“And he opened his mouth and taught them saying, blessed … are you”
Golden October declines into sombre November, a T.S. Eliot puts it (Murder in the Cathedral) but it does so in such a gentle way on this glorious day, a day made far more glorious by the Feast of All Saints, the vision of the glory of redeemed humanity. The wonder and the glory lie in what is seen and taught as presented by John in the lesson from Revelation and by the Beatitudes from Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount.
It can only be seen and taught. The vision and the teaching speak to the end and purpose of our humanity as belonging to the Communion of Saints and to our participation in that Communion by having “come out of great tribulation”. In other words, the glory only comes through the experience of the miseries of our fallen humanity in its sinfulness. Redemption is accomplished, not in flight from the world, but through its radical transformation by grace perfecting nature.
In this sense, the Beatitudes do not simply turn the world on its head, as I am fond of saying, but signal the much more profound idea of the redemption of the world and the perfection of our desires. The Beatitude about hungering and thirsting after righteousness “for they shall be satisfied” complements the theme of those who have come out of great tribulation, for “they shall hunger nor more, neither thirst any more”. They shall be fed by the Lamb “in the midst of the throne” and be led “unto living fountains of waters”, and, as if to sum up the theme of redemptive love, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” The vision and the teaching are one.
Such is revelation, to be sure, but it has to be taught and seen. Such is the significance of All Saints’ Day and why it has an octave, an eight day period of meditation and reflection on the transitory nature of human life and of our end in glory. The whole focus and emphasis is on the spiritual community of which we are integral parts. In other words, we find the truth of ourselves as selves because of an awareness and a respect for others without whom we cannot truly be ourselves. To think about the radical nature of this spiritual community takes us beyond ourselves in our immediate concerns and preoccupations; we are made aware not of the “unreal city” of human presumption but of the real city of God, the kingdom of heaven which is at once the promise for “the poor-in-spirit”, the humble ones, and for those “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” in the first and last Beatitude. We are more though not less than the circumstances and happenings of our world and day.
To be reminded of this is comforting strength precisely in the face of the persecutions that confront the contemporary churches and in a culture of division and enmity. It will do no good to be defensive. The challenge is to be the confessing church, confessing at once our shortcomings and failings, on the one hand, and the wonder and glory of God, on the other hand, in which we find the true communion of our humanity united in the praise of God. The Beatitudes complement Revelation by showing us how God’s grace lives and moves us in the true realization and perfection of our desires, the true redemption of our humanity. But it has to seen as in the vision of John and it has to be taught as in the Beatitudes.
“And he opened his mouth and taught them saying, blessed … are you”
Fr. David Curry
All Saints’, 2021