+Today we celebrate all the Benedictine Saints, including some of our own order fresh in our minds, namely the beatified Algerian martyrs of the Atlas monastery. Then there is the Bl. Cyprian Michael Tansi, the Nigerian monk of Mt St Bernard’s in England, the Bl. Maria Gabriela of Italy and St Rafael Arnaiz of Spain, all of whom remind us of our own call to holiness. And so, let us for God’s mercy as we enter into these holy mysteries.
(Isa 61:9-11; John 15:1-8)
With the Saints God makes “justice and praise spring up before all the nations” as we just heard from Isaiah. In them we see what God looks to see in each of our lives. As we remember them in the liturgy we are all given incentive to realize our full potential.
We can be sure that our own lives will be constantly pruned as were theirs, often due to circumstance they could never have anticipated. We have only to remain in Christ as he remains in us , if we are to bear much fruit, for without him we can do nothing of lasting value. There is the simple fact that without Jesus in the forefront of our undertakings, we fail in whatever good we set out to do.
The unspoken correlative of this is that remaining in him, we too will do all that the Saints we celebrate today did, do all that is of everlasting value. May they be our constant guides us along the path.