Seeing the crowds,
Jesus went up the hill.
There he sat down and was joined by his disciples.
Then he began to speak.
This is what he taught them.
How happy are the poor in spirit!
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy the gentle!
They shall have the earth for their heritage.
Happy those who mourn!
They shall be comforted.
Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right!
They shall be satisfied.
Happy the merciful!
They shall have mercy shown them.
Happy the pure in heart!
They shall see God.
Happy the peacemakers!
They shall be called sons of God.
Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right!
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account.
Rejoice and be glad,
For your reward will be great in heaven.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you,
Lord Jesus Christ.
I wonder what makes a saint.
I know there are technicalities that the church shares and they have a ruleset on how to become a saint and that you have to have miracles ascribed to you.
But how do I become a saint?
It's not as if there is a Google form that I can fill in with my application and send my CV.
And yet the ruleset is very clear here in the words of Jesus.
He doesn't say this is the criteria for sainthood but if we look at these criteria or this list of things,
The Beatitudes,
We see a very,
Very beautiful guideline.
Things to strive towards.
And there's a bit of a postscript there.
It doesn't say that if you do these things you will have instant gratification.
No.
Your rewards will be great in heaven.
It is so easy to forget and to get caught up in this experience of the now.
To get caught up in this facade of disconnect from each other.
This idea that this is it.
There's so much more waiting for us.
There is so much more.
Once we pass from this life into the next,
We don't know what it is.
But we have it on good authority that it is going to be beautiful and amazing and holy.
Saint John,
In his first letter,
Says,
All we know is that when it is revealed,
We shall be like him,
Because we shall see him as he really is.
Becoming like God.
Becoming part of divinity,
Part of God.
I see it slightly different.
We shall become like him,
Yes,
Because we are going to then remember that we have God inside of us.
That God is here.
We shall be like him.
We will see that we have had blinkers on our experience as human beings.
Right now,
It's that of separation.
But it is just an experience.
The truth is,
We will return to holiness.
We will return to unity.
We will return to a space where everything that separates us,
Everything we think that separates us from each other,
Skin colour,
Sexuality,
Nationality,
Finances,
And even religion.
All of those things we will see are just untruths of the now.
Ideas of separation that our egos have in order to keep this expression,
This body,
Alive.
But when we return,
All will be just that.
All will just be.
Because we will be with God.
We will be part of God.
We will shed these layers of separation and be pure spirit.
And that is what I think is what we strive to when we strive to become saintly.
When we live,
We try and live,
The Beatitudes,
When we try and gain the fruits of the mysteries of the Holy Rosary.
It's not just pretty words we say.
It sounds beautiful.
The Beatitudes.
Happy,
Happy,
Happy,
Happy.
It's beautiful.
And it's a very nice thing to put up on your kitchen wall.
But do we really live that?
Because that is when we start our process and our application to sainthood.
And it is an application and a process,
I believe,
That we all can go through and that we should try.
Just try.
The saints weren't perfect.
None of them were perfect.
But they tried.
And in trying,
Some of them got it right.
And I think that trying is one of the most important things.
It's okay to fall.
It is okay to make mistakes.
We are human.
That is what we are here to do.
To make mistakes and to learn and to grow.
But then we need to return to God.
We need to return to divinity and say,
Here I am.
Here I am,
Lord.
Never permit me to be separated from you.
Amen.
