Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The saints are not "a small caste of elected ones, but an innumerable crowd", and "we do not know the faces or even the names" of many of them, "but with the eyes of faith we see them shining, like stars full of glory, in God's heaven." Benedict XVI delivered his homily during today's Eucharistic Celebration of All Saints with words full of poetry and deep theology. The celebration took place in St Peter's basilica that was packed with pilgrims from all over the world.

Above all the pope stressed that in the multitude of saints, "there are not only officially recognized saints, but baptized people of every epoch and nation, who sought to fulfil the divine will with love and faithfulness." Commenting on the reading of the Apocalypse in today's liturgy, he listed this "immense multitude": "the saints of the Old Testament, starting from the just Abel and the faithful Patriarch Abraham, those of the New Testament, the many martyrs of the beginnings of Christianity, and the Blesseds and Saints of later centuries, down to witnesses of Christ in our era." These saints, he said, were people in whom the Church is reflected most deeply, although "riotous and even rebellious children are not lacking" among the people of God.

Twice, the pope deviated slightly from his written address to underline certain fundamental ideas.

The first time, citing St Bernard, he said that looking at the saints serves to "awaken in us the great desire of holiness". And he added spontaneously: "Awakening the desire to be close to God, in the great family of friends of God. Being close to God in his family is the vocation of all Christians". Here is a twofold concern of the pope: that holiness should not be considered as something exceptional, and that it should be seen in relation to God. He said: "To be saints, it is not necessary to undertake extraordinary works and actions, or to possess exceptional charismas." Above all, he wants to instil the idea that the true dignity of man comes through holiness and relationship with God. Bearing in mind the secularized world, which tends to do without God and to exclude Him, the pope said: "The example of the saints is an encouragement for us to follow in the same footsteps, and to experience the joy of those who trust in God, because the only true reason for man's sadness and unhappiness is living far from Him."

The second improvisation came as the pope was talking about the Beatitudes, the Gospel of today's Mass. The Gospel of the Beatitudes is often used by some theologians to present a Christianity "of values" (poverty, hunger, justice, peace workers and so on), detached from the person of Jesus. The pope was clear: "In reality, the Blessed one par excellence is only Him, Jesus. It is He, in fact, who is truly poor in spirit, afflicted, meek, the one who hungers and thirsts for justice, merciful, pure in heart, and a peace worker. It is He who is persecuted in the cause of right". And spontaneously he added: "The Beatitudes show us the mystery of death and resurrection, which is the mystery of Jesus." He continued: "With the Beatitudes, Jesus points out to us how to follow him and to imitate him. In the measure that we welcome his invitation and seek to follow it, we too can participate in his Beatitudes."

Thus, the emphasis of Benedict XVI corrects a confused concept that makes holiness a sort of "religion of civic values", without testifying to the Christian roots. At the same time, he opens a door to dialogue with the Protestant world, which is often critical about the saints and devotion to them: holiness is following Christ, not divinization operated by man. The pope said: "Holiness calls for constant effort, but it is possible for all because, more than the work of man, it is above all a gift of God, three times Holy... With Him [with Christ] the impossible becomes possible and even a camel can pass through the eye of a needle (cfr Mk 10:25). With his help, only with his help, is given to us to become perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (cfr Mt 5:48)."

Benedict XVI recalled that a constant in the lives of the saints is the passage through the cross: "The experience of the Church shows that all forms of holiness, although following different paths, always pass the way of the cross. But history shows that there is no obstacle or difficulty that can stop the journey of the Christian committed to following the footsteps of Jesus. The biographies of the saints describe men and women who – docile to divine will – at times faced indescribable suffering and trials, persecution and martyrdom." In the Eucharist, he continued, the "communion of the pilgrim church in the world with the church triumphant in glory" becomes ever closer. The pope ended by inviting all to invoke the saints, "because they help us to imitate them and to commit ourselves to responding with generosity, as they did, to the divine call. We invoke especially Mary, Mother of the Lord and reflection of all holiness. She, the All Holy, makes us faithful disciples of her son Jesus Christ!"