ALL SAINTS DAY

November 1, 2009 All Saints Day

When the peace activist Jesuit Fr. John Dear was discerning his vocation, he took a trip to the Holy Land. One afternoon he went up the hill where Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount. On a plateau overlooking the Sea of Galilee he found the beautiful little Church of the Beatitudes. He prayed there, asking for a sign to confirm that he was really being called to a life of ministry.

Just then two Israeli jets came from above the lake, streaking toward him at low altitude. The jets roared by, passing just above him and disappearing in the West. From that moment on John Dear embraced his call to promote peace and has never looked back.

Today’s Gospel invites all of us to follow Jesus up the hillside to sit in the grass and hear his Sermon on the Mount. In Jesus’ eight blessings he invites us to discover our own ministry and calling in the beatitudes through our poverty, meekness, mourning and quest for justice. Jesus calls us to be merciful and pure and peacemakers. He blesses us for being his followers.

Deacon Dick Folger