Readings: Rev 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6;
1 John 3:1-3; Matt 5:1-12a
“[W]hat we shall be has not yet been revealed” (1 John 3:2)
In a recent article in Newsweek Magazine, Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who had a near-death experience, describes his journey into the afterlife (“Heaven Is Real: A Doctor’s Experience with the Afterlife,” Oct. 8, 2012). He tells of shimmering beings who gave voice to a booming and glorious chant, so filled with joy were they that they had to let it out in song. He experienced a sublime oneness, where everything was distinct, yet also part of everything else. A beautiful being that exuded friendship spoke without words this message: “You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever. You have nothing to fear. There is nothing you can do wrong.”
Since time immemorial human beings have speculated about what awaits us beyond death. Some have concluded that there is no real existence beyond our earthly one. Others are sure there must be ultimate reward for those who try to do good and eternal punishment for those who act in determinedly wicked ways. Not a few have had experiences like Dr. Alexander. What they report is startlingly consistent: an experience of light, joy, and overwhelming love that encompasses them.
There are strong resonances between the vision of the seer of Revelation in today’s first reading, and the experiences described by those who have been in near-death states: there is whiteness and angelic beings singing joyfully. For Christians, the source of joy is the One who has completed the journey through death, has arisen to new life, and promises the same to us. Belief in this promise, however, makes us no less curious about what, precisely, lies beyond this life. Today’s readings give us glimpses of it, a reassurance, and a pathway toward it.
In the first reading, the seer of Revelation has a vision of the divine protective power at work on earth, keeping safe the land, sea, trees, and all the servants of God. The latter are sealed on their foreheads—marking them as belonging to and protected by God. The amazing thing in the vision is that it includes everyone—not only the full number of Israelites (v. 4), but also “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue” (v. 9). The “one hundred and forty-four thousand” (v. 4) is not a finite, limited number, but is symbolic of totality: twelve symbolizing completeness (e.g., all twelve tribes of Israel), multiplied by completeness, and multiplied again by a number too large to count (1,000).
The second part of the vision is a glimpse of the heavenly liturgy, with the immeasurable throng from all the corners of the earth adorned in white robes and holding palm branches, symbols of purity and victory. They are crying out in praise of God and the Lamb (Christ), the source of their salvation. Whatever they have done wrong in life is now purged. They have allowed themselves to be washed “in the blood of the Lamb” (v. 14).
In the second reading is an assurance that we need not wait until the afterlife to experience the immense love of God—it has already been bestowed on us. No more intimate relationship could be imagined by the author of 1 John than that of mother and daughter, father and son. So is God’s love for us now. As for what is to come, “what we shall be has not yet been revealed,” but as God’s own progeny, we shall continue to carry the divine likeness. But our seeing will be different. Then we shall see God as God truly is. Everyone who has this hope strives for purity, as God is pure.
The gospel picks up on that thread, spelling out the way to strive for purity—purity of heart that is manifest in comforting those who mourn, acting with meekness, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, acting mercifully, building peace, and enduring persecution for Jesus’ sake. When we strive to live in this way, we catch glimpses of heaven already on earth, which one day will be brought to fullness. How the imperfections in us will be purged and what precisely lies ahead are yet to be fully revealed, but we have nothing to fear, as we have been assured, not only by experiences such as that of Dr. Alexander, but by the constant message of Christ that we are totally loved, and that love can cleanse us of all that keeps God’s love from being fully realized. We take hope, too, from all those who have lived saintly lives, those known and unknown, who now live in the full embrace of God.
1. Envision yourself standing with the immeasurable throng, robed in white, singing God’s praise, and let the Holy One envelop you in love.
2. Ask the risen Christ to remove any fear that keeps you from living in a beatitudinal way.
3. Acknowledge the wrongs you have done and receive forgiveness that frees you to love more fully.