Denver Catholic

3 DENVER CATHOLIC | NOVEMBER 11-24, 2017 Vatican Notes From here to eternity. Planning Your Will and Special Gifts Personally – Leave a legacy of what matters to you most. Financially – Wisely manage the assets that God has entrusted to you, in full compliance with the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Spiritually – Strengthen our parishes and our Catholic community through your charitable giving. The Catholic Foundation of Northern Colorado is here to help you plan your Will, including the opportunity for special gifts that you may not be able to create on your own. As Catholic faithful, we believe our earthly treasure is a gift from God, and we can give it a way to serve the greater good. Give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven. LUKE 12:33–34 Jean Finegan | Deacon Steve Stemper 303.468.9885 | www.TheCatholicFoundation.com giving@ TheCatholicFoundation.com Giving for the Kingdom of God ® Pope: The saints weren't perfect, but they allowed God to touch their lives BY CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY P ope Francis marked All Saints' Day saying the saints are honored not because they were perfect or did everything right, but because they allowed God to touch their lives and fought hard against sin. "The Solemnity of All Saints is 'our' feast: not because we are good, but because the holiness of God has touched our lives," the Pope said Nov. 1. Saints, he said, "are not perfect models, but are people whose lives God has crossed," and can be compared with the stained glass windows of a church, "which allow light to enter in di¡erent shades of color." The saints above all are our brothers and sisters "who have welcomed the light of God into their hearts and have passed it on to the world, each one according to their own 'tone'," he said, but stressed that no matter the "color" they give, "all of them are transparent." "They have fought to take away the stains and darkness of sin, so as to let the gentle light of God pass through," he said, adding that "this is the purpose of life, even for us." Pointing to the day's Gospel reading from Matthew, in which Christ outlines the Beatitudes, Francis said the word "blessed", with which Christ begins his preaching, is in itself an announcement of the Gospel because it points to the path of happiness. "Whoever is with Jesus is blessed, is happy," he said, explaining that happi- ness "is not having something or becom- ing someone," but rather "true happiness is being with the Lord and living for love." The "ingredients" for a happy life, then, are what Christ calls the beatitudes, he said, explaining that the blessed ones "are the simple, the humble who make room for God, who know how to weep for others and for their own errors, those who stay meek, who fight for justice, who are merciful toward all, who guard purity of heart, who always work for peace and remain in joy, not in hate, and, even when su¡ering, respond to evil with good." The beatitudes, then, are not "sensa- tional acts" reserved only for "supermen," but are attitudes for those who live through the trials and fatigues of everyday life. Even the saints are like this, he said, explaining that like everyone, "they breathe the air polluted by the evil that's in the world, but along the way they never lose sight of Jesus' path, the one indi- cated in the beatitudes, which are like the map of Christian life." And the feast of All Saints, then, is not celebrated only in honor of those who have reached the "goal" this map leads to, but it is also for the many "simple and hidden people" who we may know, and who, through everyday holiness, help God to "carry the world forward." Francis highlighted the importance of the beatitude "blessed are the poor in spirit," which he said does not mean living for success, power, or money, since "whoever accumulates treasures for themselves is not rich before God." Rather, those who are poor in spirit believe that "the Lord is the treasure of life, and that love of neighbor is the only true source of income." "At times we are unhappy about some- thing we lack or are worried whether or not we are though of as we would like [to be]," he said, and urged pilgrims to remember that true beatitude is not found in these things, but only "in the Lord and in love." Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter's Square on October 25, 2017. PHOTO BY DANIEL IBÁÑEZ | CNA

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