A Homily on the Solemnity of All-Saints by Fr. John Denburger, OCSO
What is the River of Salvation? In the reading from the Book of Revelation St. John presents a picture, a glance into heaven; the great multitude, 144,000 (12x12x1000) – the Scriptural way of stating a number beyond any count. This multitude stands before the Lamb and cries out, “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne and from the Lamb!”
The majestic, eternal splendor of our God envelops this countless number of the blessed forever and comes to us the blessed-in-making in grace, in prayer, in sacrament. This divine splendor is like a river, a river that exceeds, floods its banks, a river of God’s own life, and this is our salvation. The best commentary of the Sacred Scriptures is Scripture itself and the
psalmist in Ps 149:4 shares the wisdom he has received on salvation. He presents this with a conviction born of a graced experience. He writes, “For the Lord takes delight in His people. He crowns them with salvation.” In the original the word translated ‘crowns’ also means ‘to beautify, to glorify’. So we can proclaim, “For the Lord takes delight in His people. He crowns,
beautifies, glorifies us with salvation.”
This verse alone speaks volumes about our God and His relationship with His people, with us. With all our poverty, sinfulness, imperfections God sees beyond and delights in us with divine affection. With desire that is beyond any comprehension He desires to fill us with His salvation – with His very Self – with mercy, love, compassion, forgiveness, with that peace which the world can never give.
In praying Psalm 35, in verse 3 we implore God in a most personal way: “O Lord, say to my soul, I am your salvation” and given the nature of our God, He cannot not respond. With love infinitely generous He does say, “I am your salvation.” But this is much, much more than a statement, a description. In that response the Lord is always creator, always the divine
Sower. He sows into us, if we are receptive, the grace of the Beatitudes, the grace of His word.
It is His desire, His plan to lift us up into being men and women who possess His kingdom, who inherit life, whose hunger and thirst is satisfied, shown mercy, see God, are called the children of God, who in receiving and embracing these graces follow the Lord Jesus Christ to the end, He is the living Beatitudes and our Salvation. In Him our God desires with passionate affection to crown, beautify, glorify us with Himself. Shortly, we will receive the Holy Eucharist; the Lord comes to each one in a most personal, unique way and in this sacred encounter, unlike any other in this life, the Lord says, “I am your Salvation”. My brothers and sisters, what is our response? How do we live with this gift?