In the first reading this Sunday, “the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea” were told “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” (Rv 7:2-3)  This passage of Scripture seems to foretell a calamitous fate awaiting all but a select few faithful followers of Jesus.

The second reading could be an addendum to the first reading.  The author wrote, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be, has not yet been revealed.” (1 Jn 3:2)  This sounds like it might contain granular details about the indefinite future blessings awaiting the righteous.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus said that the poor, the suffering, the kind, and the unjustly accused will be the recipients of God’s special favor. (Mt 5:1-12a)  This section of the Sermon on the Mount might be interpreted as a list of vague commands requiring an extraordinary degree of virtue and piety.

These readings are examples of biblical prophecy.  As such, they cannot be understood as predictions of doom or forecasts about the future; neither are they encouragement to pursue unrealistic goals.  Biblical prophecy is closer to what we would identify as common-sense wisdom.

If you’re familiar with the movie “A Christmas Story,” you probably remember the admonition delivered to little Ralphie by the various adults to whom he confided his only wish for Christmas.  Ralphie repeated to everyone who would listen that he wanted an air rifle as a Christmas gift.  Everyone, including the mall Santa, repeated the common-sense warning, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”

Biblical prophecy is common-sense wisdom.  The three Scripture readings this Sunday express genuine concern about the fate of the baptized in the way that little Ralphie’s many advisers expressed genuine concern for his physical well-being.

The author of Revelation wrote that those “who have survived the time of great distress” and “have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb” belong to God forever because of their faith in Jesus. (Rv 7:14)  This is, in fact, the “revelation” that provides this biblical text with its title.  The truths revealed in “Revelation” are God’s trustworthiness and the certain consequences of believing in Jesus as Savior.

The second reading states these same truths and says that everyone who trusts in God lives a pure life in imitation of God’s purity. (1 Jn 33)  The Gospel reading lists some of the traits of the person who lives a pure life.  The Beatitudes say that a pure, godly life is characterized by humility, mercy, and forbearance. (Mt 5:1-12a)

These readings were chosen for the Solemnity of All Saints because they describe aptly the lives of all the saints, but sanctity should not be thought of as pertaining only to the extraordinarily holy.  Rather, the degree of sanctity described in these readings should be characteristic of the lives of all baptized.  The common-sense wisdom expressed in the Scriptures is that sanctity cannot be thought of as the domain of a few but as the universal vocation of God’s People.

In the movie “A Christmas Story,” little Ralphie did, in fact, shoot himself in the eye with an air rifle.  He was saved from tragedy only by the fact that he was wearing glasses.  The irony of his near-miss with serious injury added to the entertainment value of the movie. 

In real life, however, near misses are far less entertaining.  Coming near to humility means that one is still puffed up with pride and arrogance.  Approximating forgiveness is no sign of a gracious soul.  A facsimile of purity is an obvious deception.

The Scriptures provide reliable instructions about how to avoid harming ourselves and others.  The Scriptures say that those who will live forever with God are the ones who live now with God by fashioning lives that are pure, holy, humble, merciful, and steadfast.  We ignore this practical wisdom to our detriment because a near-miss at the holiness that characterizes the life of faith is the equivalent of failure.  We should consider ourselves adequately warned by the words of the prophets.