Matthew 5:1-12a

As Fr Fernando Ocáriz, Prelate of Opus Dei, said: “All Saints Day is the feast of that quiet and simple sanctity—sanctity without any human splendour—which seems to leave no trace in history, but shines forth before God. It leaves behind in the world a sowing of Love from which nothing is lost.”

It is a beautiful angle from which to consider this day. We should celebrate and pray for all the saints, dead or alive, who may be beatified or not be beatified, but who have done amazing work for Christ. We probably know quite a few people like that around us. People who do the flowers in church every week; people who help with any parish tasks that need doing and just quietly get on with it out of love for God; nurses who do their work with an amazing sense of vocation of caring for others… These are people living saintly lives.

That is why the church chose the Gospel reading of the Beatitudes for this day. The beatitudes are  indeed a compendium of sanctity and a call to it. Pope Francis said: “Jesus invites us to set out on the way of the Beatitudes. It is not a matter of doing extraordinary things, but of following each day this way that leads us to heaven, leads us to our family, leads us home”.

Our painting by German artist Otto Scholderer depicts a lady arranging flowers outside a church: a simple act of love that makes the church look more beautiful, to the glory of God.