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Commentary on the Gospel for November 1, 2024
Saints next door?
Today it has become fashionable to speak of the saints next door. That is, those who, in their daily lives, remain faithful to their friendship with God in the midst of the little things of daily life. One might say that these characters (often mothers) of ordinary life, who go shopping, make their beds and meals, and patiently wait for the return of their children while they unravel the beads of the rosary, are not much like the glorious countless multitude of those who «come out of the great tribulation». Or to those blessed poor, persecuted, merciful, struggling for justice?
But great tribulation and little tribulation are very similar. Sometimes it is the little ones that are the hardest to endure because they have no glamour or apparent importance. But that daily martyrdom, that drop of blood, also counts to wash and whiten the robe in the blood of the Lamb. Then that march of the 144,000 (12,000 times the tribes of Israel that support our house), or the countless multitude, is strongly felt day after day. We see them passing by our side or strolling through our own soul, and sometimes we do not realize it. They are the ones who can echo John’s astonished expression: «See what love God has bestowed on us by calling us His children. And so we are!
Whether as obscure neighbors next door or as part of the heroic march of those who come from the great persecution, of the heroes of persecution, of bloody martyrdom, or of the great virtues, we are called to this march of the saints: with our own daily blood or with the heroism of the most difficult and impossible moments.
Today we celebrate above all the holiness of God who consecrates his children and makes them his own. We celebrate the blood of the Lamb who, in our baptism, whitens our whole garment and calls us to continue whitening it in every tribulation, great or small.