Longing for a Face: The Hunger That Makes Us Holy 11-01-25
SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS
Every heart carries a longing that nothing on earth can fully satisfy. We feel it when joy is not quite enough, when success still leaves us restless, when even the best moments of life whisper, “There must be more than this.” The saints began where we begin. Not with halos. Not with perfect virtue. But with hunger. They longed to see the Face of the One who made them. And that longing became the thread that God used to weave their lives into holiness.
Psalm 24 tells us, “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” That is who the saints are. Not the flawless ones. Not the triumphant ones. The longing ones. The ones who kept searching for God even when the world offered easier answers and quicker comforts. Holiness does not begin with a polished résumé of virtues. It begins with desire. The ache that calls us home.
Revelation gives us a glimpse of that home. John sees a multitude beyond counting from every nation, race, people and tongue gathered around the throne. They are robed in white, not because they kept their clothes spotless, but because they let the Lamb wash them in mercy. They did not escape the great distress. They passed through it. They carried wounds. They carried tears. They carried stories of nights spent seeking God when God felt silent. And now every longing has found its fulfillment in glory. They behold the Face their hearts were made for.
Saint John tells us something astonishing. “We are God’s children now.” Not later. Not when we finally get our act together. Now. And yet he adds that what we shall be has not yet been revealed. There is so much about us that is unfinished, unpolished, unknown even to ourselves. But we do know this. When it is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Holiness is God shaping our desire so we can see him face to face and in that seeing become fully ourselves.
Then Jesus climbs a mountain and tells us who is blessed in this world. It is not the powerful. It is not the popular. It is the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The ones who mourn. The ones who make peace. The ones who show mercy. The ones who stay pure in heart when cynicism looks wiser. The ones who are willing to suffer rather than betray what is good. The Beatitudes are not a checklist. They are a portrait of longing lived out in real life.
To be poor in spirit is to long for God more than wealth.To mourn is to long for God’s healing in the face of loss.To hunger for justice is to long for God’s kingdom to break through the cracks of this world.To be clean of heart is to long for a love that does not disappoint.To be a peacemaker is to long for the day when swords become plowshares.To endure persecution is to long for a truth that is stronger than fear.
This kind of longing does something to us. It makes room for God.
The saints teach us that holiness is not for experts. It is for seekers. For those who keep lifting their eyes toward the mountain of the Lord even when their legs are tired and the path is steep. They remind us that the world will not always understand those who live for heaven, just as the world did not understand Christ. But they also remind us that God recognizes his own. Children resemble their Father. Every act of mercy, every quiet forgiveness, every moment of trust in darkness forms a likeness in us. Heaven sees it. Heaven celebrates it.
So today, All Saints Day, we do not admire statues. We join a family. We honor the ones who have gone before us not because they were extraordinary, but because God was extraordinary in them. They let their longing lead them and did not let go of the One who would fulfill it.
And that brings us to the grace of this feast. If you long for God even a little you are already on the path of the saints. If you look at this world and think that love must be meant to win you share their hope. If you kneel with a heart that is not yet pure but wants to be heaven already rejoices in you.
Saints are not just those in stained glass. Saints are those who keep saying Yes to the deepest hunger of the human heart, the hunger for God.
May God take the longing in us and make it holy.May he turn every ache into trust.May he make us a people who look like our Father.And one day, may we join the great multitude in heaven where every longing will finally behold the Face it has loved all along.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Amen.
Psalm 24 tells us, “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” That is who the saints are. Not the flawless ones. Not the triumphant ones. The longing ones. The ones who kept searching for God even when the world offered easier answers and quicker comforts. Holiness does not begin with a polished résumé of virtues. It begins with desire. The ache that calls us home.
Revelation gives us a glimpse of that home. John sees a multitude beyond counting from every nation, race, people and tongue gathered around the throne. They are robed in white, not because they kept their clothes spotless, but because they let the Lamb wash them in mercy. They did not escape the great distress. They passed through it. They carried wounds. They carried tears. They carried stories of nights spent seeking God when God felt silent. And now every longing has found its fulfillment in glory. They behold the Face their hearts were made for.
Saint John tells us something astonishing. “We are God’s children now.” Not later. Not when we finally get our act together. Now. And yet he adds that what we shall be has not yet been revealed. There is so much about us that is unfinished, unpolished, unknown even to ourselves. But we do know this. When it is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Holiness is God shaping our desire so we can see him face to face and in that seeing become fully ourselves.
Then Jesus climbs a mountain and tells us who is blessed in this world. It is not the powerful. It is not the popular. It is the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The ones who mourn. The ones who make peace. The ones who show mercy. The ones who stay pure in heart when cynicism looks wiser. The ones who are willing to suffer rather than betray what is good. The Beatitudes are not a checklist. They are a portrait of longing lived out in real life.
To be poor in spirit is to long for God more than wealth.To mourn is to long for God’s healing in the face of loss.To hunger for justice is to long for God’s kingdom to break through the cracks of this world.To be clean of heart is to long for a love that does not disappoint.To be a peacemaker is to long for the day when swords become plowshares.To endure persecution is to long for a truth that is stronger than fear.
This kind of longing does something to us. It makes room for God.
The saints teach us that holiness is not for experts. It is for seekers. For those who keep lifting their eyes toward the mountain of the Lord even when their legs are tired and the path is steep. They remind us that the world will not always understand those who live for heaven, just as the world did not understand Christ. But they also remind us that God recognizes his own. Children resemble their Father. Every act of mercy, every quiet forgiveness, every moment of trust in darkness forms a likeness in us. Heaven sees it. Heaven celebrates it.
So today, All Saints Day, we do not admire statues. We join a family. We honor the ones who have gone before us not because they were extraordinary, but because God was extraordinary in them. They let their longing lead them and did not let go of the One who would fulfill it.
And that brings us to the grace of this feast. If you long for God even a little you are already on the path of the saints. If you look at this world and think that love must be meant to win you share their hope. If you kneel with a heart that is not yet pure but wants to be heaven already rejoices in you.
Saints are not just those in stained glass. Saints are those who keep saying Yes to the deepest hunger of the human heart, the hunger for God.
May God take the longing in us and make it holy.May he turn every ache into trust.May he make us a people who look like our Father.And one day, may we join the great multitude in heaven where every longing will finally behold the Face it has loved all along.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Amen.