Beloved and blessed
Father Daniel Schomaker
Guest
When we sit down with the Sacred Scriptures, we never exactly know what God is going to say to us; as the Word of God, we can echo St. Augustine from his Confessions that they are “ever ancient and ever new.” In my reflection with the readings for this weekend, I was drawn in a particular way to two words — that’s all! From the First Letter of St. John: “Beloved.” And in the Gospel, from the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed.”
In the month of November, the Church calls the faithful to reflect on death. St. Benedict in his Rule reminds the monks to “Keep death before your eyes always.” This is not to be done out of fear but out of faith, hope and love.
Sadly, the world in which we live is really messed up. Fear, hate, discord, etc., etc., etc., pervades our society. But we who understand that we have been made with and through an intentional love, know that we are called into an eternal bliss. We are called to be saints! Hence why God refers to us as his “beloved”— those he loves!
Do we understand, I mean really, at our core, how much God loves us? Unfortunately, I don’t think we always do. But, HE DOES! Beyond anything we can possibly imagine. And the proper response to being loved is to love in return. Maybe this week, we don’t focus so much on trying to love others (always very, very important) but instead allow ourselves to be embraced by the love of God. This has to be an intentional act of the will and intellect, so it will take effort. We have to let God in and love us from the inside out.
When we allow ourselves to be loved by the One who IS love, it is then that we begin to find blessedness, beatitude, happiness! Being poor in spirit, or meek, or one who mourns doesn’t typically evoke happiness and joy, unless we get down to the heart of the matter — love!
On this November 1, we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints — those individual, unique human persons whose names are lost to history, but who allowed themselves to be loved by God and who intentionally loved him in return, and so have received the gift of Heaven.
On Monday, November 2, we celebrate the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, those who have died with the hope of Heaven who still need some purification before they can enter into the perfection of Heavenly bliss.
And every day, in November and beyond, for us who still live in this “valley of tears,” let us “keep death before our eyes always” as we long to truly experience eternal bliss, where we will join all the angels and saints in praising God as his beloved and blessed.
Father Daniel Schomaker is pastor, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Ft. Mitchell and director, Office of Worship and Liturgy for the Diocese of Covington, Ky.
