Pope on All Saints’ Day: Live for heaven, not the world
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Pope on All Saints’ Day: Live for heaven, not the world
If a Christian wants to reach heaven, he or she should ask themselves if they are living for the pleasures of the world, or if they are striving after holiness with all their strength, Pope Francis said on the feast of All Saints.
āLet us ask ourselves what side we are on: that of heaven or that of the earth? Do we live for the Lord or for ourselves, for eternal happiness or for some fulfillment now?ā the pope said Nov. 1.
āLet us ask ourselves: do we really want holiness?ā he continued. āOr do we content ourselves with being Christians without disgrace and without praise, who believe in God and esteem others but without going too far?ā
āIn short, either holiness or nothing!ā he said, according to a Catholic News Agency report.
The pope led the Angelus from a window overlooking St. Peterās Square in honor of the feast day. In his message before the prayer, he said it is good for Catholics to let themselves be encouraged by the saints, who did not live their lives by āhalf measures.ā
In heaven, the saints ācheerā for those on earth when they see them āchoose God, humility, meekness, mercy, purity,ā he said. The saints āunderstand us, they love us, they know what our true good is, they help us, and they wait for us. They are happy, and they want us to be happy with them in paradise.ā
He noted that among the saints are also those who may not be known to us, or who are not on the Churchās liturgical calendar, but are nevertheless with God in heaven. And they are all oneās brothers and sisters ā making the feast of All Saints, āa family party,ā he said.
Pope Francis recalled a significant point in the Mass, when the āSanctus,ā or āHoly, Holy, Holy,ā is recited or sung. āIt is a hymn ā that the Bible says ā comes from heaven,ā he said.
When singing the āSanctusā at Mass, Catholics ānot only think of the saints, but we do what they do [in heaven]: at that moment, in the Mass, we are united with them more than ever.ā
The saints encourage people to follow the Beatitudes, which are āthe path of happiness,ā he said. He acknowledged that this is not always easy, especially because the world says, blessed are the rich and the arrogant, not āblessed are the poor in spiritā or āblessed are the meek.ā
But as the dayās first reading from the book of Revelation says, the saints have āpalm branches in their hands,ā which is a symbol of victory, the pope said, adding that the saints āhave won them, not the world, and they exhort us to choose their part, that of God who is holy.ā
Today Christians are called to hear and to put the Beatitudes into practice, Francis said. Winning the victory of heaven is not always about doing extraordinary things but is āabout following this path every dayā¦ in the family, at home.ā
āToday we glimpse our future and celebrate what we were born for: we were born to never die again, we were born to enjoy the happiness of God!ā he said. āMay the Holy Mother of God, Queen of the saints, help us to firmly walk the path of holiness.ā